Oprah Winfrey is latest tell-all subject

New York -- American talk show icon Oprah Winfrey said she is shocked that her father, Vernon, has written a tell-all book about his famous daughter.

"Things Unspoken," being shopped to agents, dishes about Winfrey as a child living in Milwaukee with her mother, Vernita, and visiting her estranged father in Nashville.

When told about the book by a New York newspaper, Winfrey she was "shocked and disappointed," ABC reported Wednesday.

Winfrey isn't the first -- or the last -- celebrity contending with a relative who writes or spills family secrets for public consumption. Among the more recent subjects are Jennifer Aniston, Meg Ryan and Rudy Giuliani.

What kind of impact does such a book have on the subject?

"She (Oprah) has a great image which she and the media have spent millions and years creating," said entertainment attorney Jerry Reisman. "While her father will probably be looked on as a money-driven author just trying to make money off her name and fame... ."

Tell-all books for publishers can be treacherous. Some avoid them, while other can't wait to sign them.

"I wish I had signed Mr. Winfrey," said Karen Hunter of publisher Simon & Schuster. "That will sell."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.