This book isn't getting one star from me on the basis of its fabrication- it's getting one star from me on the basis that it is absolute codswallop. The machismo bollocks that permeates every line of this thing is about as frustrating as it can get, and there's not a lot to be said for the healing power of love at first sight or any of the 'special' traits that the author apparently shows that makes him 'special' and 'worth saving'. The fact that he constantly harps on about his 'mind powers' gets very tired very quickly, and honestly does more harm than good- to poo-poo the journeys of so many people facing addiction who have found help through AA and the Twelve Steps with how strong you are on the basis of using only your brain is senseless and does very little to help people recover. Also, how many truncated sentences can one man use? This is like an exercise in juvenile slam poetry, but where the topic is only how much this guy loves himself.

As for the fact that the whole thing was fairly well wildly made up, I fail to see how that could not have been picked up on sooner. There's absolutely nothing here that brings plausibility in the wake of the dental appointment, and I wish I could just walk up to a Mafioso and have him declare that I'm the son he never had just because I seem special. It's rather odd too how the bulk of these characters conveniently die, somewhat as a cautionary tale I presume, but also as a convenient removal of loose ends. I'm not saying it reeks of fakery...I'm saying it stinks of it. Not something I can even see should've been picked for Oprah's Book Club in any fashion, but if you're going to say no to 'My Dark Vanessa' and yes to 'American Dirt', I think the taste levels already need querying anyway.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is that book you read tell friends about then debate if it's real or not and everyone of you are going to have a different opinion.
It starts with a man of 23 on a plane on his way to rehab to start the fight with his horrendous demons (drink and drug and LOTS of them) and his determination to fight them.
I'm along the lines of half and half,I found it to be a emotionally charged read with certain circumstances that were very very graphic also shocking ( oh the details of throwing up

powerful and well-written

Original Review - 2007 edited slightly (mostly for grammar) in 2011.

I got into a discussion about this book yesterday with some fellow goodreads friends and thought I should add my two cents here. I must start, as is customary with this one, by saying I read the book after it was picked to be in Oprah's book club, but before the scandal occurred.

I enjoyed the book. I attempted to rate it based on the way I felt upon completing it, and without the perspective I now have which is likely affected by the scandal.

When I finished the book, I was exhausted and emotionally drained. This was one of the first recovery books I read. I found the author's writing style to be unique, brisk, and concise in ways I had not previously experienced. Much of this had to do with the nature of the sentences, and paragraphs, and what the pages looked like.

I realize in retrospect that much of the book was made up, but it did seem to be a novel/story that helped other addicts, which leads me to believe the fictionalized events were not necessarily unique and outlandish. I believe one of the reasons I (or the global "we") read books or listen to music is because those people that work/create in those mediums are able to put to words feelings and emotions that "we" all feel, but sometimes can not articulate. The author of A Million Little Pieces made me feel something, and, that, is why I gave it 4 stars.

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 literary 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.

Also posted at Every Read Thing

** This may be one of the only books I can simultaneously place on both the fiction and non-fiction shelf.

I did go into this book after the whole scandel business went down, and I went in not caring if it wasn't quite as factual as some may thinkg. Going in knowing this, I had a fairly open mind thinking of it more as a "based on a true story" kind of memoir (hey if I was writing about rehab I would probably change a few things too). However, even going in with this mind set I was SO irritated that this piece of crap had ever been sold as non-fiction. And no, it wasn't the fact that most of the book was clearly made up, but a number of other things.
First off, there were far too many fancy "only in the fiction world" events. If a crack head runs away from rehab, the guy that doesn't like him isn't going to come and help him on his mission. If a crackhead breaks the number one rule of the rehab centre they aren't going to give him a second chance just because he is so incredible.
Now, that being said, the second thing that irked me was how Frey tried to make himself into a hero. At no point in this book do I congratulate Frey for overcoming his addictions. I just don't care because I don't know what's true and what isn't. Frey explains to us over and over and over again how he is apparently the only person who has ever walked on the planet that can overcome addiction without the twelve steps. All of his support says in this book, "It won't work James, no one has ever stopped being an addict without the twelve steps." Well, James the miracle can! He can stop this just with the power of his mind. He is also strong enough to go into a crackhouse while in rehab and not do any crack and as he's leaving rehab he can sit infront of a huge class of whiskey and not drink it. Well! Good job James! You are the most incredible person on earth (that's what he wants us to say isn't it?)
Third, I hate the bit at the end of the book that "explains" what happens to all of the other characters. You expect every single event. It's like the "You get what's coming" ending. It was lame.
Finally, I hate hate hate this Writing style. Little picky things, I know, but I found it made this book very hard to read. Repeats of everything. Random words capitalized in the middle of a sentence. It irritated me to no end, in fact I could barely finish this book.
I want to forget forget forget this book.

I found this book, a long depressing read, Not my cup of tea.

I read "A Million Little Pieces" before the entire scandal broke out surrounding the truthfulness of the "memoir". Even before obtaining the knowledge that the book was not 100% truthful, I found it to be an overdramatized and unrealistic account of what real life drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs are like. In many scenes in the book I felt as though Frey was self aggrandizing and in some parts even glorifying the experience of being a drug addict. He portrayed drug addicts as rough and rugged, people that have been around the block more than once. Although there is definitely some truth to this, the other side of it is that Rehab is an incredibly sad place to visit. It is filled with lost souls who due to their brain chemistry, life experiences and poor luck have no other choice or options but to admit themselves (People rarely volunteer rehab, it usually takes a severe "rock bottom" to get them there.) I feel as though Frey's book would have been a lot more powerful had he excluded the sensationalism that seemed to flood the book, much of this represented in his wriitng style (one word sentences for dramatic effect.)
After the scandal was revealed and Frey's book was found to be less than non-fiction, my immediate reaction was sadness. I view this to mean that Frey has truly not recovered from his addiction, as step four in the 12 -step- program for recovering addicts is to have "made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." This book is a reflection that Frey obviously still has some work to do. (Not that all of us don't..we just didn't write a book.) To end on a positive note, I will say that "A Million Little Pieces" did give some people a push to seek treatment for their addictions and anything that is able to motivate someone is valuable, no matter the reason behind it.

New thoughts: I have been alerted by another good-reader that Frey refused to follow the 12 steps while he was in rehab (I remember this now..it has been a while since I read the book.) If the memoir was a true story, I would send an emphatic bravo over to Frey and encourage him to design his own program.. However this is not the case and I can only view this as Frey's false promise to other addicts that something other than A.A and the 12 step program will "cure" them of their demons. Sadly, thus far, for the majority of people, the 12 step program is the only successful way to long term recovery and Frey's invalidation of this process does nothing but direct people away from this track.

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!

Una novela muy dura

3.5 ⭐, rounded up

I think I am proudest of making it through this entire book without vomiting once.

(ETA: I was in my first trimester of pregnancy at the time, so triggers were not exactly welcome!)

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