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James Christopher Frey (born September 12, 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio USA) is an American writer. He graduated from Denison University and also attended The School of the Art of Institute of Chicago. His first memoir, A Million Little Pieces, was published by Nan Talese/Doubleday in Spring 2003. Its follow-up, My Friend Leonard (also a memoir) was published by Riverhead in Summer 2005. Both books became New York Times #1 bestsellers. James, along with his wife and daughter, currently reside in NYC and Amagansett, NY.
Career
Frey started writing A Million Little Pieces in the spring of 1996. This memoir of Frey's experiences during his treatment at the alcohol and drug addiction treatment facility, Hazelden, was published by Doubleday in April, 2003. Amazon.com editors selected A Million Little Pieces as their favorite book of 2003. In September, 2005, Oprah Winfrey chose A Million Little Pieces for her monthly bookclub. A Million Little Pieces became a bestseller, remaining on the New York Times best seller list for 44 weeks, selling in excess of 4.5 million copies. The New Yorker praised the book as â??A frenzied, electrifying description of the experience.â??http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&pwb=1&ean=9780307276902
In 2004, Frey wrote My Friend Leonard, which continues where A Million Little Pieces left off and centers on the father-son relationship Frey and his friend from Hazelden, Leonard, shared. My Friend Leonard was published in June of 2005 by Riverhead, and became a bestseller. Amazon.com editors selected My Friend Leonard as their # 5 favorite book of 2005.
In 2006, Frey began work on a screenplay about the Hell's Angels for director Tony Scott. Past screenplays to his credit include Kissing a Fool and Sugar: The Fall of the West. Both were produced in 1998, the latter of which he also directed. Frey has also started writing a new book, which he says should be finished within the next year.
Frey has been published in twenty-nine languages worldwide
Controversy
Public Skepticism
On January 8, 2006, The Smoking Gun website published an article: "A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey's Fiction Addiction" alleging that Frey fabricated large parts of his memoirs, including details about his criminal record and drug rehab experiences. [1]
Several news services then picked up on the story. Frey dismissed the charges, saying â??So let the haters hate, let the doubters doubt, I stand by my book, and my life,â?? and threatened to sue The Smoking Gun.[2] Both the book's hardcover and paperback publishers, Doubleday and Anchor Books, respectively, have stood by Frey, although they have requested that Frey write a disclaimer to be included in future publications.[3]
The Minneapolis Star Tribune had questioned Frey's claims as early as 2003. Frey responded by saying, "I've never denied I've altered small details." link
On January 11, 2006 Frey appeared on Larry King Live on CNN. He defended his work while admitting that all memoirs alter minor details for literary effect. Frey consistently referred to the reality of his addiction, which he said was the principal point of his work. Oprah Winfrey called in at the end of the show defending the essence of Frey's book and the inspiration it provided to her viewers, but said she relied on the publisher to assess the book's authenticity. Winfrey removed the references to Frey's work on the main page of her website (link), but left references in the Oprah's Book Club section earlier in the week. (link)
On January 13, 2006, it was reported that all subsequent pressings of A Million Little Pieces would include an author's note addressing concerns about the content. (link)
Live confrontation with Oprah
As more accusations against the book continued to surface, Winfrey invited Frey on the show, to find out directly from him whether he had lied to her and her viewers or had simply embellished minor details as he had convinced Larry King. Winfrey then brought out Frey's publisher Nan Talese to defend her decision to classify the book as a memoir, and forced Telese to admit that she had done nothing to check the books veracity, despite the fact that her representatives had assured Winfrey's staff that the book was indeed non-fiction and described it as "brutally honest" in a press release.
On January 27, 2006, Random House issued a statement regarding the controversy. It noted that future editions of the book would contain notes from both the publisher and Frey on the text, as well as prominent notations on the cover and on their website about the additions. It also noted that future printings of the book would be delayed until these changes were made, and these additions were also being sent out promptly to booksellers for inclusion in previously shipped copies of the book.
In the days following the Oprah confrontation, postings that were supposedly written by Frey himself began appearing on both Oprah and Frey's respective internet forums, causing Frey to release this statement on January 30, 2006:
- "I am not posting anything on any message boards, including the board at this site. Anything posted in my name was not written by me, and is not a statement by me in any way whatsoever."
This marked the first activity by Frey on his blog since January 11, 2006, the day his Larry King appearance went to air.
Aftermath
On January 31, 2006, it was announced that Frey was dropped by his literary manager, Kassie Evashevski of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment over matters of trust. In an exclusive interview with Publisher's Weekly, Evashevski said she had "never personally seen a media frenzy like this regarding a book before." Though she will no longer be representing him, when asked to reflect on Frey's future as a writer, she said, "I still believe he's a very talented writer and suspect we haven't heard the last of James Frey."
On February 1, 2006, Random House published Frey's note to the reader which will be included in future editions of the book. In the note, Frey apologized for fabricating portions of his book and for having made himself seem "tougher and more daring and more aggressive than in reality I was, or I am." He added, "People cope with adversity in many different ways, ways that are deeply personal. . . . My mistake . . . is writing about the person I created in my mind to help me cope, and not the person who went through the experience." Frey admitted that he had literary reasons for his fabrications, as well: "I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require." He also said memoirists had a right to draw upon their memories, in addition to documents, in creating their written works.[4]
On February 24, 2006, Frey's publicist revealed that Penguin imprint Riverhead had dropped out of a two book, seven figure deal with Frey. Riverhead had previously published Frey's bestselling 2005 book, My Friend Leonard.
On September 12, 2006, Frey and publisher Random House, Inc. reached a tentative legal settlement, where readers who felt that they had been defrauded by Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" would be offered a refund. In order to receive the refund, customers must submit a proof of purchase, pieces of the book itself (page 163 from the hard cover or the front cover from the paperback), and complete a sworn statement indicating that they purchased the book under the assumption that it was a memoir.Frey, Publisher Settle Suits Over 'Pieces' (2006-09-12). Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
References and Footnotes
External links
References in truthiness entry.
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Quotations
- "I am an Alcoholic and a Drug Addict and a Criminal." â??A Million Little Pieces
- "More than anything, all I have ever wanted is to feel like I wasn't alone." â??A Million Little Pieces
- "Everything goes white and I cannot breathe. I clench my eyes and I bite down on my existing teeth and I think my jaw might be breaking and I squeeze my hands and I dig my fingers through the hard rubber surface of the tennis balls and my fingernails crack and my fingernails break and my fingernails start to bleed..." â??A Million Little Pieces, describing teeth extraction
- "The truth is all that matters." â??A Million Little Pieces
- "I start crying again. Softly crying. I think of Lilly and I cry. It's all I can do. Cry." â??My Friend Leonard
- "I don't give a fuck what they think of me. I'm going to try to write the best book of my generation and I'm going to try to be the best writer." â??New York Observer, when asked about his opinion of Dave Eggers and other writers
- "I've never denied I've altered small details." â??Minneapolis Star Tribune
- "So let the haters hate, let the doubters doubt, I stand by my book, and my life, and I wonâ??t dignify this bullshit with any sort of further response." â??Frey on his blog after being investigated by thesmokinggun.com
- "I'm looking forward to showing people that I can write fiction." â??October 3, 2005 interview with Publishers Weekly
- "A second is no more than a second. A minute is no more than a minute. A day is no more than a day. They pass. All things and all time will pass. Donâ??t force or fear, donâ??t control or lose control. Donâ??t fight and donâ??t stop fighting. Embrace and endure. If you embrace then you will endure." â??A Million Little Pieces
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