Frey’s Note Both Accepts and Ducks Blame

Email    Print    Share

Posted on Feb 2, 2006

AP: NEW YORK - In a rare and dramatic author’s note, James Frey acknowledges alterations and embellishments throughout “A Million Little Pieces,” writing that narrative mattered more than truth in his admittedly fictionalized story of addiction and recovery.

“I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require,” writes Frey, whose three-page note will be included in future editions of the book, to be shipped later this month, and was posted Wednesday on the Web site of his publisher, Doubleday, an imprint of Random House, Inc. | story / author’s note or publisher’s note (both .pdf files)

Truthdig says: Frey still tries to peddle that “subjective truth” crap. Hey James, feelings are subjective; thoughts are subjective; calling a two-hour stay in jail “three months” is objectively BS.

Also, Warner Bros. is having second thoughts about a film adaptation:

AP: James Frey’s Million Little problems are showing no signs of going away.

Shortly after Oprah Winfrey publicly drummed the discredited memoirist out of her book club, Warner Bros. announced that it was having second thoughts about going forward with a planned film adaptation of Frey’s A Million Little Pieces.

“We’re reevaluating our position on what to do,” Warner Bros. President Alan Horn told the Los Angeles Times Friday. “Obviously, we watch Oprah and, like everybody else, we’re aware of the change in authenticity of this piece.” | story

And Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) asks a fair question about the issue:

FAIR: With great fanfare the other day, Oprah Winfrey asked James Frey a question that mainstream journalists refuse to ask George W. Bush: “Why would you lie?”

Many pundits and news outlets have chortled at the televised unmasking of Frey as a liar. The reverberations have spanned from schlock media to highbrow outlets. On Friday, the PBS NewsHour With Jim Lehrer devoted an entire segment to what happened. The New York Times supplemented its page-one coverage with an editorial that concluded “Ms. Winfrey gave the audience, including us, what it was hoping for: a demand to hear the truth.”

A key reality of the National Security Agency spying story is: President Bush lied. But routinely missing from media coverage is a demand to hear the truth. | story 

More Below the Ad

Advertisement

TAGS: addiction apologizes author fictionalized frey liar million little pieces publisher recovery stories

Related Entries

• 

  A 7.5 Percent Jobless Rate Means the McRecovery Continues

• 

  A Recovery for the Piggies, Not You

• 

  U.S. Economy Shrinks for First Time Since Mid-2009

• 

  Truthdiggers of the Week: Iceland’s Leaders

Email to a friend

Get truth delivered to
your inbox every week.

Previous item: Bush Advisors: Don’t Take the President Literally on his Vow to Reduce Mideast Oil Imports

Next item: Danforth Takes On the Christian Right

New and Improved Comments

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.

By Sober Sam, February 2, 2006 at 5:37 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The extent of Frey’s lying continues to grow with each week. Recall that when the story first broke he categorically denied all forms of embellishment and fabrication. A mere two days after that he admits ,on Larry King, to limited emebellishment and attempts to place himself in the company of writers such as Hemingway and Faulkner. Later on Oprah he admits to even more falsifications and embellishments. Now he admits that “throughout the book” he employs manipualtions of reality to make the story “ebb and flow”. What will it be next week ? That he faked having a drinking/drug problem ? I wouldn’t be surprised. Confronting lying behavior is an essential part of the rehab process which is something Frey clearly hasn’t worked through. Perhaps another stint in rehab is in order. But this time for real.

Report this

By Ron, February 2, 2006 at 3:05 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

wow. his note, which he had plenty of time to write… IS 1000 WORDS! holy crap. doesn’t Random House have any editors left after Nan Talese went into hiding.

apparently he has as much disdain from brevity as he has for truth.

how about 16 words:
I am a fraud. Sorry you bought my book. You can return it. I will disappear.

Report this