I absolutely LOVED how this book was written. It felt like you were really in his mind throughout the entire book which was really captivating. I also feel like the controversy around “memoir” here is lame. Who cares if some parts were a bit exaggerated/false? This man wrote a book many years later about a time of his life that was probably very foggy/hard to recall perfectly, so of course it wasn’t all 100% true. Also the parts that were claimed to be false didn’t even feel like the biggest points in the book to me, so I’m team James on this one. It’s a memoir in my eyes and I loved it

Mi-am permis ca in grădina lecturilor mele, să cresc pe lângă rândurile de flori frumos aranjate şi vreo două tufe de boscheţi altoiţi. Aşadar, vă prezint această poveste spasmatică, plină de agonie frenetică şi presărata din plin cu un limbaj buruienos, destul de piperat: viața într-un centru de dezintoxicare. Romanul e o dublă devitalizare fără anestezie, o realitate ce-ți biciuieşte simțurile şi le surescitează în cel mai crunt mod posibil: droguri, alcool, întuneric, durere, delir şi vedenii, zbucium şi tortură. O carte ce te decuplează de realitate şi te trimite în cruda şi tenebroasa viaţă a unui om ce se luptă cu dependența, cu eul său bolnav şi ahtiat, otravit de vicii şi demoni. E lupta unui om care vrea să iasă din iadul infernal şi duce o luptă crâncenă între instinct şi voinţă. Veți experimenta cum e să te simți fizic, psihic şi emoțional in pielea unui drogat, alcoolist şi infractor. Are 22 de ani, bea de la 10 ani, s-a drogat de la 12 ani...
Dacă doriți să simțiți adrenalina la cote mari, vă recomand această ploaie cu gheață.

4.5 but rounding down because I hate the way the women were portrayed and the teeth stuff. Still incredibly powerful with the knowledge that it’s an exaggerated account.

Me ha dejado el cuerpo medio del revés. Una novela brutal. Resumen muy resumido: el paso del autor, alcohólico y drogadicto prácticamente desde los diez años que, ya con 23, entra un centro de rehabilitación de Minessota después de haberse degradado hasta los máximos. Aborda el paso por el centro con sus historias, con sus rutinas, con sus dramas y sus luchas.

La novela tiene algo muy bueno: la permeabilidad. Entras en ella como al agua templada, sin problemas, pese a que leas otras tantas novelas a la vez, como es mi caso. El no-estilo del autor en la redacción te lo permite. Puntualizo: he leído novelas que ensalzan el no-estilo casi a niveles imposibles, de esas en las que el autor pone puntos y comas y espacios más o menos donde a él le sale, supongo para dar dramatismo o recalcar algo, y tú tienes que hacer un esfuerzo por entenderlo y encajarte. Pues no es el caso, es justo al revés: el tío controla el contenido de la historia, la lengua, y la narración, y su novela es permeable al punto de que te mete en ella y por ahí circulas sin problemas aunque no ponga un mísero guión por ningún lado y lleves dos días sin cogerla. Como él mismo dice: desnuda tu alma, escribe sin pensar en nada más que lo que te sale.

A ver, también es verdad que en la novela se pasa su tiempo contando que va y viene, lo que desayuna, lo que hace, con quién habla y con quién no etc; vamos, la vida en un centro de estos, pero entre medio vas conociendo su historia y la de otros internos, que no tienen desperdicio alguno, y no soy yo de relatos ni de pasajes por las nubes.

Esta novela fue criticada por venderse como memorias cuando incluía parte de ficción (el propio autor, en una novela posterior, Katerina, dice que se arrepiente de haberlo hecho. Que era su primera novela y que le recomendaron hacerlo así desde la editorial para darle más empaque). Y yo creo que es en el relato de su relación con los demás internos donde le pillaron, porque ni Tarantino los tiene tan buenos. Los personajes son cojonudos, pero más allá de su potencia como personajes, en mi opinión tiene más valor la camaradería, los sentimientos que surgen entre ellos aumentados por las situación tan límite en la que se encuentran todos ellos y se nota que lo
que narra el autor es completamente real y sentido por èl.

Y la historia tiene giros, los tiene, pero no son el motor de la novela aunque te retuercen a niveles insospechados. También le dan oxigeno. Te dejan tocado.

Es una novela intensísima, fuerte, buena, potente pese a sus muchas hojas de puro pasaje, en las que solo vives con él tratando de detener lo que él llama “la furia” mientras vive día a día una rutina sana rodeado de gente, incluido él mismo, llena de demonios y deseando autodestruirse acosados por su pasado y la adicción.

Muy recomendable.

This is the only book I actually threw across the room when I was done. I wanted my time back.

I read this already aware parts of it were untrue, or exagerated. I don't think it makes a bit of difference. For one, how reliable are the memories of a drug addict anyway? I mean when they are in full-blown addiction phase. To elaborate a bit for dramatic effect is not that big of a deal. I think all teenagers should read this. Yes, he may have stretched the truth here and there, but for some, the truth is so much more horrific than his was. Why does it matter? Just because it wasn't all strictly true for him, it was certainly not unbelievable. It's good for addiction to be portrayed in as scary a light as possible. There is not always a happy ending and 15% is pretty crummy odds!

James Frey- whether it's fictionalized or real- has written one hell of a book. The harrowing story of an addict and his fight to kick the drugs and re-build his life. Oprah may have ripped him to shreds, but it's a well-written book, genre specification or not.

DNF ~ page 110

I’m so, SO sad I didn’t like this... I thought I would really enjoyed it since the sequel, My Friend Leonard, is one of my favourite books of all time but I really didn’t.

I’ve never been so bored and annoyed with a character in my life... there is no way I’m going to put myself through another 300 + pages of this. Fell asleep multiple times while reading this and it literally took me 9 days to bring myself to read 110 pages which is crazy! Good riddance

Glad that's over.
Very macho, right down to most of it being bullshit, but entertaining enough in places, especially early on, nevertheless. Kind of ridiculous, too, though - the dentist scene is hilarious. Childish, somehow, despite all the posturing and posing.

This is one of the most engaging books I have ever read. With every page, you are lead along a ride with a recovering drug addict. Throughout the book, you find yourself wishing for his success. The book starts with James, the protagonist. He is on a plane, and he does not know how he got there. He is very injured; missing four teeth and having a broken nose. He eventually finds out he was put on the plane by two men and a doctor, and that he is flying to Chicago. Arriving, he is placed in a Rehab clinic by his family members. Initially, he is not very fond of the idea. He constantly denies to take part in the "Twelve Step Program", which guarantees success in the Rehab clinic. He finds himself throwing up all the time. The only solitude he finds in the clinic is Lily, who he constantly is struck by her beauty. On numerous occasions, he tries to look himself in the eyes, but fails. It isn't until the start of the Family Program that you start to notice changes in his behavior. He finally succeeds in looking himself in the eyes, which he notices to be "pale green". After seeing the "Bald Man" cry, James realizes that he must get sober. A Million Little Pieces sheds light on the abusive life of an addict and their road to recovery. The book is filled with self-pity and deep regret. It is seemingly impossible to put down the book, because your compelled to find out his ultimate fate. The perspective of a drug addict is apparent in every page, and through James we are able to see the inner battles and suicidal thoughts faced by addicts throughout the world.

It's a 1/2 star only. Good Lord, what a cringey whinefest. I have a policy of reading through whatever it is that I start. But I gave up after 229 pages of incessant annoyance. Here is a sample of the remarkable writing this book is filled with -

Everything goes white and I cannot breathe. I clench my eyes and bite down on my existing teeth and I think my jaw may be breaking and I squeeze my hands and I dig my fingers through the hard rubber surface of the tennis balls and my fingernails crack and my fingernails break and my fingernails start to bleed and I curl my toes and they fucking hurt and my torso tightens and my stomach muscles feel as if they're going to collapse and my ribs feel as if they're caving in on themselves and it fucking hurts and my balls are shrinking and the shrinking fucking hurts and my dick is hard because my blood hurts and my blood wants to escape and is seeking exit through my dick and my dick fucking hurts and my arms are straining against the thick blue nylon straps and the thick blue nylon straps are cutting my flesh and it fucking hurts and my face is on fire and the veins in my neck want to explode and my brain is white and it is melting and it fucking hurts.

Do you know what is being descibed here? A frikkin ROOT CANAL. At a dentist's.

Alcohol and drug abuse is a serious topic and I give the author props to be able to write about it but unfortunately, it reads less as an insightful memoir and more as an immature, angsty, incoherent rant against anything and everything. Add to this the fact that he has fabricated incidents in order to add drama to it and you have a perplexing fictional memoir that makes you doubt its credibility. The style of writing is a terrible, terrible TERRIBLE attempt at mixing dialogues with stream of consciousness thoughts.

If I can sum it up, in the style of the book itself, I shall do it in the following manner :

The book is shit and I'm reading it. It is painful but I'm reading it. I can't go on but I'm reading it. *Insert cuss words*. It hurts my brain but I'm reading it. My IQ drops but I'm reading it. *Cuss again* And then, I fling it away. And it doesn't hurt as much. And I'm not reading it anymore.

Use A Million Little Pieces of your time constructively and go read something else.
Lovely front cover though. Very pretty.

I just re-read this for the first time since I initially went through it years ago - high school I think. This book still hits hard. It’s intense - but the intensity is necessary considering the topic.

I know the idea of certain parts being exaggerated or fabricated doesn’t sit well with some readers. I get that. But read it as fiction then - it’s still a very good read.