A Million Little Pieces

I saw James Frey for the first time, like most other people, on Oprah. I saw how this book he had written had inspired a drug addicted mother to seek medical help. That's great I thought but didn't pay much more attention than that.

I've never been a huge Oprah fan, but living in a house with three other females, Oprah seems to be on at least one television in the house at any given hour.

In between then and now my mom gave me a book called "A Million Little Pieces" for my birthday.

"But mom, it's an Oprah's Book Club book I cried on the phone, what would make you think I would want to read this!?"

She reassured me that she'd only heard good things about the book, and would I just give it a try.

Being that my mom had gone out of her way to ensure that I had a present to open on my birthday, even if it was a selection from Oprah's Book Club I didn't push back as much as I might have normally.

I started reading it a few days later on the bus to work. I like most of the other people who have read this I was capitvated by it instantly. I can't remember how how many pages of the book I read on the way to work but it was a lot.

The whole day at work I couldn't wait till I could get back on the bus to start reading again. I read this book in the freezing cold while I waited for my ride to pick me up at the bus station after work, it was just that good. I finished it the next day on way home, and had to hold back my tears when I read how "Lily" had killed herself just a day before they were to meet up and live happily ever after.

I sang the book's praises to everyone I knew, and soon people were queded up to borrow it, and I couldn't blame them. Ironic, but my mom is the one currently reading the book.

Last week, I had heard in passing a news report about how some of the facts of the book had been exagerated. I didn't pay much attention, but it didn't surprise me that the book wasn't 100% true. The ideas, characters, and way the story was told was extreme, if they weren't as true as I thought they to be when I read the book, it wasn't going to sway my opinion.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before the backlash began. These days it doesn't take much to become an Internet frenzy. "My iPod Nano scratches too easily" , "My Xbox 360 overheats and and crashes" Society these days seems to to crave perfection, and when it doesn't get it the backlash is quick to come and furious in strength. It seems James Frey was to be another victim of The Smoking Gun.

Fast forward to today.

James Frey was on Oprah again today. The Smoking Gun article "The Man Who Conned Oprah" was able to dispute many of the items in the book that were portrayed as the truth. Some of the most famous parts of the book were torn apart and supported by strong evidence on the part of The Smoking Gun. The dentist scene, the jail time Frey served, "Lily", most of the key elements of the book were exposed as potentialy false.

Could it be true? Had Oprah been taken? It was too good to be true I thought. Then I watched Oprah.

On a live show, Oprah confronted Frey. First on her agenda was The Smoking Gun article. You could see "the fury" in her, you could see in building in James. It honestly made for a great television moment. Even more remarkable was Frey admitted his "wrong" doing. He didn't blame his parents, the drugs, his publisher, or a wardrobe malfunction. He just came straight out and said what we all knew by now to be the truth. The book wasn't 100% true.

For the next hour Oprah and a multitude of guests discussed what had happened, and in the end they all decided the truth was fundamentally important. Ok, so that part was a bit of a let down, being that we'd already gotten to the truth in the first five minutes of the show.

In the end, did Frey admitting that some of his book had been fabricated change my opinion of the book? In a word, yes, it did. Not for the worse however. The fresh writing style and the way the subject matter is handled still makes this a great read. I encourage anyone who has read it since finding out it wasn't true to share their opinions.

8/10