On Frey

Previously on this blog I have shouted the praises of James Frey and his memoir A Million Little Pieces. At the time, I was enthralled the book, thinking it was a fantastic read. Now allegations have come against Frey suggesting that parts of the book may be fictionalized. So I should be conflicted and dislike the book, right?

Wrong.

So the nerds at The Smoking Gun took the time to analyze the book to death and found discrepancies. If you put any piece of non-fiction literature up to a heavy microscopic and study it, you will find huge problems. It's the nature of the medium. Truth is not a constant, so it's impossible for a person to always be truthful about themselves. The event did happen, and whether or not Frey embellished it, it did happen to him.

I was killed by Colin in a debate over this. Unfortunately as Colin sometimes does, he nailed me with a point that I couldn't rebut because I didn't have the right information in front of me. He claimed that James Frey has conceded the point to The Smoking Gun. Indeed, Frey has not conceded anything. Frey wrote on his website ""I stand by my book, and my life, and I won't dignify this bullshit with any sort of further response." Doesn't sound like much of a concession to me. You made some really great points, but this one was wrong. Please don't lower my grade Colin.


I also apparently sound crazy on the radio.