A Million Little Pieces (2003) My Friend Leonard (2005)
Brandon Sears
PAGES: A Million Little Pieces (448) My Friend Leonard (416)
AUTHOR: James Frey
"Addiction is a decision. An individual wants something, whatever that something is, and makes a desicion to get it. Once they have it, they make a desicion to take it. If they take it too often, that process of decision making gets out of control, and if it gets far out of control, it becomes an addiction. At that point the decision is a difficult one to make, but it is still a decision. Do I or don't I. Am I going to take or am I not going to waste my life or am I going to say no and try and stay sober and be a decent person. It is a decision. Each and every time. A decision. String enough of those decisions together and you set a course and you set a standard of living. Addict or human. Genetics do not make that call. They are just an excuse. They allow people to say it wasn't my fault I am genetically predisposed. It wasn't my fault I was programmed from day one. It wasn't my fault I didn't have any say in the matter. Bullsh*t. F*ck that bullsh*t. There is always a decision. Take responsibility for it. Addict or human. It's a f*cking decision. Each and every time."
In 2003, James Frey released A Million Little Pieces, a memoir detailing his 10 year battle with drug and alcohol abuse. Praised by critics and championed by Oprah Winfrey, it seemed like Frey had achieved literally success. However, fast forward 2 years and website, "The Smoking Gun", investigated the legitimacy of some of the claims made in Frey's memoir. It turns out that Frey had embellished a few of the major events within his autobiography; mostly to do with jail time and his main love interest. Unfortunately, almost all reviews and press related to this book since that time period dwell heavily on the controversy and less on the story itself and really, it's not very fair.
A lot of people felt slighted or even taken advantage of due to Frey's erroneous claims and of course, people are entitled to their own opinions; one of the reasons I even review things to begin with. I never had this problem, not once. I heard about Frey's writing style; how different and refreshing it is - I was interested. From the get-go, I basically treated the book as fiction. Sure, after it was over, I was a little curious as to what was "real" and what was "heightened" or "imagined" and I did some research. I was a little disappointed but it didn't change the effect the book had on me, I still loved it either way.
I really felt for Frey's situation. Granted, it's all self inflicted and given my stance on drugs and alcohol, I rarely am able to show sympathy for anyone who makes that life choice. With Frey - or at least Frey's version of himself - you can really tell that deep down inside, he's a nice guy and you find yourself pulling for him from the very start. Frey has a way with writing about hostility and anger that you find yourself anxious for what's going to happen next - you keep waiting for people to loose their cool. This kind of writing makes the book hard to put down.
Frey released the second part to his life story entitled, My Friend Leonard. Picking up after his 90 stint in jail (which was later to be revealed to be false), Frey attempts to put the broken pieces of his life together while coping day to day with overcoming his addictions. He talks about his first few jobs, his personal relationship with his friend, Leonard and trying to find somewhere to call home.
It's hard to really say which book I prefer as they should really be treated as one narrative in two books. They work well together and you can't really have one without the other. Frey's anger largely subsides in the second release; it's more about day to day life and his important friendship with Leonard. Leonard's role in James' rehabilitation plays the most important part and Frey never holds back in acknowledging it, which makes the end of the book very painful. Leonard may lead a questionable life doing things which may or may not be so admirable but it's hard to not love the guy - he's a saint.
Whether everything he had done is true or not, it's really irrelevant at this point. Given all that's happened in terms of legitimacy; no one is reading these books thinking "it's all true". If you walk in with that mindset, it's hard to dislike the material. James has talent; it's all there on the page. I'll let you know if I still think the same thing after I read his first novel, "Bright Shiny Morning".
Brandon Sears is an insurance salesman by day and a superhero by night (not really). He has been writing for Modern Distraction since 2004. He lives in Sydney Mines with his wife, Ashley and his dog Toby.