# James Frey



## Stacy (Jan 27, 2006)

I was a little unsure if this belongs here in Debate or in one of the books and authors forums, but if a mod feels like moving this, that's fine.

I was just wondering what everyone thinks of the recent scandal over James Frey.  For anyone who might be unaware of the situation, James Frey is the author of two memoirs, A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard.  Recently, a website revealed many of the incidents in A Million Little Pieces, which focuses on Frey's stay in rehab as a 23-year-old, as being ficticious.  Frey admits to exagerrating the incidents of his past, but claims that his book is memoir, not fiction, and that it contains the emotional truth.  

Is this an unpardonable sin for a writer?

Or does the good Frey has done in helping other drug addicts outweigh the bad?

Or perhaps the distinction between perception and fiction might be blurrier than one might expect?


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## Spudley (Jan 28, 2006)

[ot]I moved the topic, as you suggested, to the Books & Authors section; I think that is probably the best place for it. It's a good topic for discussion, though. [/ot]


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## ReikiMeg (Jan 28, 2006)

*Frey*

I believe that it shouldn't be called a memoir. It should be labelled fiction and/or "based on a true story," because he didn't just change names, he made large changes to the actual story. For instance, he admitted he added people to the fight scene to make himself look more big and bad. He also didn't stay in jail for 78 days, he was there for only a week, which IMO changes the whole part about him racing to the woman who committed suicide. He actually roamed around Ohio before going to see her. 

I feel sorry for anyone who looks to this memoir as inspiration for their own problems, because...I won't say it's all based on lies, but too much of it is. It makes me doubt his entire story. He couldn't even give a definite yes that the teeth situation occured. 

However, I think a good deal of blame should also rest with the publisher. On Oprah, the woman who was in charge of overseeing his book said their fact checking never surpassed an interview with the writer. Of course a writer is going to lie to cover up his other lies. The publisher should have checked his story. Even though it was based on his memories, there are things they could have checked(obviously, because Smoking Gun did a good job at it). 

Anyway, that's my two cents.


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## krazyklassykat (Jan 31, 2006)

I hadn't read the books, but was planning to, and I am extremely disappointed in Frey's folly.  I don't think it is "an unpardonable sin" but I certainly think it was foolish of Frey to embellish his "memoirs."  I believe I may have an idea of his motive for fabricating some events and still calling it a memoir.  
One has to admit that, in this day and age, many people are losing hope -- whether it be a battle with drug addiction or with life itself.  One thing I fantasize about as a writer is publishing a book that will make a difference in someone's life.  I'm not necessarily talking a Nobel Peace Prize here, but a book that will inspire that vainly sought-for hope that so many people need.  I believe that Frey wanted the same thing.  Now, I've heard some people say that Frey probably portrayed himself as the larger-than-life, bleeding heart character, and wrote a roller-coaster read just so he could get it published.  But if you think about it, if Frey had  just written the book as a novel, it would still have been published.  BUT, it might not have been regarded as the source of inspiration and comfort that it (for some time) was.  Too many people will not take the inspiration they can get from a fictional story.  Too many people (who are not writers, that understand the beauty of imagination!!!!!) would not have looked twice at that book if it was published as a novel.  James Frey made a terrible mistake in bargaining quality for truth.  He should have known this would happen.  I don't entirely blame him, for I think his intentions were noble, and ReikiMeg brough up a good point about the publishers; if you're going to let someone publish a book as a memoir, it goes without saying that you should check the facts or tell them to write a novel.
The fact is, the price of lying totally outweighs the wonderment people had in saying "Wow, this really happened."  
Then again, as Frey should have known, and as many writers understand... the truth is overrated anyway.


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## Rivettovski (Feb 2, 2006)

All I can say is that Frey's lies put addicts and alcoholics in recovery to shame.  He could have put the book in fiction and saved himself the trouble.


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## Stacy (Feb 2, 2006)

He didn't lie about being a recovered (recovering?) drug addict and alcoholic though.  No one has even questioned his addiction or his recovery.  It's all the details that are out of proportion in A Million Little Pieces.


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## perkonet (Feb 5, 2006)

I think as the publisher of A Million Little Pieces pointed out,  a memoir is different from an autobiography.  But at the same time, the person who picks it up to read it, is expecting the truth, and James Frey stretched it way to far.  Did you see him on Oprah?  She really blasted him.  I guess that's what happens when you stretch things too far.  Retribution, right?

I actually read an excerpt of the book, and chose not to read it, b/c it didn't sound like real events to me.  I thought he had probably had stretched the truth quite a bit, and I think that brings us to another point - being skeptical of what you read.  I think there's so much credibility lost in journalism and publishing today, that writers really have a responsibility to tell the truth.  Otherwise, what's the point?  

And does anyone ever believe an autiobiography or a memoir?  Not that the author even intentionally means to the alter the truth, but does anyone see themelves clearly?  And when we sit down to write the events of our life, are we going to tell things as they happened, or is there a compulsion to write about the life we *wish* we'd lived.  I've only read a few autobiographies in my life, and they mostly seemed a little fishy to me.  I think the best one is Micheal J. Fox's autobiography, it is a very worthwhile read.


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## Talia_Brie (Feb 5, 2006)

Rivettovski said:
			
		

> All I can say is that Frey's lies put addicts and alcoholics in recovery to shame. He could have put the book in fiction and saved himself the trouble.


 
He couldn't sell it as fiction. That's the problem.

To me this is a real problem. While Frey claims that a Memoir is not necessarily a biography, in common usage there is little real difference. I think a reader is able to expect a certain level of authenticity that is not evident in Frey's two books.

Frey's work is fiction based on actual events. It wasn't marketable as that, so he's lied to everyone involved in order to get it published. This is just in-excusable.


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## Mike C (Feb 7, 2006)

All autobiography is fiction; all fiction is autobiography.

I don't remember who said that, but it's true. He's not the first to exaggerate or change facts for self-aggrandisement.

Bottom line - writer sells a lot of books. That's a good thing. Oprah looks stupid. That's not a bad thing.

Nobody's lost out anything here, except Frey's reputation is now a little frayed and Oprah gets to run around in a fit of moral indignation.

His current book is still selling. I bet his next book hits the best seller lists too. Good luck to him.


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## mN.sparroW (Feb 7, 2006)

James Frey was the brother of a teacher at my school in Minnesota.


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## Drzava (Feb 7, 2006)

Drug addicts and alcoholics are just liars and filth, this is why they don't get hired anywhere, and Frey epitomizes it!


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## Talia_Brie (Feb 7, 2006)

Mike C said:
			
		

> Nobody's lost out anything here, except Frey's reputation is now a little frayed and Oprah gets to run around in a fit of moral indignation.


 
Except all the people who went out and paid $25 for his book expecting one thing, and getting something completely different.

:-k


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## Mike C (Feb 8, 2006)

Not so. They paid $25 for a good read; they got one. If it had been badly written, that would have been a different issue.

Anyone who reads an autobiography and expects it to be the unvarnished truth has to be a little naive, don't you think?


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## Stewart (Feb 8, 2006)

The book that comes to mind, whilst reading this, is _Loitering With Intent _by Muriel Spark; in this a society gathers to write their autobiographies which are then embellished and, in a sense, stolen.


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## Mike C (Feb 8, 2006)

Connor, you are so widely read you must either be 103 years old, or work in a library on quality control!


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## Mike C (Feb 8, 2006)

Drzava said:
			
		

> Drug addicts and alcoholics are just liars and filth, this is why they don't get hired anywhere, and Frey epitomizes it!



Oh dear. Another blanket condemnation, D?


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## Stewart (Feb 8, 2006)

Mike C said:
			
		

> Connor, you are so widely read you must either be 103 years old, or work in a library on quality control!


 
Neither, sadly. Well, perhaps not the 103 years anyway. 

I just made the choice a couple of years ago to immerse myself in as varied a diet of fiction as possible. And I read quite a bit. Luckily, the majority of contemporary novels fall into the 150 to 300 page bracket so I can get through a lot more than, say, a fantasy reader who has 800 pages to contend with (never mind the other 1,600 pages of the _same story!). _Longest I've read this year, at about 630 pages, was _A Prayer For Owen Meany_ by John Irving.

I need to read more classics; I'm shockingly deficient there.

Thanks for the compliment; I appreciate it.


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## Mike C (Feb 8, 2006)

Tis true, Connor.

My advice when pointing people at the classics is to start with Voltaire's Candide. It's a good read, short, and not heavy. And so totally relevant as a satire that it could have been written last week.


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## Talia_Brie (Feb 8, 2006)

Mike C said:
			
		

> Not so. They paid $25 for a good read; they got one. If it had been badly written, that would have been a different issue.
> 
> Anyone who reads an autobiography and expects it to be the unvarnished truth has to be a little naive, don't you think?


 
I disagree. I think the book was clearly marketed as a depiction of real events. Unvarnished truth is one thing, but 90% fabrication is another.

The issue is that Frey originally marketed the book as fiction, but no publisher would accept it. Then, without changing any of the content, he called it a memoir, and away we go.

It's dishonest. That may seem trivial, but if a writer can't be honest with the reader, honest with themselves, then there's somethign terribly wrong.


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## Walkio (Mar 19, 2006)

I just finished it today, and I have to agree that Frey has certainly made it sound like it is a work of truth. Apparently it is not. But I am hardly surprised, like Mike pointed out, most autobiography does exaggerate the truth.

Did any body not find the lack of speech marks annoying? It was like a really long poem. I'm erming and ahing about this. It was quite different than most.


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## K-P (Mar 19, 2006)

Please, do tell me what biography, autobiography, memoir, or what-have-you that is one-hundred percent accurate, with no embellishments or white-washing. And, I mean one that sold well.


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## ghostcoda (Mar 23, 2006)

This Frey cat is a total scumbag. Marketing fake 'non-fiction' for profit is fraud, and also absurd. If I buy a book for facts that might help me look at life from a different angle, then it turns out to be lies is worthless as a piece of art. 

The fact that he helped people cope and feel good about addicition is great, but the way it was presented bugs me. As a inspirational fairy-tale fine, but giving interviews claiming it all fact until the real facts prove he is a liar, when he finally changed his story and admitted his lies, seems like a total rip and slap in the face to all the people who were fans, spend money on this trash, and gave this guy a career. 

I've heard from a lot of addicts who felt they could relate to this memoir. But how is it helpful when they find out it was false and just someone profitting off something that is a real problem for some people. In the end they couldn't relate to ANYONE, which is hurtful to people with these issues. Frey should donate all his earning to recovery and inmate programs then cook up a lethal dose of herion and fade out and gone.

I hate fake and greedy people by the way.


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## Walkio (Mar 24, 2006)

Wow. OK, yes, Frey didn't tell the whole truth. He exaggerated things. As others have said, it is a memoir, not an autobiography etc etc. LAY OFF THE GUYS BACK. His 'piece of lying filth crap' book has changed people's lives. It's saved people's lives. How many people can boast that they've done that?


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## ghostcoda (Mar 24, 2006)

Sorry if I think truth is important. Also when someone is in the throes of addiction or withdrawl it might make you feel good, but after you find out your healing is based on lies it will make you even more paranoid and feel like maybe's there is no way to get better other than to play pretend.

It's just like if you base your life hard core on the Bible or some other book, and then you wake up and realize it's just a book of fables. Your past life decisions might feel a bit hollow and skewed, WHICH IS A PROBLEM. 

So your saying you don't mind to be actively lied to. That's pretty weak.


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## Walkio (Mar 25, 2006)

No - I totally agree that it was wrong for him to lie. But I think we should forgive him when the book has helped people. He shouldn't have written exactly the truth - a million little pieces shouldn't be changed - though he shouldn't have ever said it was the truth.


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