Furious Seasons

January 27, 2006

James Frey

OK, so you all know about what's gone on with James Frey and his book, "A Million Little Pieces." He made up or embellished events and facts in a bestseller that was marketed as non-ficton/memoir. Yesterday, Oprah, who'd earlier endorsed his book, called him a liar on TV. In my opion, Oprah was off-base to drag him on her show. This was all about covering her ass, not making Frey confess. Second, Frey is something of a victim of the publishing business. When he intially shopped the book a few years back, he presented it to potential publishers as a novel, meaning fiction. The book was rejected by one and all. When he swtiched it to memoir all of sudden he got a book deal, apparently because it's easier to sell books that can be marketed as True Life Drama. Whatever. I think that is at the root of what happened with Frey as much as anything involving his fictional non-ficiton.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at January 27, 2006 01:19 PM

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Comments

Frey isn't a victim. He presented it as fiction and publishers rejected it - rightfully so because it's a boring, terribly written book. It is all style, bad dialogue, no substance and horrid exposition. It's like Hemingway if you subtract the talent and add a few more assholes and throw in some heroin.

He wasn't a victim when they rejected it as fiction, nor is he a victim now that he's being criticized for calling it a memoir. While I'm sure it is easier to sell a story like that as non-fiction, he made the choice to lie. At that moment, he can no longer be thought of as a victim because he brought this upon himself.

Posted by: Puckett at January 29, 2006 08:08 AM

i understand scott. i still think at this stage of the game though that folks are pounding on him too hard...and the oprah thing was just a joke.

philip

Posted by: kim at January 29, 2006 11:36 AM