Why James Frey Lied
How the Author of A Million Little Pieces Pulled One Over on Us
James Frey gained national recognition when his best-selling book, a memoir about his addiction and recovery entitled A Million Little Pieces, was chosen to be part of Oprah Winfrey's book club. Getting the seal of approval from one of America's most popular woman pushed A Million Little Pieces up the charts even higher than before, and Frey became almost a national hero for beating his drug and alcohol addiction.
"A Million Little Lies" -- The Smoking Gun Catches Frey
But then some problems arose for James Frey. In January 2006, TheSmokingGun.com published an article that called into question some of the book's more outrageous claims. For example, Frey indicated in his book that he had set the state record for blood alcohol level. Another claim, around which a large portion of the book is based, is that Frey took a plea bargain that would land him in jail for three years, but was later reduced to only three months. Unfortunately, his drug addicted girlfriend committed suicide during those three months, heaping tragedy upon personal tragedy.
TheSmokingGun.com revealed that this never actually happened – Frey was indeed arrested, but he was charged only with a simple DUI (he claimed he had a felony charge), he was fined $733 (he claimed the fine was $15,000), and he was released from jail after sobering up five hours later (which is a lot shorter than either three years or three months).
By the time TheSmokingGun.com article came out, James Frey had already appeared on "Oprah" and testified to the veracity of the wild behavior he discussed in his book. After the article revealing just how much he had “embellished” the truth came out, he appeared again on "Larry King Live" to defend himself. Not long after that, Oprah brought him back on her show – this time for a good spanking.
So why did James Frey lie, considering that it essentially destroyed his career?
A Million Little Pieces... The Novel
According to Frey, A Million Little Pieces was never meant to be read as a memoir. His original intention was to publish it as a semi-autobiographical novel, not unlike the works of his heroes, such as beatnik writer Jack Kerouac. But A Million Little Pieces was rejected eighteen different times when it was pitched as a novel – and this despite having a top-notch literary agent. When his agent started to mention that much of the book was true, coming from Frey's own life, publishers suddenly got much more interested: novels were dead, but memoirs were hot.
As a memoir, one of the biggest players in the publishing industry, Nan Talese, suddenly took an interest in Frey's book. She thought it would turn out to be a bestseller (as a memoir), and so she published it as such, giving the hitherto basically unsuccessful writer a $50,000 advance. If James Frey protested that it wasn't a memoir, he didn't protest very loudly.
Once the book was published, it caught fire, flying off the shelves. It seemed Frey could get much more mileage out of his book when he claimed it was “nothing but the truth”. He drew huge audiences at bookstore readings and signings, and became a nearly overnight sensation. Frey realized he'd hit the mark, so he published another “memoir” in 2005, a follow-up to A Million Little Pieces called My Friend Leonard, about a man he'd met while in rehab.
James Frey's Future -- Bright Shiny Mornings
A Million Little Pieces is not a bad book. Anyone who's read it can testify to its intensity and can't-put-it-down appeal. But the fact that Frey would take a subject as sensitive as addiction recovery and sell fantastical tales as an inspirational, real life recovery is unfortunate. Although he just recently published a novel called Bright Shiny Mornings, it remains to be seen if James Frey will ever win back the public's trust enough to reclaim his early success.
Further Reading
Frey, James. A Million Little Pieces. London: Doubleday/Random House, 2003. ISBN 07195 6102 7
Frey, James. My Friend Leonard. New York: Penguin Group, 2005. ISBN 1-57322-315-8
Frey, James. Bright Shiny Mornings. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-157313-2
James Frey is a recovering alcoholic
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