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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 362.29092 EAN: 9780307276902 ISBN: 0307276902 Label: Anchor Manufacturer: Anchor Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 448 Publication Date: September 22, 2005 Publisher: Anchor Release Date: September 22, 2005 Studio: Anchor Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: News from Doubleday & Anchor Books The controversy over James Frey's A Million Little Pieces has caused serious concern at Doubleday and Anchor Books. Recent interpretations of our previous statement notwithstanding, it is not the policy or stance of this company that it doesnt matter whether a book sold as nonfiction is true. A nonfiction book should adhere to the facts as the author knows them. It is, however, Doubleday and Anchor's policy to stand with our authors when accusations are initially leveled against their work, and we continue to believe this is right and proper. A publisher's relationship with an author is based to an extent on trust. Mr. Frey's repeated representations of the book's accuracy, throughout publication and promotion, assured us that everything in it was true to his recollections. When the Smoking Gun report appeared, our first response, given that we were still learning the facts of the matter, was to support our author. Since then, we have questioned him about the allegations and have sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished. We bear a responsibility for what we publish, and apologize to the reading public for any unintentional confusion surrounding the publication of A Million Little Pieces. We are immediately taking the following actions: *Customers should find the Author's Note and Publisher's Note in copies purchased from Amazon.com after April 15, 2006. Note: The following editorial reviews were written before the recent revelations by James Frey and the publisher. Amazon.com The electrifying opening of James Frey's debut memoir, A Million Little Pieces, smash-cuts to the then 23-year-old author on a Chicago-bound plane "covered with a colorful mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood." Wanted by authorities in three states, without ID or any money, his face mangled and missing four front teeth, Frey is on a steep descent from a dark marathon of drug abuse. His stunned family checks him into a famed Minnesota drug treatment center where a doctor promises "he will be dead within a few days" if he starts to use again, and where Frey spends two agonizing months of detox confronting "The Fury" head on: I want a drink. I want fifty drinks. I want a bottle of the purest, strongest, most destructive, most poisonous alcohol on Earth. I want fifty bottles of it. I want crack, dirty and yellow and filled with formaldehyde. I want a pile of powder meth, five hundred hits of acid, a garbage bag filled with mushrooms, a tube of glue bigger than a truck, a pool of gas large enough to drown in. I want something anything whatever however as much as I can. One of the more harrowing sections is when Frey submits to major dental surgery without the benefit of anesthesia or painkillers (he fights the mind-blowing waves of "bayonet" pain by digging his fingers into two old tennis balls until his nails crack). His fellow patients include a damaged crack addict with whom Frey wades into an ill-fated relationship, a federal judge, a former championship boxer, and a mobster (who, upon his release, throws a hilarious surf-and-turf bacchanal, complete with pay-per-view boxing). In the book's epilogue, when Frey ticks off a terse update on everyone, you can almost hear the Jim Carroll Band's brutal survivor's lament "People Who Died" kicking in on the soundtrack of the inevitable film adaptation. The rage-fueled memoir is kept in check by Frey's cool, minimalist style. Like his steady mantra, "I am an Alcoholic and I am a drug Addict and I am a Criminal," Frey's use of repetition takes on a crisp, lyrical quality which lends itself to the surreal experience. The book could have benefited from being a bit leaner. Nearly 400 pages is a long time to spend under Frey's influence, and the stylistic acrobatics (no quotation marks, random capitalization, left-aligned text, wild paragraph breaks) may seem too self-conscious for some readers, but beyond the literary fireworks lurks a fierce debut. --Brad Thomas Parsons Product Description: “The most lacerating tale of drug addiction since William S. Burroughs’ Junky.” —The Boston Globe “Again and again, the book delivers recollections that leave the reader winded and unsteady. James Frey’s staggering recovery memoir could well be seen as the final word on the topic.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A brutal, beautifully written memoir.”—The Denver Post “Gripping . . . A great story . . . You can’t help but cheer his victory.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Whose the target audience?I wanted to send an inspiring story to someone I'm trying to mentor from a distance. He's in an Arizona prison where he's spent a fair amount of the last 20 years for non-violent criminal offenses. To preview it, I got a copy from my local small town library. I knew of the book and the Oprah controversy. However the last book I read was Frey's "Bright Shiny Morning" which touched me in many ways. So when I picked up "A Million Little Pieces", a young employee gave it a bad review. She didn't ... Read More Rating:  - Oprah's book club failed meJames Frey wrote a book lauded as a memoir, which turns out to be untrue. Similarly, this book was lauded as a good read. This as it turns out, is also untrue. The story of the journey through rehab is repetitious - but its worst offense is that the characters are unsympathetic. It's hard to feel sorry for them, despite their dire circumstances. Finally, this story depicts a series of dental appointments that require extensive surgery without local anesthesia. This ... Read More Rating: - Frustrating and annoyingJames Frey caused quite the scandal when he had to "come clean" about coming clean. He wrote this memoir and received widespread praise for the writing and the amazing accomplishment in beating a serious drug and alcohol addiction. But after being featured on Oprah, many that were involved in Frey's true story came forward to say that his portrayal of his experience was largely exaggerated and untrue. He finally admitted that his book, A Million Little Pieces, was based on his life story, but was embellished ... Read More Rating:  - Real or not real? Who cares, its still good!This is a good book. Interesting, compelling, had me hooked. Definitely one to read if you are interested in drug addiction, rehab, and the mind set of people like this. Rough language and swearing so not for teenagers. Rating: - I could not finish this book because it was too annoyingI had heard about (but not read) the Smoking Gun article before I read the book. I had also watched A Scanner Darkly (a movie based on a semi-biographical book by a former meth addict) the week before. Although I'm not a former drug addict or rehab patient, I've spent time with people who are, and the difference of the "feel of authenticity" between "Scanner" and "A Million Little Pieces" is striking. The book reads as though the author is trying to communicate immense emotion, but doesn't quite have ... Read More |
