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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Anderson Cooper Appears on Oprah Winfrey to Promote Book Club Discussion

Anderson Cooper stopped by Harpo Studios in Chicago on Friday to chat with Oprah Winfrey. They covered a variety of topics including the Oprah satellite interview for AC 360 that "didn't quite go as planned," to the Fort Hood shootings, the Ohio serial killer and the fact that he was black (not the serial killer profile - white male of a certain age), and the conspiracy of silence that allow these things to go unnoticed by authorities. Anderson also explained the “stop snitching” campaign – something he’s reported on for 60 Minutes and AC360.

The conversation then turned to the reason for Anderson's appearance, to discuss the Oprah Book Club Selection Say You're One Of Them. There will be an Oprah.com and CNN.com simulcast book club discussion on Monday night, November 9th, at 9:00pmET. You can sign up to join in the discussion with Anderson, Oprah and the author, Uwem Akpan at Oprah.com Anderson stated that once you start reading the book and make a commitment to it, you get sucked into the stories. (The book is a work of fictional short stories, set in 5 countries all on the continent of Africa and is currently #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.) Both Oprah and Anderson admitted to not being fond of short stories, but liked this book because the stories have an arc. The stories are all about the struggle to survive, but told through the eyes of children. Oprah stated she “thought the book was a great way to introduce people to Africa and open your eyes to the world in a way you normally wouldn’t just by reading a news story.” Anderson talked about Africa being a huge continent with so many different countries and cultures that people really don’t know much about it. He commented that while the book is a work of fiction, the stories are ripped from real life. He revealed that one of his favorites is the first story which takes place on the streets of Nairobi - and he has been there and worked with the kind of kids described in the story. He also talked about the story that is based on the genocide in Rwanda and his experiences in Rwanda at the time. Anderson also indicated that he thought the title was a message to the reader -- “Imagine walking in this child’s shoes. Say you are one of them, how would you react?” He summed up the experience of reading the book by saying, “It really does make you, for a few minutes or a few hours, walk in somebody else’s shoes and see a life you will probably never encounter in your own life and be thankful that you don’t – but you come to understand people.” The book promotes a greater understanding of the struggles of others who are living in situations vastly different than ours.

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1 comment:

Phebe said...

Welcome to ATC Wonz, great to have you on board.