Whiskey Wednesday

Oprah Can't be Pleased

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when Oprah heard this news.

The Smoking Gun has been busy. Seems James Frey's "memoir" A Million Little Pieces [for those who've been in a cave the past few months, go see Oprah for a briefing on the hulabaloo] is really a work of fiction or, at best, a gross exageration of real life.

To be fair, Frey shopped the book to publishers as fiction. The publisher who finally picked it up knew the book would make more money and perhaps get noticed by talk show hosts if it were actually a sensational tome making controversial claims which fly in the face of accepted science and medical research. Frey sold his soul and went along. Oprah's Book Club came knocking. Heartwrenching stories were told. Lots of tears were shed. Frey and Doubleday made millions.

I haven't read the book - any book that suburban housewives are knifing each other over gets marked off my list - but I know many, many people have. I really don't care that he lied. Most memoirs are probably far more fictional than we'd like to know. What bothers me is Frey's assertion that the 12-step method and other programs are bogus and that addiction is a choice not a disease. When the publishing industry, Oprah and the mainstream media promote such ideas they keep people from getting the help they need. Let's hope they do as good a job explaining that we've all been had.

BTW: if I am not mistaken, the sequel My Friend Leonard is classified as literary fiction.

Update: Frey responds. Sorta... Stands by book.

The story is growing. Of course, now the asshole will just sell more books...

posted by ThomG @ 11:38:00 AM