Recently, everyone is talking about the book "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey. I read the book a few months ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Regardless of the severity of James' drug and alcohol addition and criminal past, I believe that anyone who can overcome any kind of addition is strong. The book is published as a non-fiction, and that is where the trouble starts.
"A Million Little Pieces" is about a man's life on drugs and alcohol and his determination to overcome his demons without going through the regular detox programs. The details are graphic, and that's why it was such an interesting read. James Frey always claimed that the story was true...until now.
The Smoking Gun website exposed his lies in this article. After reading six pages of it, I am not sure whether it was important that he lied or embellished the truth. At least it was not important for me. After Oprah promoted his book, now she feels duped, so she invited him back to uncover the truth. On the show, she questioned him how his ex-girlfriend died. In the book, James Frey said she hung herself, but now he says that she actually slit her wrist. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't see why how she died is so important.
Some social workers were recommending this book to other drug/alcohol addicts, saying that if he overcame the additions, then they can too. Now they are very upset and want to sue.....argh... Addicts are also upset, because they feel betrayed.
In the end, he is still an ex-addict who cleaned up. Isn't that the story?
Does it really matter that he lied about the number of times he was arrested, whether he rejected Novacain when he had root canal procedures, or who he was friends with?
I am not an addict in the sense that James Frey was, and I still can't remember what I did last week. Can we really expect a non-fiction to be completed non-fiction? Should we now go back and do investigative work on every non-fiction book out there? Why do we have such high expectations for others when we can't uphold the same expectations for ourselves?
If the goal is to be clean, then read the book, take away the good and apply it to your life. A lot of energy is wasted by people who want to hear this man apologize and confess to his lies. What bothers me is that people act so shocked and say things like
"You of all people know how serious the truth is when it comes to addiction. I think that's why I'm so disappointed and betrayed. I mean, the story was great. The book was great, but, you know, it's troubling. I don't trust memoirs anymore." (Amy, a reader, source Oprah).
To be honest, I really enjoyed a good lie. There can be so much truth!
