Now let's talk about the James Frey phenomenon. He wrote a book about his years as a drug addict and all-around n'er-do-well, and Oprah endorsed it for her book club. Turns out he fabricated significant portions of the book. Here is some background information at various places on the internet.
The original fracas was set off by...
--Smoking Gun Expose: "A Million Little Lies"
At first, Oprah supported Frey and the book. Then...
--Oprah goes on the attack
The more recent "aftermath" for Frey...
--James Frey interview with USAToday
--James Frey interview with Vanity Fair
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In the vanity fair article, Frey is quoted saying “I don’t care, if somebody calls [A Million Little Pieces] a memoir, or a novel, or a fictionalized memoir, or what. I could care less what they call it. The thing on the side of the book means nothing. Who knows what it is. It’s just a book. It’s just a story. It’s just a book that was written with the intention to break a lot of rules in writing. I’ve broken a lot of rules in a lot of ways. So be it.”
ReplyDeleteThis was my honest reaction to this whole hype-up. I understand that the book was labeled as a memoir, but the fact that he altered the story from "what really happened" does not bother me... Perhaps I don't expect to completely trust a memoir in the first place(how can you, when the "truth" is being written from one viewer's eyes?). What I can understand, however, is a dissapointment or a sense of betrayal felt by some readers.
Vanity Fair also called Oprah "the very arbiter of correct human behavior" (what poignant phrasing...)