Ok, in reading an article about the Judge that authored the Mass. decision, I was reminded about Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country. In searching for it, for my amazon list, I find that Oprah has put it on her bookclub list. Now, while I’m thrilled that she’s putting actual Literary (big L) classics on her list, it becomes a sad comment on our education system that some of the people (as oxrandyyxo has pointed out) go running out for it, because it’s on her booklist. Many of the current classics are books I read in H.S., I enjoyed reading them and re-read them every chance I get. Then there are those who go running out for these books, thinking that they are recent publications and ask whether the author has written anything since (in the case of Steinbeck, “Oh, when did he die?”). *sigh* I love the “gimme” culture.