I don't recall if I mentioned on my blog in the past that I recently read James Frey's book, A Million Little Pieces. I read it strictly because the Oprah show (specifically Nate Berkus) raved about it so much, said it kept them up at night reading because it was so addicting. I am very susceptible to advertising, marketing, and peer pressure, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.I LOVED this book. It is raw, graphic, violent and profane. It grabs you and makes you feel things. I highly recommended it to several friends, and even promised to lend it to a friend next week. Now this morning TheSmokingGun.com is reporting that the book, which is supposed to be a true account of the author's recovery from a past of severe addiction and criminal behavior, is a fictional story. They went in search of the court records connected with his supposed criminal past, and found a very different story than the author's portrayal of himself. James Frey sat on Oprah in front of millions of people, including his parents and brother, and said the book was true. He said he was being open and honest and he used to be a very very bad guy. Part of what makes the book so gripping is seeing the healthy man that came out the other side of this tale of horror.
He lied? He made it up? Poetic license? There are a lot of readers out there this morning feeling pretty upset about this. If it's true the backlash could be enough to send this supposed recovered addict spinning deep back into self-destruction. He may certainly lose the big movie deal that's in the works. I will think twice about buying the book's sequel I wanted for Xmas and didn't get.
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