A Million Little Pieces... oh, how you have betrayed me so. Heartbroken and lied to, I don't think I'll ever read again! Oh me! Oh my! What travesties I've endured so innocently and unknowing... why cruel world have you done this to me?
Ok, so really do I feel as if my world is crumbling around me and everything I’ve ever known now falls into question? No. But, do I feel as if I’ve been taken advantage of and duped? Yeah, I do. Creative licensing comes to point when major plot lines are changed in a memoir, but do I feel as though James Frey needed a publicly televised spanking from Oprah? NO! Just because a few details in his book are not real doesn’t mean that it’s not a good book anymore or that he didn’t overcome a major battle with drug addiction. I will defend Frey because his book moved me in a way a lot of books never have, his humiliation, his grievances, his passion, his drive, his love, and his courage are what I loved, not that he hung out with a mobster at lunch and that he had an arrest in Ohio, or that he snorted glue.
Why make such a large extravaganza about his details when it was his story he put out there so bravely. When he submitted the piece to publishers as a fiction piece and was rejected several times over, he then submitted it as a memoir because for the most part, it was. I don’t feel as though James Frey has wronged me in any way—he has touched my heart and his novel, memoir or no, is still one of the best books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.
I believe that we have more similar opinions than you think. We both believe that he betrayed readers in some way by saying lies were truth. You just handled it all better than I did. :p
ReplyDeletehaha i like your enthusiasm! i agree that i feel taken advantage of and dumped!
ReplyDeleteI agree that doesn't make his book any less great (I liked it too), but I still don't think it should be qualified as non-fiction if it's not a true story.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about creative licensing because there's some things that are okay to be a little embellished, but I don't want a so-called memoir or non-fiction book to be completely embellished.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it shouldn't crush you that he lied but it does make me feel a little duped about how he did it. He used major details that were big factors and changed them. That's where non-fiction needs to actaully be true with a few small details changed.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is all fault to the publishing industry. They would not accept his novel because it was fiction and as a ficiton book, they have seen much better more plot driven stories. Before ridiculing James Frey, they must weigh his persistance in trying to publish a work of fiction.
ReplyDeleteI agree and I like the way you said it, it's not a big deal, but it's still a deal. You shouldn't trick people by lying. A good book if a good book whether it's fake or true.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you shouldn't really be devastated that his book wasn't 100% true, but I don't really think it should be considered non-fiction since it isn't completely true.
ReplyDeletei think that A Million Little Pieces should be considered a fiction story because most of it is streched to where we don't what's true and what's not.
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