There's been much controversy over James Frey's memoir of addiction and rehabilitation, A Million Little Pieces lately, including another appearance on Oprah, in which the immitable Ms. Winfrey raked the author over the coals, rather dramatically saying that she felt she'd been "conned".
The crux of it is this: Frey wrote the book as a memoir, not an autobiography. If the story of his drug/alcohol addiction was embellished in some way, then blame his Hollywood saturation - he is after all, a part of that machine. I like to believe that what he wrote, which was compelling to say the least, was his own reckoning of some very personal experiences - events that were most likely difficult to relive anyway.
As writers, we're meant to and expected to produce quality work that captures the reader and keeps them in a chokehold until the very last page, and Mr. Frey did exactly that. Having read the book, and having some firsthand experience with addiction through a friend, I can honestly say that even if it's not his complete truth, it certainly doesn't stray from a universal truth written in the language of a junkie struggling to get clean.
If nothing else, the author has presented his story in a way that makes the reader actually feel what he went through - the penultimate task of the creative writer. In Oprah's case, I just think she was playing the age-old game of covering her own ass. She hasn't ever come out and said that the book was badly written, or tried to refute Frey's talent, because she can't.
And that is all.
Jumping into the Frey~
Poor James, his publisher, RiverHead Books has literally dropped his book deal, all because he "lied" to America, heck.. worse, he lied to Oprah!I see the point, but O had no reason to get all "Old Testament" on him. He admitted his stretching of the truth, but as you say, people identified with the struggle which they saw in themselves (you said that right?) And that is the beauty in his work. It doesn't make writers who write Memoirs, cheaters on facts. A Memoir should just be changed to A Memory.
I am sured james will by offered "a Million Little Deals" in the future, so everyone is happy, no?
Posted by: Ken | 25 February 2006 at 04:46 PM