James Frey: WHY THE SCANDAL?

by **HMKGrey** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:45 pm

Is it just me (very possible)... or is this whole James Frey scandal completely weird? First Oprah, now Larry King. All over CNN HN and CNN proper (term used loosely, obv.) yesterday. Even the HuffPo is all over his ass this morning. (For those unaware, Frey wrote bestseller "A Million Tiny Pieces" - a memoir of his battle with drugs and addiction and - hold the presses - The Smoking Gun has found out that he made up a few bits of it... y'know, he wasn't really //that// drunk when he was arrested that time... you can imagine the rest...) I know it's not exactly a UFO/RSA/Deep Politics story and, as such, not the formal faire of this board but it just seems to me that all of a sudden it's everywhere and it's such a NON-STORY to begin with. Like, who cares? Who's harmed if he did make a few bits up? And who, on God's earth writes a memoir and doesn't make shit up? I know my memoir will be full of made up shit... sort of. Does Frey have a background that I don't know about? Can anyone enlighten me? Does someone //need// him destroyed? Could it be that because it's now pretty much established fact that the right wing are all nut jobs and liars, someone needs to show us that the left wing are all nut jobs and liars too? Sorry, just got my back up.

by **chillin** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:54 pm

From what I can gather he wrote a book about his being the Leroy Brown of substance abuse who pulled himself together by finally just saying 'no'. He got famous when Oprah chose his book for her book club, then did the talk show circuit for a couple of years where he went on about his traumatic experiences. <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0104061jamesfrey1.html">www.thesmokinggun.com/arc...frey1.html</a> Details how most of the events in his book are fabrications. So I think any 'controversy' or whatever is the millions of Oprah followers feeling like they got conned.

by **marykmusic** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:27 pm

<thunderclap> "It's not NICE to fool Mother Oprah." <snicker, from me> --MaryK

by **marykmusic** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:29 pm

(oops, hit it twice) Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=marykmusic>marykmusic</A> at: 1/12/06 2:19 pm

by **yablonsky** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:34 pm

if i remember correctly from an interview I heard months ago, Frey disses the whole 12-step paradigm while trumpeting free-will as the final solution for overcoming addiction. He added that this ruffled many feathers including alot of hate mail.. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=yablonsky>yablonsky</A> at: 1/12/06 2:38 pm

by **HMKGrey** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:09 pm

I read that the disputed parts of the book amount to a dozen or so pages total - of 400+. I guess that his turning his back on the 12 step programme might be deemed irrespsonsible by some and I'm willing to accept that he's talked himself up, perhaps obnoxiously, based on something that he's not entirely but the energy being directed towards this guy (read the HuffPo piece at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-bradley/james-frey-in-his-own-wo_b_13679.html">www.huffingtonpost.com/ri...13679.html</a> to get some idea of the teeth gnashing going on right and left). Anyway, I enjoyed the book, totally felt that chunks were made up while I was reading it... the girl friend, his mobster friend Leonard etc... but hey! I'm a huge Kerouac fan and do I wince when dust jackets rave about the "purity" and "truthfulness" of Kerouac's recollections in his thirty page stream of consciousness downloads? Sure do. 'Guess it just feels like Frey has had something //mobilize// against him and that's worth noting, watching and commenting on. Regardless of the absolute right or wrong of his story.

by **marykmusic** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:27 pm

He's ba-a-a-ack... NEW YORK -- In a stunning switch from dismissive to disgusted, Oprah Winfrey took on one of her chosen authors, James Frey, accusing him on live television of lying about "A Million Little Pieces" and letting down the many fans of his memoir of addiction and recovery. "I feel duped," she said Thursday on her syndicated talk show. "But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers." Frey, who found himself booed in the same Chicago studio where he had been embraced not long ago, acknowledge that he had lied. The rest here: <a href="http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=213584&GT1=7654" target="top">Oprah Tells Frey He 'Betrayed' Readers</a> So, does this go along with our hope that people are starting to wake up in spite of themselves? --MaryK

by **Asta** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 12:23 am

being lied to. I know I am sick and tired of it.