January 30, 2006

FTBITTTD

Heather King (Joe's sister) writes in Publisher's Weekly about James Frey and "lying to tell a lesser truth":

It's every writer's sacred honor to "get it right," but perhaps the burden falls heaviest on the memoirist. As a memoirist, it seems to me, something has to have happened to you that you're burning to tell. You've undergone some kind of transformation that matters not because it says something about you, but because it says something about the world; because it touches on the mysteries of suffering and meaning. There may be great leeway in being faithful to this emotional truth, but you have to have an emotional truth to begin with. The details you remember, your stance towards the people you meet, your interpretation of your experiences: all have to spring from this deeper level; this vision you carry around like a secret; the yearning to get it right that eventually drives everything you think, say, do. You have to have some kind of love for the world, with all its terrible suffering; you have to be willing to cut off your writing hand rather than betray by a word what it's taught you. The problem is that it doesn't seem to have taught James Frey much of anything, which is why A Million Little Pieces rings false, on both levels, from start to finish.
(via Ben.) Posted by Dr. Frank at January 30, 2006 08:21 PM | TrackBack
Comments

finally publisher's weekly puts their guest collumn on the web!

the whole frey thing keeps getting weirder and weirder in my eyes. when is it going to end?

Posted by: kendra at January 30, 2006 10:54 PM

Ever read Frey's books? I don't care about the accuracy of the information, it's a steaming pile of shit (A Million Little Pieces. That guy seriously writes at an 8th-grade level. Whatever, he is a liar and an oppurtunitst and he made some bucks. You go girl.

I think the true monster of the story is Oprah Windbag. She supported him on the Larry King show and said "the essential truth" is what matters. Then, three days later after some media backlash, she invites him on her show to scold and humiliate him so she can save face.

HEY ASSHOLES! PICK YOUR OWN FUCKING READING ASSIGMENTS NEXT TIME AND THIS KIND OF SHIT WON'T HAPPEN!

PS - Christ opher will now just be known as Chris Riordan since I had a spiritual experience recently which makes me feel uncomforatable with using "the lords name in vain." Sorry I haven't been around but I forgot about this place. Is King Dork out yet? I'll go find out.

Posted by: christ opher at January 31, 2006 03:48 AM

Ever read the recovery book "Another Day in Paradise" by Eddie Little? I did many years ago. And although I have never read AMLP, nor do I plan to; my girlfriend Eva (who has read both books)swears that AMLP is a direct ripoff of Little's work. I myself have scimmed AMLP in bookstores in the last few days, including today, and I am coming to the conclusion that my girlfriend is right. The background of the characters parallel each other uncannily, including the striking similarity of Little's "Rosie" to Frey's "Lilly." Both Rosie and Lilly are raped in each book respectively.

Furthermore, according to Eva, on Oprah's web site Frey had mentioned in an interview, when asked about the scribbles at the beginning of the chapters in AMLP, that he had originally wanted to have each chapter begin with a full page of complete blackness. However, Frey said, this idea was shot down by his publisher because of the printing costs.

In Little's book, each chapter begins with a page that is half covered in black.

Posted by: David Cummings at January 31, 2006 06:47 AM

The best review of A Million Little Pieces ever. It starts off with, "This is the worst thing I've ever read," and just gets meaner from there:

http://www.exile.ru/2003-May-29/book_review.html

Posted by: Jim Treacher at January 31, 2006 10:55 PM

Oh, and the same reviewer notes the Eddie Little connection here:

http://www.exile.ru/2005-December-15/a_million_bottles_of_beer_on_the_wall.html

Posted by: Jim Treacher at January 31, 2006 10:57 PM