Customer Reviews

A Million Little Pieces (Oprah's Book Club)

5 star:		(203)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

This is an absorbing gritty novel that I found very hard to put down, but also found myself wondering about. The author lays the awful truth of drug addiction on the line, along with hard truth that the addict must face when going through detox, but there does not seem to be any conclusion beyond "this is what happened." I would like to know more about why, at least why the author thinks this happened to him. The book deserves the praise it is getting, it is well written, but it is kind of like watching a car wreck. You want to look away but can't, and then there are no answers.

In light of what has happened regarding Mr. Frey's two books, I feel the responsibility for fact checking is the responsibility of Doubleday and also of Oprah's staff. I feel that Mr. Frey got caught up in all that there is with having a best selling book. Yes, he should not have lied but his books needed to be classified in another category and again the responsibility of the publisher. This is not the first time that this has happened with publishing corporations. Mr. Frey was used as a scapgoat and publicly humiliated. I read Million Little Pieces and bought copies for several people and have just purchased My Friend Leonard. I will continue to read all the books that Mr. Frey writes, still, I can't imagine why people haven't figured out "what's going on" in the publishing world and places such as Hollywood. A good example is McCrae's book "katzenjammer" which tells exactly this sort of thing-what someone has to go through to get their book published and then what "they" do to it to sell it. Or the book "The Man who invented Rock Hudson" is another which shows the inside workings of the corporations and their lack of ethics, etc. I would recommend the following books to see how people really got where they are: "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson" and McCrae's "Katzenjammer." And I would still recommmend AMLP whether or not you believe everything in it. Still a good book.

I was extremely dissapointed in Oprah for her shameful treatment of the author. All authors make embelishments. She felt the need to embarass this man in front of the world, in order to distance herself from (silly) publicity. I think Oprah made herself look like Jerk. This took away from all the good that she does. She should have let it go. I read a review that said this book did what it was exactly supposed to do - give the reader a quiet afternoon with a page turner. !

There is something about "A Million Little Pieces" that makes you have to keep reading no matter how much it churns your stomach. It's that phenomenon like watching a car wreck. We have to watch. This guy destroyed his life with his addictions. You squirm when you read it. Think "Requiem for a Dream" or "My Fractured Life". It is EXTREMELY graphic. It is EXTREMELY vivid. AND it is EXTREMELY good.

Read this book and you may understand why. James Frey's wonderful, dark, and truthful portrait of addiction and the infinitely small possibility of recovery is one of the most honest portrayals of drug addiction that I have ever read. It's not a pretty story as no true story of addiction can be. Frey writes about the gritty reality of life on drugs and never once attempts to glorify any of it. His story is sad, honest, frustrating. Vomit and snot and rage. Victims, brutality, and very little in the way of hope. Frey is a Substance Abuse Counselor's nightmare - he refuses to play by the rules, he won't attempt to "go along and get along", he often bites the hand that feeds him. His addiction is a living thing residing in his head like a monster with huge bloodied teeth. I loved this book. Read it, feel it, learn from it.

Extremely courages book that details a less than perfect life. I can see why it is a pick of Oprah's.
also read: Nightmares Echo, Running With Scissors

James Frey is breaking new ground in this searing memoir in somewhat the style of Dave Eggers's Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. They're both self-glorifying at the same time they're self-deprecating; the authors are both experimenting with new and original writing techniques; and both deal with pain and heartbreak by writing themselves out of it.
Frey is dealing with addiction, and he writes from within the experience with a surreal immediacy that takes the reader along, after two horrific months in the detox unit, on his journey down the Rocky Road to Recovery. He proves to be a difficult patient at the rehab center - and that's putting it mildly - but it is his very rage and uncooperativeness that are also his strengths.
The present tense increases the gritty reality of Frey's tale, and unlike some who found his free-wheeling habit of playing fast and loose with rules of punctuation, I found his techniques enhanced the reading experience. The aside stories of his fellow inpatients make wonderful vignettes in their own right, but really, none can compete for sheer drama and excess with Frey's own tale, told so well.
I wish him the best.

Because if Oprah says it is good and it is true... The implausability of the events in this book is mind boggling and yet no one seems to question it. This is the worst kind of trash, badly written and ( I deeply suspect)completely fabricated. Please wake up. Stop letting Oprah be your deductive mind. It is only a matter of time before someone starts verifying the veracity of this account (Get with it already)... and then who'll feel silly?

Eyes wide open, I went into this book, not caring at this point if it was fact or fiction. Heck, I just wanted something to read. A MILLION LITTLE PIECES is one fantastic book. The autobiographical memoir seems to have become the latest trend, mirroring the rise in reality TV (but more intellectual, of course!) Television, newspapers, magazines and books have largely embraced this style of communication. And reviews are no different. A MILLION LITTLE PIECES is a good, quick read that explores a life pulling itself out of the maw of oblivion. Drug use and addiction are devastating on a person's life and all those around him. What makes this book so entertaining is the degree to which Frey had destroyed his life and how horrific the struggle to reclaim it has been. There are moments of brutally graphic honesty and unclothed emotion. But above all the book speaks about strength and weakness - how much punishment the body can take or dish out. While Frey is the center of the story, it is the people at the clinic, both patients and staff (as well as his parents) that show addiction to have consequences outside one's self. Also highly recommended: ----Katzenjammer---by J.T. McCrae: deals with what one person does to get published. Sound familiar? Thought so.

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Who cares about whether it is true or not.. It is a great story that has inspired and helped many people and that, I'm sure, is more important than if none of the story ever happened.

It was a great book. I loved it, cover to cover!