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lydia

Lydia's Page

I like reading books about war dogs, shipwrecks, and lady aviators.

Currently reading

The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss
Gloria Vanderbilt, Anderson Cooper
A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

This book and the controversy circus surrounding it are about a decade old, so in case you don't remember: this book, marketed as a non-fiction account of James Frey's recovery from addiction, rocketed to success after it was chosen for Oprah's Book club. The Smoking Gun later revealed Frey to be a giant fraud-- his story was fabricated, and in fact, he'd shopped it around as fiction without any takers. He then retooled it and sold it as a memoir. When Oprah realized she'd been had, she brought Frey back on her show for a critical takedown.

 

I've always been a bit curious, so I finally pulled this out of my TBR stack. In a word, it's worthless. Having several close friends who have struggled with and overcome drug abuse and addiction, I found this to be a sensationalist stray from reality, one that does a disservice to the ruthlessly hard work of recovery. Furthermore, it was terribly written and poorly edited. I'm a little bit amazed that people believed it was non-fiction (though many reporters questioned its veracity at the time of its publication). 

 

James Frey has gone on to found a notoriously exploitative publishing company, Full Fathom Five, and in general seems to continue to exist as a blight on literary culture.

 

0/0: would not recommend.