Yeah, the man should sink or swim on being a novelist.

And having misrepresented the recovery process is pretty reckless and irresponsible, you know, as a human being.

DING



DING
I have a very different take on dudes like this and Elizabeth Wurtzel and whoever else: REHAB IS FOR QUITTERS.

I read and fucking LOVED it. As far I'm concerned, anything that can get me to read an entire book is cool with me, even if it is not entirly true.

And sorry, but FUCK Oprah! Anybody that thinks shs doesn't have a staff of people that pick these books for her is nuts. Somebody on said staff read the book, thought it was good (cause it is), and recommended it her.

Her asking the editor or whoever yesterday how when they read the book it didn't raise some red flags...How about when YOU read the book? If it was so hard to believe then why don't YOU go and do some fact checking. Oh, sorry, your too busy giving away fucking iPods to housewives so they can listen to the Josh Groban album. GET OVER YOURSELF! Out yourself on ANOTHER cover of your magazine.

Yeah the guy fucking lied about a couple of things. But the MESSAGE of the book isn't at all effected by the things she brought. So who fucking cares?

Would you say the same thing about The Bible?

I think this whole thing is hilarious. More power to the guy for making a couple of million and duping the whole Oprah audience (even though he's been duping people for about 3 years now, right?).
I haven't read the book, but he DID go to rehab, he just lied to sell more books, right?
I guess I would have a problem with this if it were someone else and it was under different circumstances.

I think this is the crux of it. I know lots of people loved this, but from the portions I've skimmed, if I thought it was a novel I would have laughed at the stupid posturing and the stock characters (more on this in some slate article) and put it down. People's lives WERE very much affected by the book. Frey became a posterboy for recovering addicts everywhere, and his book gave them hope because they thought it was true. They thought it was true because he lied about his life. And for those of you who haven't read up on this and think he "embellished," here are the embellishments: he spent zero nights in jail in real life, 3 months in jail in the book (and the sequel, where he met a beefy prisoner named porterhouse who cried while james read him novels, and where a sheriff put a hit out on him). He was never caught with crack in real life, was in the book. Never investigated by the FBI. Never arrested in two of the states where he cites convictions. Was not with the girl from his school on the night she tragically died - was not even particularly close to her. Was not an outcast, was a fratboy.

Not that I have it out for the guy particularly, but this is not the sort of thing people typically do in their autobiographies.

Yes. Depends how you read it and it serves you.

I thought about this comparison.

hyperbole, metaphorical, contradictory, misrepresentative, self-serving, warts and all

I never take things I read at face value. This applies more and more as I grow older. To me it's always "Reader Beware."

I have never read the bible, so no I wouldn't say the same thing about it. I wouldn't say anything about the bible. It's not something I'm interested in.

I am however interested in this book. I like the message of the book. The subject matter hits close to home in some respect.

You can bag on the reasons why I like it, and why I don't give a shit about if every single detail in the book is true. Whatever. I however don't bag on people who believe in things like the Bible. Because it's their perogative if they want to.

I also give the guy props for going back on her show when he knew she was going to try and tear him apart.

Edit: Have you even read the book?

My whole feeling is that this is just some crumbs of Pop Culture that are interesting to watch, even if it is schadenfreude. Personally, I hold the publisher more accountable than Frey, who seems to be a naive opportunist in the whole thing.

If I remember correctly, TSG stated in their expose that Frey pitched the book as a novel, but the publisher would only take it as a non-fiction memoir. Instead of polishing up his prose, he chose to take the cash and go with what he had in hand.

I'm sure he never imagined the notoriety the book has garnered, and I'm sure it was pretty damn hard to admit it was fabricated. The tendency to dig your claws in and hold on for the bumpy ride is perfectly natural, but even now, after he's been exposed as a liar, he still hides behind the "that's how I remember it" curtain. As previously stated, if he truly is a recovering addict, this doesn't seem like a sincere desire for truth and resolution.

Since he created this story from his imagination rather than actual occurences, there is a pretty big discrepancy between this book and non-fiction. It's not embellishment or license. Think about it. Wouldn't it be more amazing if Dorothy & Toto had actually been whisked away to a magical land in a Kansas tornado, rather than knowing up front it's complete fiction?

Frey took the Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction card and ran with it. Unfortunately for him, TSG uncovered the rest of the deck.

Well said, Haq. Seemed way trite to me.

And Busty -- c'mon, man, I can reccomend you a thousand better books than this

actually, i would say the same thing about the bible.
don't take it so litterally, enjoy the message.

Haven't read a single word outside of those quoted in TSG report. Never had a desire too, either. I don't read any book you can buy in an airport, and generally stick to non-fiction--specifically biographies--or more classic literature anyway.

Either answer is acceptable. I know there seems to be a majority of Bible Haters on this board, so I figured it was a fair gamble. Just checking for consistency was all.

I think Bible Haters is strong. And, really you think the majority? I don't hate the Bible, I just don't take it literally. I figured most obnertians felt similarly.

Anyway, sorry to derail. Back to topic.

Okay, maybe not majority, but there are some anti-religious people who foam at the mouth at any mention of Bible or Christianity around these parts.

I was raised Southern Baptist and don't drink any Kool-Aid of any color since about 1996. I'm not a Bible Hater either, though.

How can you possibly say that without reading it? I like the book. Sorry it's not about LBJ, or Nixon, or The Stones.

ALL I'M SAYING is that Oprah is guilty of way worse things than this guy will ever be.

i honestly don't undesrtand why people hate Oprah.

I can say it cos I remember reading a pasage when it came out and thinking "This guy is full of shit"

As for other books, you forgot: The JFK Assassination, HST, The Oakland Raiders, Muhammed Ali, and Hemingway and Tom Wolfe.

Tom Wolfe rules.

Maybe because they believe she helped bring down Dave Chappelle

You know, as consumers we have become so used to the typical narrative arc that it becomes second nature to press any kind of story into that shape to satisfy our expectations. Think of the reality show phenomenon: shoot a bunch of footage, assemble a story in editing. Some folks in my family are noticeable rattled if a film, for example, strays from the narrative convention. This guy lied to cram these pieces into a familiar structure and got dinged for it. Could we go after the people responsible for Survivor and shows of that ilk?

On a related note, I'm sure a bunch of us have read Sedaris' stuff. That qualifies as memoir, yes? I'm fond of a lot of his stuff, but I have no doubt that it is tweaked for effect.

Is this guy getting roasted because of the extent of the lies, the popularity, the Oprah-fication, the references to crime?

he's gettiing roasted because there is all sorts of real govermental stuff we should be caring about, and this is more fun to talk about.

Someday I'll be as smart as you. Why read a book at all if you can get the entire story from a passage?

I'm kinda sickened by her giving away cars and shit to a screaming studio of housewives. This woman holds tremendous power, and yet her show is consistently about celebrity worship, crass consumerism, and the promotion of bullshit self-help gurus who I feel ultimately make us weak, fearful morons.

She seems like a nice lady and I don't begrudge anyone enjoying her; she just gives me the shivers.

Word is the cars had 8-thousand dollar tax bills attached to them and the audience had the choice to ante up or forfeit.

Lame. Not much like tax-free Canadian prize/lottery things.