How false was 'A Million Little Pieces' by James Frey?

Question

By that I mean was the character that he encounters in the rehab all fabricated? I would like to know what is true or false about what happened to his friends that was in rehab?

Answer 1

I heard he did exagerate some of situations of his book. Not sure if this meant the people in the situations...but I assume most of the people in his book are based on true people he met. I think some situations were definitely blown up to make it more of an interesting read. For the record, I still think it was a good book. It sure didn't sugar coat an addict's life and it painted a real clear picture of what his life was like, that was the purpose anyway, right?

Answer 2

I saw the guy on Oprah. Here's some stuff that I remember.

-His relationship with Michelle (who got killed by a train) is embellished, and his role in the accident, according to Michelle's real parents, is ficitional.
-His visit to the dentist's office is likely fictional. Frey claims that he deosn't remember the ordeal because he was still strung out, and that he honestly doesn't know if he had Novocaine or not.
-His hellish ride on the airplane is fictional. He took an airplane, but not with all of the injuries that he describes himself having in the book.
-While he does have a criminal record, it is largely exaggerated. For instance, he was only in jail for a few weeks when he got out of rehab; not a few months.
-People he met at rehab are varifiably based on real people, but since most of them are dead, it's pretty much impossible to know to what extent he embellished his account of his relationships with them. Frey's rehab friends did die as he describes, aside from a few slight changes. Lilly committed suicide by slitting her wrists, not by hanging, and Frey wasn't in jail when it happened.

It's still a great book, even if parts of it are fictional. It'll certainly keep you off of drugs, and will still keep you awake thinking about it.

Something that I learned from watching that Oprah episode - don't make Oprah angry. She'll eat you alive.

If you want lots of details on exactly what's true and what isn't, go here:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html

It's a six-page article that touches on some of most contested portions of the book.