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January 13, 2006
Autobiographical Fiction
I'm sure people have been writing autobiographical fiction since the dawn of time. After all, there's a reason for the adage "write what you know." When I first saw A Million Little Pieces in Barnes & Noble, it reminded me of a book I read several years ago. It seemed like a poorer quality, modern update of that book with much more interesting jacket art. So, I didn't purchase it and I've never read it.
For awhile, I was searching for the name of the book aMLP made me remember. It's Junky by William S. Burroughs. I remembered this while reading the introduction to On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
I watched James Frey on the Oprah show (it re-ran over Xmas week). That was before this brouha started. I thought he was uninspiring and that his ridiculous ideas about addiction (that it is not a disease; that you simply decide not to take drugs and then have the ability to have root canal surgery without anesthetics) completely didn't jive with everything I know about addiction. I'm a nicotine addict and I grew up with a drug addict. I thought he was blowing smoke up someone's butt before I had proof of his lies. I couldn't believe that such an inarticulate man made so many millions writing Curse Words In Caps.
I've read the news articles on the controversy. And I read the Smoking Gun expose. Here's the thing: Frey did not write a memoir. He wrote autobiographical fiction and his "prophetic" phrase (hold on) was probably lifted from R.E.M.
There's actually nothing wrong with writing autobiographical fiction. Kerouac has many fans and all of his books were based on his life, seen through a fictionalized lens. Stone Butch Blues is a great explanation of transgender life and is the fictionalized autobiography of Leslie Feinberg.
My problem isn't really with what Frey wrote. It's his unending desire to portray himself as a victim of character assasination. It is the fact that he refuses to recognize that he did NOT write a memoir. Yes, there has been a huge boom in memoirs. No, the difference between memoir and autobiography is not a large as Frey thinks. Memoir chooses points of the author's life to create a good read. It does not give the author license to lie. If the author needs to lie to create a better read, he needs to market his book as fiction (as Frey did when he originally hocked his book to publishers).
I'm disgusted by his hubris. I'm saddened that Oprah Winfrey didn't further distance herself from him. Great, you liked the book. But you should be concerned that the author willfully misled you and your producers regarding the veracity of his tale. Do gooders who fear for the continued health of addicts who were inspired by the book miss the most vital point: neither a former alcoholic nor a billionaire talk show host can lead people to the promised land of freedom from addiction. Each individual must make the choice for herself. Each individual's recovery depends entirely on her own will and exposing Frey as a sham artist should in no way change people's access to healthcare. After all, he doesn't recognize addiction as a disease and his banal advice holds up whether or not you read his drivel.
I'm angry that people who have never dealt with addiction seen Frey's story of salvation as a holy grail which shouldn't be questioned. Plenty of fictional stories have effectively warned people of the problems of drug use; so people should stop blaming the messenger for the brouha over Frey's lies.
More info:
"A Million Little Lies," from The Smoking Gun
"Winfrey stands behind 'Pieces' author" on CNN; includes links to excerpts of the Larry King interview
"Pundits attack author Frey and unhappy reader sues," by Reuters
"Call It Fiction," NYT Editorial (found after writing this post)
Posted by cj at January 13, 2006 06:01 PM