A Million Little Pieces
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- Jaline
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.asp…
It's a memoir and he's a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. How could the story not be skewed? It doesn't matter to me, because I really liked the book. There were some really captivating thoughts in there.
Of course, now people are saying that this just fuels those people who claim that the Holocaust isn't real. Because if one author of a memoir lies about certain parts of a book, then everyone else must've lied too.
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- kingjulien0
I haven't read the book - once Oprah endorses something it kind of ruins it for me - but it seems like all he had to do was call it a work of fiction from the beginning and none of this would have mattered.
- Jaline0
I know what you mean. I actually didn't care that Oprah endorsed it. The story just seemed interested. And the writing is so staccato that anyone can read it, but it may annoy people. But yeah, I generally don't read Oprah's Book Club books.
- Jaline0
*interesting
- Jaline0
'"I don't think it is a novel," Frey said of his book, which had initially been offered to publishers, and rejected by many, as fiction. "I still think it's a memoir."'
- bauts1060
I dunno, it kind of makes you think about the validity of the rest of his work. I read "my friend leonard" also and really liked it, if for the characters alone. Yet now I'm thinking, all the major characters in his works are dead, so who knows if he made them up or elaborated those relationships as well. I'm a little disapointed I guess.
- Rand0
he had me at H
- histwinsiste0
i havent been following this story or read that book, but it sounds like the whole JT LeRoy hoax on a smaller scale. Now that is some motherfuckin shit that I dont condone.
- kingjulien0
The truth is, even books that claim to be memoirs are really fictionalized, just by the nature of choosing what to include and what to omit. I mean, there's no way we can cover every detail of our lives in a book, so we include the most interesting, useful fragments, and omit the trivial or uninteresting parts. It's like reality TV. The Real World isn't real. It's 10,000 hours edited into 13 episodes, selecting the most drama filled moments that will entertain the largest audience. The whole genre of memoirs is flawed. That's why, regardless of what Frey says, he should have just presented the work as fiction. That way the focus would be on the writing and not the controversy, although ironically, the discrepancy is probably helping book sales.
- kingjulien0
Jt Leroy and I have been trading emails and he/she's really cool, but he/she refuses to discuss the controversy, or elaborate on what the truth might be.
- histwinsiste0
i think it is pretty much a fact that JT LeRoy is a hoax and his real identity in Laura Albert. Although she has yet to admit or deny it, the evidence is pretty strong.
- kyl30
My wife just told me oprah just changed her tune and ripped him a new one. even went on to say "you said if there was a gun backstage you would use it."
We thought his new book is coming out and these are just publicity stunts, but now I'm not sure.
- Jaline0
The truth is, even books that claim to be memoirs are really fictionalized, just by the nature of choosing what to include and what to omit. I mean, there's no way we can cover every detail of our lives in a book, so we include the most interesting, useful fragments, and omit the trivial or uninteresting parts. It's like reality TV. The Real World isn't real. It's 10,000 hours edited into 13 episodes, selecting the most drama filled moments that will entertain the largest audience. The whole genre of memoirs is flawed. That's why, regardless of what Frey says, he should have just presented the work as fiction. That way the focus would be on the writing and not the controversy, although ironically, the discrepancy is probably helping book sales.
kingjulien
(Jan 26 06, 14:46)Exactly.
Also, he looked pretty depressed during his appearance on the Larry King Live show a few days ago, and was a bit uplifting after Oprah phoned in to defend him. Even validate him in a way.
And then today, she completely changed her mind after he told her right out that he made some of the stuff up.
Upon hearing his voice for the first time, I was a bit taken aback. He doesn't sound as tough as he is in the book. Right after I thought that, he said that he is probably not as tough as he wrote himself to be.
Anyway, yeah, he seemed to be visibly upset about the whole thing. Plus he has more book deals on the way.
- tkmeister0
the book is good.
i read it twice. if he was so fucked up and drunk, some of his memory is blur. but he did mention about spending some time in jail which i would think he'd remember.
whatever. people get so caught up. just read the book and enjoy. leave the guy alone.
- alloyd0
heh
- bauts1060
Wow, I just got finished watching the Oprah/James frey show. It was hard to watch, cause you can see the guy literally falling apart on live tv. He admitted he lied, about jail, about certain aspects of the story. And they had so many people on the show willing to further rip the guy a new one that it was amost an overkill. The look on his face was just plain scary, whether he was staring down a panel expert with distain and buckling under some tough questions. I dunno if this guys credability is completely shot or not, but it gonna take a lot to dig himself out of this hole. As of right now his website (www.bigjimindustries.com) is closed and password protected, weird.
- pavlovs_dog0
" whatever. people get so caught up. just read the book and enjoy. leave the guy alone "
i just can't get over anyone having the gall to defened this charlatan...
he LIED for YEARS. ...giving advice to addicts when he had ABSOLUTELY no business doing so... all for MONEY... because he was too much of a HACK to have his book published as the work of FICTION it was.
you wonder why the youth og ameirca lives through rap's ghettofantasy and thier parents live through "reality" televsion?
BULLSHIT! we love it!
frey's ass needs to be taken to civil court, sued for every dime he made off his million little lies.
- Jaline0
pavlov, I know what you're saying. But most of the addiction parts of the novel are not in question. It's mainly the other stuff, such as the police chase and an accident that he said happened earlier in his life.
- paraselene0
i think that the leroy comparison doesn't hold up so well. more like the carlos castaneda fiasco.
everything is fiction to a certain extent.
or not.
fuck it. hang 'im high!
- bauts1060
It was kind of offputting that he refered to all these people in his book, that are allegedly real, as characters, and that he changed things. So who knows what else was made up. Since a lot of the major characters are no longer living, the details of his experiences could be quite skewed. All he had to do was put "based on a true story" at the front and none of this would have happened.