I read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey and I liked it. I devoured it. Despite the controversy that a lot of it was made up. It was made up to make James Frey look like a hardcore badass. But really it turns out that he's just another entitled rich white kid with too much time on his hands and too much money so he does too many drugs then ends up in rehab. Then writes a best selling "memoir" that turns out to be held together by lies and covered up by the convenient death of the majority of the characters. No one to collaborate. Yes in spite of all of this I enjoyed the story although it did make me think of Frey as kind of a pathetic douche.

So when I got an Amazon birthday gift card I eagerly ordered his second "memoir", My Friend Leonard. It's the continuation of his life story. Emphasis on story. It starts with him nearing the end of his three month jail sentence.*
His girlfriend that he met in rehab kills herself before he can get to her. The rest of the story is him trying to stay clean and "hold on." Leonard, the friend he made in rehab, features predominately. He unofficially adopts Frey as his son and becomes his benefactor. Leonard is part of organized crime, so he has large amounts of money that he throws around, mostly at Frey. Frey talks about all the beautiful woman who love him. He talks about impromptu trips, meals, and huge parties all funded by Leonard. Everything lavish and expensive of course. Oh the awesomeness of Frey's awesome awesomeness.

This book was insipid and made me cringe. It seemed like Frey was just trying to seem like a badass again who had rich powerful friends and hot chicks. "Hey guys! Look...look at how freaking amazing I am!! Over here! Oi!" It was the equivalent of the kind of person who gives themselves their own nick name and tries to get it to catch on.

And it makes it worse that there is no proof that Leonard ever existed. So this fantasy is all the more pathetic and douchey. I was willing to over look the smudges of lies around the edges of A Million Little Pieces because the writing was visceral and intense. But My Friend Leonard is a blatant pack of lies. (To be fair, they haven't proved that he didn't exist so maybe it's all true**) And it has made me lose any respect I had for the author.

This is an extremely negative review, I won't apologize for it but I will acknowledge it. I have never been so let down by a book or an author.

*it's been hands down proven that he never spent any time in jail, ever in his life.
**Frey also can't prove Leonard existed either...nothing at all.

One hell of a bad book.

Five stars simply for the last 30-40 pages of this book which never fails to make me cry like a baby.

This was definitely an interesting book. I couldn't really relate to the main character because of the difference in age and all his issues (which I fortunately don't have), but I did like his character. This book is almost non-fiction, but not entirely, since the writer changed some of the details about his life. This book was unlike any book I've ever read, and it really pushed me to broaden my horizons.

Outstanding writing. Despite the lack of commas and other traditional grammar I felt this down to my toes. James resonates with me as a person who teeters on all kinds of addictions

A close runner up to my favorite book (John Dies at the End) this book was exquisite!! I would recommend reading A Million Little Pieces first just to get acquainted with the characters and back story but it’s not necessarily needed. James Frey has a way of story telling that grabs you by the face looks you in the eyes and says fuck you…you’re not gonna believe this, prepared to be amazed in the most heartfelt way.

Somehow, despite all of the tragedy, if I could trade lives with a character from any recent read it would be James.

this is such an amazing book. it was super entertaining and i *bawled* like a baby at the end. i hardly ever cry at a book. just fabulous, do yourself a favor and read it :D

I'm sorry if I sound like an Oprah-fan for saying this, but I freaking love this guy's stuff... it's just so beautiful in a sad and desperate kinda way. I love that his writing is exactly as he might be thinking so that you feel like you are literally inside his head as things occur. Cried like a baby at the end... weeper-girl-is-me. A must read.

this book is so sad and bittersweet

that's the main gist of it. lol.

i have no idea where i got this book. i don't remember picking it up at all. it's almost like it just fell right into my hands (or bookshelf), like leonard did for james. how poignant.

i gave this a 4. it's honestly a good book. the read was pretty easy i think, a bit heavy a lot of the time. i think that's mostly why i didn't make this any higher. i didn't really take away a lot other than "aww that sucks. everything ends and my life is awful". i'm sure that's not what the author intended to portray. it's written so beautifully though. i really do recommend it. it's such a deep dive into sadness and grief and love and joy and what everything that being human feels like.

the plot follows james. we meet him in jail because he is drug addict and a criminal, he killed a police officer (?) and we know lilly, his girlfriend his friend leonard are waiting for him outside. the day he is released, he finds out that lilly had killed herself the night before. his whole world is turned upside down. luckily, leonard who basically adopts him oversees his life moving forward. for a little backstory, leonard and james meet in rehab and leonard sees a lot of him in james so he takes him in. the whole book just essentially follows james' sobreity and living life after lilly. he gets a job, meets other women and ends it because his life is too complicated, he continues to see leonard every once in a while, leonard sorts out whatever his problem is at that current time, he writes scripts, moves to hollywood, gets a little success, falls in love, gets dogs, leonard moves away, he breaks up with his partner, one of the dogs get up down, leonard re-emerges, he dies, james is sad and then everything is better... i guess?

the writing is so interesting because there's no proper punctuation sometimes, there's no speech markers, it feels very word-vomity. i was stuggling with it at the start but as you read it, it kind of makes sense for the character. we just sort of read his thoughts and maybe your thoughts are structured this way. it's kind of smart and i like how the book was written.

the characters... i loved james. he seems so much like a wholesome character despite his past. he feels like a truly changed man. he read very dark and broody. everything is internalised for him. i just want to give him a hug because everything is just so messed up for him and yet he continues to persist. it's admirable. i love that. leonard is such a plot armour. hahahaha. is that wrong to say? he's just there... and he fixes everything. a good chunk of the reason why james turned out so well after prison is partly because he himself wanted to change but also mainly because leonard was always there to catch him. i think that's so valuable for rehabilitating someone. when someone wants to change and also has the resources to help them change. how convenient. i'm not mad, i'm mostly impressed.

i have a few notes so maybe we'll just get into those because i do want to finish this reading challenge before the slump kicks in.

i for sure thought that james was crazy like the guy from american psycho because he just stared at a grey wall for most of his time in prison, just waiting for time to pass by. i was sure he would insane. but i'm guessing he was in full zen mode and he's meditating. that's honestly a hard skill to achieve.

that scene when he finds out that lilly had killed herself was so sad. i was rooting for them too. ugh it just broke my heart. suicide is just hard man. personally i don't super agree with it because i was raised catholic and i can't get the thought out of my head that i will definitely go to hell if i try to speed up the process so i guess i'll just suffer here on earth. but i also don't agree with it because of anna akana's video of "please don't kill yourself". just watch it. i cry every time and i watch it when everything feels a bit overwhelming. that video and another video of her's called "the voice". but alos i don't blame lilly for doing what she did either. life sucks man and i'm not the only person who has considered ending everything. i think i say it on the daily.

everyone needs a leonard in their life. what a blessing he is to james.

leonard's advice on how to manoeuvre through having illegal money is fascinating to read. page 130 if you're interested

brooke was so precious and gentle. for his first relationship after lilly i think it was just. i don't think they should've ended up together forever but he needed that soft launch back into the dating scene.

that scene when he was apologising to lilly that he wouldn't visit as much because he met someone was truly heartbreaking.

it was so weird that james actually had decent parents? you'd think that the stereotype is that they had such awful and trauma-filled childhoods that would inevitably make them into the generic criminal when they're older. but dude his parents live overseas and they try to have a good relationship with him, he doesn't really have terrible things to say about them just goes to show that whatever your fuck-ups are later in life is largely your input and at the end of the day, you have responsibility in making it all better.

page 269. it's a small little chapter but it's just james talking about the simplicity of his life and how content he is. it's beautiful. i think as you get older, what he talks about in this chapter is honestly all you ever need.

bless the season with allison.

i really wanted to know what leonard did to james' neighbour.

there's one scene in here that broke me. it was the scene where he had to put cassius down. i hate it. i think i hugged elsa (my dog) extra extra tight that day. i'd probably kill myself if elsa dies.

that scene at the end when leonard dies. ooooof my heart. so weird though that this book followed evelyn hugo and she also unalives herself at the end of the book.

anyways those are all the notes.

i don't know if this book is for everyone. i think if you're a deep reader and you enjoy heavy themes then you probably will love this.

I loved this book. Such a raw look inside his life as an excon and recovering addict. The love Leonard had for the main character was so genuine.

A Million Little Pieces broke my heart into a million little pieces. I couldn’t care less about the furore the novel caused at the time. It was by far the best account of living with addiction that I’ve ever read. Until I discovered My Friend Leonard on audible I had no idea of its existence. I’m so glad i discovered it, but, Jesus but I’m broken.

A Friend Like Leonard is a friend indeed and this is a stunning follow up that grabbed me by the hand, took me on a post rehab journey, made me feel like life was on the up and then tore me apart. The final chapters were genuinely devastating.

I love James Frey’s style of storytelling and I still don’t care that it’s not factual, it’s a sensational piece of writing, and that’s what books are for.

The author has narrated the title perfectly to suit the writing.
Currently included in audible