I received the premiere issue of O magazine, and subsequent issues, as a housewarming gift when I bought my first house. Though I wanted to write a review of O right away, I decided to wait and see how the magazine developed, or if it even got off the ground.

A year later, I just finished reading the first anniversary issue of O, and I must admit, I like it as much now as I did then. When I first received O, I had a subscription to Cosmopolitan, the single woman’s guide to just about everything. However, Cosmopolitan’s mindless inanities, repeated articles on everything I already knew about sex, silly fashions, articles about getting/keeping/ dumping a man, office backstabbers, and the like, no longer fit my lifestyle. (In the past year, I’ve gotten engaged, eloped, applied to graduate school, and turned 30.) I let my subscription to Cosmo lapse (though they’re still sending it to me--free), and signed on for a second year of O.

Goals of O Magazine

In Let’s Talk, later changed to Here We Go, the editor’s note that opens each issue, Oprah wrote in the premiere issue: “My hope is that this magazine will help you lead a more productive life, one in which you feel a sense of vitality, cooperation, harmony, balance, and reverence within yourself and in all your encounters. That doesn’t mean living a life without frustrations, anxieties, and disappointments. It means understanding that your choices move you forward or hold you back.”

When Oprah changed the format of her talk show in the early 90s and deliberately stayed out of the “trash TV” genre springing up around her, she was wildly successful. Her show then developed into a zeitgeist for unhappy, unsatisfied women to find ways to improve their lives. In a way, O often seems like an extended version of “Remembering Your Spirit” in monthly installments rather than the close of each Oprah show.

I can clearly pick out the demographic Oprah wants to hit with this magazine: middle-to-upper class adult women from stay-at-home moms to career women. Maybe because I am in that demographic, I think O does an exceedingly effective job of reaching its target audience.

I’ve heard criticism that O focuses too much on Oprah herself. Other than a few nitpicks (see below), I am disinclined to agree. O does not focus on Oprah the personality so much as Oprah herself uses the magazine to put forth her personal philosophy, to help other people, to continue what she feels is her mission in life. At the end of that first editor’s note, Oprah writes: “There is nothing I share on these pages that I haven’t gone through or continue to move through myself. I’m a woman in process, creating and striving for new dreams, new goals, new ideas. It never ends, and that’s what’s so exciting: the journey.”

Theme

Each issue of O has an overarching theme. Though other magazines do this with themes like “Spring!” or “Back to School,” O has managed to put a new spin on the idea. O’s themes in the past year have ranged from “The Power of Thought” (September 2000) to “Reinvention” (January 2001) to “Joy!” (May 2001). Most of the articles, and especially the regular columns, find some way to touch on this overarching theme, sometimes in very creative ways. For example, the issue on “Comfort” (February 2001) included “comfort foods.” The contributors and editorial staff have done an excellent job of guiding the magazine toward that month’s theme and not just paid lip service to it with the front cover. The theme of the magazine as a whole is “Live Your Best Life,” the theme for the first issue that has become a prevalent section in subsequent issues.

Features

The feature articles are usually directly related to that month’s theme. This month’s offerings in the feature category were: “Make a Joyful Noise” about singers and the celebration of music; “The Real Joy of Sex” about intimacy; and “The Passion Doctor’s Guide to Good Sex” about improving sex. [I would like to note that O does not have articles about sex featured in every issue, or even a recurring column about sex, though there is a recurring column about relationships.]

Each issue also features an in-depth interview between Oprah and another prominent figure from Nelson Mandela to Martha Stewart to Maya Angelou. The interviews are usually quite lengthy, but they usually delve into the interviewee’s personal philosophy and experiences that have affected their lives and made them the people that they are. I was riveted to the interview with Camille Cosby in the premiere issue that explored how she and her family coped with the murder of her son.

O, as anyone could have predicted, has a lot of self-help type articles or personal experiences, not always tragic, that demonstrate how others came through crises or even shook themselves out of the ruts of their everyday lives. Some are common sense, some are inspirational, some make me weep at the indomitableness or the vulnerability of the human spirit.

In Every Issue

I won’t list every recurring section or article, but I will go into the things that stand out to me.

Calendar: Every month has a pullout calendar (though the first few months weren’t the convenient fold-out used in more recent issues). Each calendar has quotations relating to that month’s theme or a project to do, such as “Choose not to worry today--especially about the things you have no control over.”

Oprah To Go: Each month O comes with a little souvenir. Usually it’s four cards with different quotes relating to that month’s theme on either side. For the December issue, the cards were gift tags with quotes about giving on one side and To/From blanks on the reverse. The idea is to put the cards on the fridge or on the mirror, or give them away. [If you’re doing Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Something More illustrated discovery journal, these cards are ideal.]

Advice: Dr. Phil McGraw and Sue Orzman both have monthly columns in which they answer letters. McGraw’s column is entitled “Tell It Like It Is” and deals with relationships and self-image. Orzman’s column, “Financial Freedom,” deals with money issues.

Beauty: The beauty section is not the standard “this is the new look for eyes this season” or “how to apply blush.” The May issue had articles about smiling to improve one’s outlook and cosmetic dentistry. Past issues had articles on how to “Walk Like a Goddess” and ways to pamper oneself.

Fashion: I find the fashion section of O much more practical than the vapid offerings of Cosmo that only look good on emaciated willow trees. While the clothes themselves are more practical and classic than fad-o-the-moment, as well as the advice, the prices are still designer and well out of my budget range.

Food: The food in O is fantastic! The food and included recipes also cover a broad range from the simple to the gourmet, common ingredients to the exotic. Dieting is hardly ever mentioned in connection with the food section or anywhere else.

Books That Made a Difference: A famous person takes us through their favorite books each month and why: what influenced them, what brought them pleasure, what they read again and again. My own “to read” list simply swells from this section as well as Reading Room which offers reviews and synopses of new publications.

Breathing Space: It’s just a picture. A picture to look at, to meditate on, to take a moment for yourself. I find this idea rather novel in a woman’s magazine when the usual market approach is how to pack more into each and every day. Breathing Space invites you to pack less.

What I Know for Sure: Oprah opens each issue with Here We Go and closes it with What I Know for Sure. This effect is a nice editorial touch: introducing the reader to the theme and then bringing it back to what Oprah has learned or wants to share about the theme.

Advertising

The ads took up, in the May issue, 145 pages of 298 total, about average for this type of magazine. However, I have been particularly impressed with the ads in every issue for a decided lack of sleaze. There are still the skinny-model type ads, but either O closely monitors the advertising, or insists that merchants use ads that appeal to the same demographic as the magazine. Overall, the ads are pretty classy which does credit to the image of the magazine.

Nitpicks

The O List are things that Oprah “think[s] are just great.” Well, I’d think they were great too if I had enough disposable income to spend $150 on candles. Most of the items on The O List are outrageously overpriced and not even a consideration for average budgets. The cheapest thing on list for May was stationery: a set of five sheets of paper and envelopes for $15. Most of my stationery consists of 20 sheets and envelopes for $8.99. One other item, salad utensils, were under $100. The most expensive item on the list was a watch for $1,495--and it’s not a Rolex.

Oprah graces the cover of every issue. While I am all for a pudgy, middle-aged woman looking good in various outfits and environments, rather than the aforementioned emaciated twig, does it have to be Oprah? What about one of her interview guests? Oprah being on every cover is just a little too egotistical for me. (Though I must admit that she looks great. In a recent issue, one article titled “Blowing Our Cover,” detailed all that went into a cover shoot on location. The article also included a “before” picture of Oprah--I look better than Oprah when I get up in the morning so there is hope for me, once I start employing an entourage to do my hair, make up and clothes.)

What I Know For Sure

O magazine produces quality articles in an elegant setting that are a cut above the run-of-the-mill, we’ve-heard-it-all-before women’s magazine. Like practically everything else Oprah touches, O has turned into pure gold. I have my own speculations that Oprah intends to eventually give up her talk show, and O is her way of continuing what she feels is her life mission: to help other people “live their best life.”


Recommended: Yes