Winfrey Picks Nathan Hill's Novel 'Wellness' for Book Club

NEW YORK (AP) When she started her book club nearly 30 years ago, Oprah Winfrey would sometimes inform the authors by looking up their numbers in the phone book when phone books were in common use and calling them up.

For her latest pick, Winfrey broke the news to author Nathan Hill in modern style: She arranged with his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, to pop up during a Zoom meeting and tell Hill that she had chosen his novel Wellness, a sweeping, 600-page narrative about an embattled married couple in Chicago .

In a video shared with The Associated Press, Hill is chatting with his publicist at Knopf about anticipation and promotion for Wellness, which comes out this week. A new box suddenly appears and there is Winfrey, holding Hill's novel in front of her.

I have an idea, why not choose it for Oprah's book club? she says.