"As a social scientist I was interested in why," Butler said. "I think it is because she played a decision role. This was a way to minimize tensions between book-reading clubs. Members knew her books would be available, topical and easy to discuss."

More than 8.6 million viewers watched Oprah's daytime talk show during the first week of December and her magazine has a circulation of nearly 3 million.

The Oprah effect was repeated with a new twist this fall with "Oprah's Favorite Things," which has increased the sales of products she gives away on her show. The popularity of the new idea has boosted the show's ratings by 15 percent this year to the highest numbers she's had since 1996, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Oprah resurrected her book club in 2003 but announced she would only endorse classics, which predictably have sold very well, also. That is a new area of study for Butler, BYU senior economics major Sebastian Nilsson and Benjamin Cowan, now a University of Wisconsin graduate student.

"Her book club still moves books," Butler said. "She still has power, even though the authors are dead, to move books for them."

Since he's not dead yet and just published a book of his own, "Death Hollow," Butler wouldn't mind if Oprah went back to publicizing lesser-known contemporary authors.

"I would love to have Oprah pick one of my books," he said.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com