Week 7 Prompt: A Few Little Thoughts on "A Million Little Pieces"

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Toenails. Honestly, that is what I remember the most about James Frey’s book, “A Million Little Pieces.” At one point while he’s in rehab, he

Pulls. His. Own. Toenail. Out.

On purpose.

<cringe>I couldn’t really tell you anything else specifically that happened in the book. I know there were drugs and police and blood and vomit. I do remember thinking, “This guy is a badass. He’s survived so much.” And why would I doubt anything he wrote or said since Queen Oprah, ruler of Truth and Enlightenment, forced this book on us like a Girl Scout pushing cookies in front of the grocery store?

Back in 2003 when the book came out, I was on a reading hiatus, but I actually BOUGHT this book and read it. I read it with the same zeal and zest that I felt when I watched “Spinal Tap” for the first time. Keep in mind that the first time I watched “Spinal Tap,” I was 13 years old and didn’t know what a “mockumentary” was; I was heartbroken when I learned that the whole movie was a joke (although, later, when I GOT it, I thought it was hilarious.) When I learned James Frey had fabricated the biggest, best portions of his book, it was that initial “Spinal Tap” reaction for me all over again. You know: ”Awwww….MAN!” I didn’t pick up another book for a loooong time.

The Smoking Gun article, “A Million Little Lies,” breaks down the untruths in Frey’s book in such detail that it’s obvious the book is semi-autobiographical at best. Frey deflects the accusations and the facts by putting his own spin on things or saying that he had records expunged, and finally admits that he had “..embellished central details of his criminal career for ‘obvious dramatic reasons.’”

But…WHY?

The obvious answer is to sell books. I don’t think he thought it would ever reach the magnitude that it did. He never expected Queen Oprah to peddle the book on her show. By the time it started rolling, it was too late to backpedal. I think HE even started to believe his lies. He should have taken a page from Tim O’Brien’s book, “The Things They Carried,” a collection of short, often gut-wrenching stories about a soldier’s experiences in Vietnam. O’Brien admits that the stories are semi-autobiographical. It’s up to the reader to discern what is true and what isn’t – or rather, what they WANT to believe is true and what isn’t. Wouldn’t the same have worked for Frey’s story? Do I really have to believe that he pulled off his own toenail? <dry heave> (FYI, don’t Google, “James Frey, toenail images.” DO…..NOT….you’re going to, aren’t you?)

So here we are, 15 years later, and rather than this little book going away, it appears the movie version of “A Million Little Pieces” is in production. 

• Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Juri Join A Million Little Pieces movie

• IMDB, A Million Little Pieces

• James Frey's A Million Little Pieces Gets a Film Deal, Because Truth is Dead

Again I ask…WHY? The answer is one that I reluctantly have to admit is true…

Regardless of its fallacies…it’s still a compelling story.

Dammit.

So as a librarian, what do I do when this movie comes out and someone approaches the adult reference desk and asks me for the book because they want to read it first? I get it for them. You know…intellectual freedom, Code of Ethics, all that Librarian 101 stuff. I hand it to them, smile, and give a million little thanks that 15 years ago, I never got Frey’s battle cry, “Hold On” tattooed on my person.