A Million Little Pieces

So, you’ve already heard it. The big news reports about James Frey, and his hot-selling book “A Million Little Pieces”.

So, are you wondering what the truth is?

Are you wondering what I think the truth is?

I’ll share it with you.

Oprah has made a statement, too, and I’ll tell you what I think about that as well.

Did James Frey embellish his book?? Is his memoir the truth or a lie?

To answer this, I don’t have to do any face reading, paralleling or anything you yourself can’t do. You don’t need any special talents for this task. In this case, all you need are two ears and some logic.

In my opinion, James Frey’s story is loosely based on his life – -but it is by no means a factual account that you could bet your life on. Absolutely not. There is no doubt about it because James Frey verbally admits to “embellishments” himself.

James Frey flat out tells you the book is embellished, and when someone fesses up like he is — believe them! He is admitting to the truth.

But what James Frey is doing is suggesting that parts aren’t true but he doesn’t tell you which one are true and which ones aren’t. He doesn’t want to give that away.

So be it, we know the book isn’t 100% truthful. I think TheSmokingGun.com has discovered some of the embellishments though I haven’t read the book nor done the investigation. I don’t believe however that the TheSmokingGun.com’s investigations are flawed.

What I think happened here and what I believe has been discovered is that publishers edit books, have writers embellish them all the time — and make truths half-truths, etc.

Let’s face it, publishers want to sell books and they want readers to “oooh” and “awww” at them — and real life isn’t going to give you those incredible highs and lows — so things change — get twisted and modified for excitement. Dramas on TV do the same thing — they just put a little bit of text on the screen hinting about such changes. Publisher have had a free license to do it for years without any disclaimers.

What is exposed now is a dirty little secret — from my point of view — about what publishers have been doing for ages –and what writers have agreed to for ages (changing facts)– it is just we the people weren’t aware. I’ve always been suspicious, and this is concrete proof, if you ask me.

The publisher and Frey stand together on this one — and neither is going to point the finger at the other — because both are guilty of creating the embellishements and both are financially invested. If Frey misrepresented himself to the publisher, you can be sure the publisher would stand up against Frey– but they aren’t. Why? Because the two were in on this together. This was a “business” deal, a financial contract with money to be gained.

As for Oprah, while I don’t believe she is defending James Frey — nor is she against him — she is standing firm on the fact if the book helped you in any way — that experience is real — whether or not the story is — and I say good on her for that. She is looking out of the people who need help and are reaching for answers. I don’t think Oprah cares about James Frey or the publisher. She is fighting for the people — which is admirable. Oprah will in due time speak about the publishing world. I have no doubt about that.

But the bigger picture remains — and a new topic is opened for discussion as Oprah put it — and we need to get to the heart of the matter and demand more from publishers. Either something is factual or it isn’t — and a disclaimer should be present if the truth is modified, twisted, or half-told. Publishers and writers need to be held more accountable!!

That’s my two cents. Nothing magical here. No lie detecting talents needed — just plain logic here.

What do you think?