No sooner had I posted some theories about Oprah’s next book club selection then Minneapolis reviewer Martin Schmutterer emailed to suggest that I’d overlooked a strong candidate in the Picador backlist: Michael Chabon‘s The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I’d seen it as I was flipping through the Cs, I assured him, but I’d shied away from it because I wasn’t sure Oprah would really be up for a book about two comic book artists and, more importantly, I thought the book was too obvious. “Well, after The Road,” Schmutterer pointed out, “the only curve ball left is the obvious choice.” And, you know, there is that to consider.
I also decided that since I’d gotten stalled in the middle of the alphabet, it might be worth my while to flip ahead to the Zs and work back a bit, which is where I was reminded of Mary Kay Zuravleff‘s delightful The Bowl Is Already Broken, as well as Christopher Sorrentino‘s Trance, and Marilynne Robinson‘s Gilead, and a whole mess of books by Mario Vargas Llosa, Richard Powers, and Stewart O’Nan that just might work depending on what mood Winfrey was in when she made her choice. Keep in mind, though, that before she went with Cormac McCarthy, I was oh-so-sure she was leaning towards Kazuo Ishiguro, so I may not be the most reliable prognosticator in such matters.