An Oprah tell-all is coming in April, but Winfrey isn't the teller.
Crown Publishers announced Thursday that Kitty Kelley's 544-page, unauthorized "Oprah: A Biography" will be released April 13. The first printing will be at least 500,000 copies.
Kelley is known for gossipy, unflattering, but best-selling celebrity books. She has also written about Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan and the Bush family. Among her more notorious allegations: that Sinatra and Reagan may have had an affair while she was first lady, and that George W. Bush snorted cocaine at Camp David when his father was president.
Kelley says she has high regard for Winfrey, but also felt committed to writing the truth. Kelley says she devoted the past three years to examining Winfrey's life. She says she came away "full of admiration for her accomplishments and fascinated by her complexity."
Crown says Kelley conducted 850 interviews for the book.
"Oprah Winfrey has fascinated me for many years — as a woman, she has wielded an unprecedented amount of influence over the American culture and psyche," Kelley said in a statement issued in December 2006 by the Crown Publishing Group. "Oprah's story is one of hope, promise and realization of the American dream."