addicts exaggerate the truth -- who knew???
first off, it's a great read with a unique style. frey makes a sort of rhythm with his sentence structure throughout the entire story, pulling and pushing the reader along at a pace that he (frey) determines, and that is an amazing accomplishment in itself. it is also a wonderful tool for bringing the reader into a world that he/she may have absolutely no idea about. i've been to rehab -- a few, actually, over the course of a year -- and it is very much like going on a roller coaster without a seat belt when you are least prepared physically/mentally for even the slow car ride there.
secondly, it would blow a lot of minds to do some research on how ineffective AA really is. for many, AA will actually make matters worse. i'm not anti-12-step programs, ((if it works, great!)) but there are a lot of other options that people are not made aware of that could save a life or two.
third, with regards to the climactic scene where frey confronts the demon-whiskey, whether it actually happened or not is pretty irrelevant; he paints a great picture of how a person feels once he/she is on the other side of the problem/disorder/disease/whatever. looking at a manifestation of the very thing that caused so much damage and pain... the frustration of realizing that it could do it again if one were to let down one's guard for even a second... even the somewhat sick and egotistical pleasure one gets from taunting the old bully that used to beat you up daily and take your lunch money... powerful and poignant.
what amazes me more than anything, believe it or not, is frey's honesty. he doesn't do what so many addiction memoirs do, which is romanticise a very self-degrading affliction. he gives it enough of a "hook" here and there to keep the reader's attention, and he drifts in and out of the plot's reality and his subconscious, ((which is also very true to the actual experience,)) but ultimately, he gives a very genuine account of something that (thank God) most people will never have to go through.
and when it comes to the scene at the dentist, well, it wouldn't shock me one way or the other concerning his "truthiness." what i will say is that i can't out right dismiss the possibility when it comes to a man who has the courage to put such a personal and difficult experience out there for the entire world. you can question the man's honesty, but not the size of his b*lls.

It was not something that i would usually read but then this book teaches you a lot. I couldn't really relate to James because I have never been to rehab nor was I ever a junkie but still this book gives you a lot to think about.

Very recommended read. :)

So bad, it's eminently quotable. I fondly remember lines like, "I endured, I endured, I fucking endured" and "a bayonet, an eight-foot bayonet, a fucking eight-foot bayonet" both during his traumatic root canal (poor Jimmy), and "Like a child being burned alive, a child being burned alive, a child being fucking burned alive," Frey's way of describing a grown man's screaming at the top of his lungs. See the pattern here? Forgive me if I misquote him by leaving out ellipses. No, I didn't demand a refund on my copy: I borrowed the book from a friend. You could say this is stunning prose in that it feels like an eight-foot bayonet being rammed through you, but then I've never been bayoneted, so I wouldn't know.

I remember reading this eons ago when it came out on a recommendation from a friend. Didn't like it. I couldn't empathize with the point of view at all. Then Oprah came out and told him off for fabricating the entire story. Wasn't surprised at all.

Nope not happy that he started Full Fathom Five

Not exactly a descriptive writer.
Instead he likes to repeat for emphasis.
He repeats.
He loves to repeat.
He takes a phrase and reuses it multiple times.
He repeats.
With his pale green eyes.
He repeats.

If you’re into that type of prose, excellent. If you are not you may find yourself thinking “okay we get it” a lot throughout this book

I stopped reading about half way. There was so much about this book that I didn’t like.

I didn't like the way it was written.

The inconsistent use of capitalized nouns.

The lack of quotation marks.

One word sentences often written as a list.

It's repetitive:

Over and over, descriptions of his meals in the dining room.

Over and over, descriptions of him throwing up.

Over and over, descriptions of him showering.

Over and over, that he’s an Alcoholic, Addict, Criminal.

Over and over, how f*d up he is.

It's unbelievable:

"I wake to the drone of an airplane engine and the feeling of something warm dripping down my chin. I lift my hand to feel my face. My front four teeth are gone, I have a hole in my cheek, my nose is broken and my eyes are swollen nearly shut. I open them and I look around and I'm in the back of a plane and there's no one near me. I look at my clothes and my clothes are covered with a colorful mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood."

Really? They let someone in that condition board a plane without a traveling companion?

Root canal surgery without even a local anesthetic? What would have happened if he’d needed to have his appendix out?

He gets into an altercation with a member of the staff at the clinic, he trashes his room at the clinic, he breaks the rule of not speaking to female patients at the clinic, and he doesn’t get asked to leave?

The book is:

Long winded.

Dry.

Boring.

Unbelievable.

Tedious.

There is a reason that this novel is my favorite novel. I read this at such a young age, and I am quite sure that I can blame it for the fact that I've never done drugs or drank in my 21 years of being alive. This book is so real and so detailed and specific and James' life is so horrible that it's nothing I would ever want for myself. I know there's a lot of controversy about whether this is a fiction or a non fiction book and I say: who cares? Whether he really lived it or exaggerated most of it, it's a good book. It's detailed and interesting and compelling and even as a fiction book nothing changes it. Maybe James Frey did not go through everything in this novel, but someone somewhere out there is and that makes the book non fiction.

There are too many real stories in this world that are simply marvelous. Why would I waste my time on science fiction like this BS!? It's a shame because the writing was pretty good. Mr. Frey would have been better off just calling it fiction. In my opinion of course..

I see that many people who read this novel were disappointed (and rated it accordingly) because they were hoping for an eloquent piece of literary fiction about addiction. I think they couldn't appreciate the agonizingly disjointed and grammatically atrocious work in front of them as a deliberate representation of a sick mind and effed-up life.

Did James Frey himself intend to make A Million Little Pieces so excruciating to read? Doubtful, but I'll give him the credit for the careful crafting anyway. Just like Sapphire's Precious, it needed to be painful. If you have been unlucky enough to lose a loved one to addiction or mental illness, you'll understand why this works, without my, or anyone's, explanation. In my humble opinion, it certainly hit the mark.

My best friend was reading it maybe 6 years ago. I went over her house one day to hang out. After realizing that she wouldn't be putting that book down anytime soon, I complained about wasting my time and she had me read one page, any page. I understood why she wasn't putting it down and let her be.

Years later, after book club hype and before memoir controversy, my mom had me read it. I've always been open minded in terms of memoirs and their relativity to fact. This wasn't the first time truths have been stretched in memoirs, it only received such an incredible response because Oprah felt like an asshole and as far as book sales are concerned, shes the god of high sales. The reason why I personally didn't automatically believe it was all 100% true while reading it is because this man is trying to remember things he did while he was messed up long ago. I don't remember what happened last night when I was drunk, but I can come up with a concept in my head of what happened through what I do remember (or perceive) and through what I was told from others with me. Even Larry King admitted in his interview with Frey that he had difficulty remembering things from his past when he wrote his own memoir.

I personally didn't mind that he stretched the truth and changed names and is now considered a liar. The book was good, thats all. My favorite concept that I got from reading this book was the descriptive writing made me almost feel his pain and I found it interesting that I felt better the more that he got better; from nausia and emotionally draining to clean and feeling a sense of relief.

I wont read it again, only because once was enough for me. But, I'm still a fan. It also helps to have read the second book. Maybe he should write a story about his life after the controversy. Hopefully he didnt start back on the drinking after everyone giving him so much shit, he looked terrible on the second Oprah appearance.

A very depressing, graphic, detailed look inside a drug/alcohol rehab clinic. A true memoir tainted by controversy, even so it would be a good deterrent if impressionable teens were to read it. It’s pretty scary!

Since it was a day by day account of Jame’s time in treatment it became a bit boring. But.....his day at the dentist made my teeth ache and if he vomited one more time I was going to also!! I’m glad he’s stayed sober all these years and he would be a good lecturer on the middle school circuit.

I read it because I was bookless on a stormy Saturday afternoon and my neighborhood “Little Library” was a lot closer than my regular branch. Not my normal choice, but it was an eye opening read.

powerful and well-written