According to Oprah's version of why the book has been put on hold, Miami was her undoing. "I stood before that convention and said, 'This is going to be a book that really empowers people,' " Winfrey told the Chicago San-Times. "I fell I needed to say more." Winfrey was lavish in her praise of collaborator Joan Barthel at each of her Miami appearances, and later said that the manuscript "does a really good job of chronicling the events of my life." But, she added, "I wanted to offer some insight, some clarity and some wisdom that might benefit other people." She also denied rumors that fiancé Stedman Graham had pressured her to withdraw the manuscript because it revealed too much of her sexual history. Yet the book brouhaha, combined with the fact that no wedding date has been set (Oprah has been engaged since last fall and recently contacted Oscar de la Renta about a gown powwow), has fanned speculation that something's amiss in Oprahland.
Not so, insists Winfrey, who hasn't announced a new publication date. It's simply that "I am in the heart of a learning curve." The people at Knopf, where the book is informally known as Noprah, remain sanguine about their reported copublishing deal. Says a staffer: "It's going to be a great book? whenever it comes out."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
