A Million Little Pieces | James Frey
EPISODE SUMMARY:
In this episode of the Books for Men podcast, host Douglas Vigliotti discusses the book A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. The book gained popularity due to an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey but later faced controversy when it was revealed that a large portion of the story was fabricated. Vigliotti explores the questions raised by this controversy, including the relationship between books, movies, and truth. He also discusses the book's content, which focuses on Frey's six-week stint recovering from alcohol and crack addiction. Vigliotti reflects on the impact of the book and the debate over whether embellishment is necessary to convey the emotional and mental reality of addiction. He also raises questions about the blurred lines between reality and fiction in memoirs and novels. Vigliotti concludes by acknowledging the importance of support and professional help for those battling addiction and shares a quote from the book. He encourages listeners to share the podcast and connect with him on Instagram @douglasvigliotti.
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READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have a book that raises a lot of questions, not just in the content itself, but also in our relationship with books and movies and truth more specifically. And that's something that I kind of wanted to talk a little bit about here on the podcast, and that's why I'm featuring the book today. It's called A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. And you may have already recognized the title because it was a massively popular book when it first came out, and that's largely because of an endorsement given by Oprah. So it was an Oprah book club pick. And then she later recanted her support for the book based on the story that came out that a large portion of this book was fabricated, and then it created this big media frenzy, and he went back out on the show with his publisher and they basically debated with Oprah on the legitimacy of the book and all kinds of stuff, and it just created this big, big media frenzy.
(01:22)
And that was really on the back of this idea that you published a book as a memoir that really wasn't fact-driven at all, and it was embellished to tell a story at a more entertaining value, perhaps, maybe make yourself sound a little bit more courageous and a little bit more gritty and everything to tell a better story, a story that is more entertaining on the page. And so I think that there was a large number of people, rightfully so, who were offended by the idea that they bought the book and supported the book and loved the book because they felt they were getting a true story when in actuality they were getting something that wasn't so true. And as I already mentioned, Oprah took a lot of offense to this, and so it created a big stir. And so I should say that he did admit partial fabrication of the story, or at least on the Wikipedia page, they quote Frey as saying, “People cope with adversity in many different ways, ways that are deeply personal. My mistake is writing about the person I created in my mind to help me cope and not the person who went through the experience.”
(02:36)
Then they continue quoting him: “I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require.” And so that kind of mirrors what I was saying at the beginning in changing the words and the experiences and the flaws, strengths, and weaknesses, which all will help dictate the arc of the character, obviously, and create a more entertaining story on the page. So in my eyes, this whole thing raises a bunch of really interesting questions, ones that I will get to very, very shortly because I just realized that I still have yet to tell you what the actual book is about. And so it's about frays six weeks stint, recovering from alcohol and crack addiction.
(03:23)
It's very descriptive in the experience that Frey either went through or supposedly went through. Either way, the character is depicted very viscerally, and you are gripped by this story in a very, very deep and emotional way. I would say it's harrowing in many respects. There's a section in the early part of the book where Frey describes himself receiving a root canal without anesthesia or pain medication. And I was literally cringing when I read this. It's so amazingly well written, and I don't mean it in a technical or grammatical way. I think this book is a great example of prose that breaks every rule and has a style all to its own. And I think that the combination of that along with the story is what really grabbed so many people when it first came out. And to be honest, I actually wasn't one of those people.
(04:25)
I read this book much later. I knew about the scandal, and I'm using air quotes because I think it's funny to refer to a book scandal, but I knew about it prior to reading it. And so I read it more as a novel than a memoir. And to me, it didn't change the experience that I had with the book at all. With that said, I could see for some people why it would if your enjoyment of the book is really hinged on the idea that this individual made it through this journey of recovery. But if you look at the book in isolation, it's a story that really does go there with or without the memoir title. It's gruesome, it's raw, it's heartfelt. There's a lot of love and support that finds its way into the book in the latter half as the character arcs. And so I have to conclude that without the embellishment, it probably wouldn't have been as good of a book.
(05:26)
And if your goal was to entertain or even help people and do it in the best way that you possibly can, is it possible that the only true way to convey the emotional and mental reality for a drug addict or somebody in recovery, or at least the author's experience, is to embellish and be fantastical in a way? And I know the answer to that question, but to me, it seems like something that could be plausible if you are able to look at it through the right lens. This kind of crosses over into an idea that I brought up during the Hunter S. Thompson episode where he made famous blending fiction and reality concluding that the only adequate way to depict the true, real experience of the actual event was to fictionalize it in a way, because it's the only way to translate truth through the page because you're so far removed from the actual experience.
(06:39)
You need everything that you possibly can to grab the reader and hopefully get them to understand what that experience was like. And of course, he's not talking necessarily about recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, but he was more referencing the pioneering method of Gonzo journalism. So in a way, I like to think of this book potentially as a Gonzo memoir. I don't know if Fray or anybody else would coin it as that, but to me, it definitely fits underneath that same umbrella of blending fiction with reality in the hopes of conveying the true experience. Now, I think where things probably get sticky is on the commerce side of things where it is billed and sold as a memoir, which is supposed to be true to real life. But Hollywood does this all the time. If you really think about it, they bill things as based on a true story or based on real events because it's such a powerful mechanism to put asses in seats and make them watch the movie.
(07:52)
This all hinges on our obsession with the truth or wanting to believe that something is real. But the funny thing about that example is it's easy for us to go back and look at the history of events as they actually happened. And almost all the time that story has been dramatized, which is short saying it has been changed and altered to make it more entertaining for you as a viewer. Yet we never ever crucify the film for dieting so far from the truth. In fact, we applaud it. And 99% of biopics that are made are done in this manner, again, because it's more entertaining. And to me, this relationship that we have with the truth where sometimes we want the real truth and other times we want the made-up truth is just a really interesting question to think about. And it's one that I tend to think about a lot.
(08:59)
And with books specifically, it raises the big question for me in how many novels are more reality than fiction and how many memoirs are actually more fiction than reality? And you might be thinking to yourself, well, does it even matter? And I probably fall into that camp, but the real thing that I want to point out here is this novel memoir, whatever you want to call it, wasn't really vetted to the degree that it should have been, right? But these are humans who are publishing these novels and writing these memoirs and running these companies. Do you really think that all of the memoirs are that well vetted, especially when you're dealing with personal people's lives, and a lot of the people that even get written about maybe are passed away, not here anymore? So in a way, we are just accepting that this author is telling us a version of the truth.
(10:10)
I personally think that more memoirs are probably a greater degree of fiction than people want to own up and admit to. But like many things in life, they are something that you could hide behind because who can actually verify it? Now, I'm not saying that all are, I just think that it's reasonable to assume that there is a lot of fiction in the memoirs that we read. And on the other end, there's a lot of nonfiction in the novels that we read. Some of my favorite storytellers are people who depict what I believe as true to real life, like Richard Price, who I featured on this podcast before, or David Simon in the TV form, which shows like The Wire or The Deuce, coincidentally, Richard Price also was a writer on those shows. But I'm starting to digress, and I really only brought this up to say, does it really matter if this book is fact or fiction, or can we just admit that we have this weird relationship with the truth in general, especially when it comes to the stories that we read, watch, or listen to.
(11:29)
And I just want to close by saying that for anybody who has gone through or is going through drug and alcohol addiction and recovery, I feel for you, I understand firsthand that this book may hit in a little bit of a different way as you battle with your own experiences as you read it. And of course, I want to remind you that there are a lot of ways for you to get support and professional help if you do need it. And there's one quote, it's a piece of advice that comes from the book that I figured was worth sharing. It's one that I think has a lot of truth baked into it. I am aware that the battle I'm fighting is a petty one, but I'm also aware that in order to win that, which is great, you first must win that, which is small. Alright, this episode is a wrap.
(12:19)
As always, I want to thank you for listening. If you enjoyed it or got a lot out of this, then I want you to share it with friends, family members, and anyone who you think might enjoy it, because word of mouth is everything when we're trying to spread awareness. And with this podcast specifically, it's to inspire more men to read. So I could use your help to do that. Men, women, it doesn't matter. I know this show is Books for Men, but I have plenty of female listeners I know because I hear from them. The only qualifier as a book for a man is that I'm a man and I like the book. And so another man may like this book. It doesn't mean a woman can't read it, and it definitely doesn't mean I don't think a woman would also like it or be impacted or entertained by it.
(13:04)
If you want to double down on your support, you could do so by reviewing, subscribing, following, and rating on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. And you can always connect with me on Instagram @douglasvigliotti. It's the only social media I have. And lastly, for more information, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for every episode, as well as sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of every episode, complete with full book and author information, all the best quotes and newsletter only book recommendations. Again, to sign up, just head over to BooksforMen.org.
