James Frey: depiction of addiction?

Tonight I was thinking about A Million Little Pieces. A friend brought the topic up as she wanted to give it to someone she cares about in hopes that he would give up drinking/pot. Remember? The infamous Mr. James Frey and the explosion he caused first by his book? Only to be discovered to be a BOOK OF LIES?

So I did some Googling. I found the following blog to be the best, along with discussion about the whole ordeal. I would say that half the people still applauded his writing skill, depiction of addiction and some even stated it helped them get help for their addiction. The other half wrote him off as a liar, fraud and is sitting pretty with all the money he collected from the sales of being in the Oprah Book-club. Apparently the road is again divided between addicts and non-addicts, or co-dependents or "alanonies" ( a term found in the 12 Step chat online.)

Mr Frey still displays a pattern of behavior that fits the addict/ACOA. Lying is so typical of all addicts. It's a shame that he turned up so fraudulent. On the other hand,I applaud T.Stoddart for his commitment and strength to stay true to himself. It's apparent he never crossed the line over to bad character.

James Frey: Liar to Addicts and A-Listers
Written by T Stoddart
Published January 09, 2006

Please take the time to read T. Stoddart's commentary, plus the discussion. Here is a quote:

James did what any self delusional, attention starved person would do. He reinvented himself. Yes, it's been done before, and, sadly, it will be done again. The general public is always hungry for stories of self destructive types, who are able to pull themselves back from the brink. It's a literary car crash. No one wants to be involved, but, it doesn't stop us from slowing down to take a look at the wreckage. And kudos to him for having the audacity to keep a straight face through all of it. I know that I couldn't have done it.

And I, too, tried publishing some of my fiction, only to meet with rejection. But, unlike James, I never avoided the truth. No, I embraced the truth because we all know that the only way to overcome something is to face it head on, not hide behind more lies.

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