Frey Comes Clean! Oprah Apologizes! Send comments to amillionlittlelies@gmail.com

View the article here. Wow. I mean, WOW! Unbelievable. Frey admitted today on Oprah that he altered details on every single character in the book, including himself. Frey then went on to talk about The Smoking Gun article that broke the story, saying " I think most of what they wrote was pretty accurate." Oprah went so far as to apologize to her viewers and said she regretted making a supportive phone call to Frey during his appearance on Larry King Live. She actually said she felt "duped!" This is a big deal people. A HUGE deal! Give yourselves a hand! Truth will always be revealed. Thanks to the team at Rocketboom for helping us get out the message.

Send your questions or comments to amillionlittlelies@gmail.com.

Send your comments to amillionlittlelies@gmail.com

Brittany says (1/30/2006):
"I must say, I am very disappointed. Not in James, but his readers/fans, the public. I'm just so disappointed. With everything. I really don't see the problem in what James has done. He didn't exactly lie I don't think, he stretched the truth, made it better. Who cares if he did lie in some parts, the important thing is that he helped millions of people, he's still here today, he's still alive and he pulled himself out of his addictions. That's the important thing. And not only, it was an amazing, inspiring, book. And there are so many more ways to describe it. As long as he helped people see what addiction is like, how rough it is, how horrible it is, that's the main thing. I was a little upset with Oprah as well, here. But, as I said. I really don't see any harm in what James has done. And I hope people realize that at some point. Thanks."

Jan-Peter says (1/28/2006):
"Hi, I was toying with the idea of spoofing AMLL before Oprah finally changed her mind.
One idea I had was to spoof the cover with a candy-coated hand with its middle finger extended - you think it might catch on? :)"

Riley says (1/27/2006):
"I was shocked to see Oprah apologize...I wonder if James knew what was happening...he seemed a bit blindsided by the whole thing."

Moes says (1/27/2006):
"I think James has some amends to make!!! I belive that is the 4th step Mr.Frey. You should try it."

Janice writes (1/27/2006):
"James is only as sick as his secrets and it appears he is quite sick. The only way that a middle class white kid that was so much an outsider that he was a "frat boy", could ever gain attention in rehab would be to have the disease of all alcoholics-grandiosity. I have the same amount of sobriety as James. Actually, I also used to embellish my one night in jail for dramatic effect as the turning point in my life toward sobriety. We have a lot in common until it comes to truth. Because I go to A.A. I have a group of individuals to which my "truth" is sometimes questioned. James has made the mistake that many "white knuckle" addicts make. He assumes he is in recovery, when he is actually still using. He is using people, power and money to manipulate others and is still in denial---a huge part of this disease. (Yes James, I do believe it is a disease, but I also know I am 100% responsible for the truth that comes from me!) James advocated in his book for people to "hold on". I feel sorry for the numerous people that read his book, tattooed their arms and sat in silent suffering trying to control things which they can't. This is why James feels he can "control" the truth. If you live your life with "hold on" you are held. James has "held" many people hostage with his version of recovery. I hope that those people who began their own recovery by connecting with this book, now turn to the most successful program for addicts-AA and NA. It is in these rooms that we learn the truth about ourselves and learn how to continue to change the behaviors that lead us to a million little lies. I don't live my life holding on. I live my life fully free knowing that I need others to help me to live a truthful recovery."

Anonymous writes in (1/27/2006):
"I think that James is an amazing story teller and a very creative person. My only thought is if he wanted to write a book based on his life experience in rehab, he should have put in "this novel is based on a true story" instead of saying this is his life story. By choosing this path, he has not only lied to Oprah, but also lied to the thousands of readers who read his story and thought of him not only as a role model for rehab paitents, but as a strong person as well.I say if you want to show people that you are a strong person, stay clean and sober and show the public that rehab does work and that even if there is rough patches in your life, you don't look to alchol and drugs to make it all better, and to also face the truth and apologize to the people for what he did and accept whatever comes his way."

Moe writes in(1/27/2006):
"I have not read the book, but I know addiction, from my own personal trials to those of almost my entire family. I must say that anyone who can say that people will relapse due to this book, don't understand addiction at it's roots. If someone isn't ready or willing to stay clean for their own reasons, then they won't stay clean. And for anyone to base their sobriety on a book (especially one that discredits 12 step programs that are proven to help millions) is a ridiculous thing to do in the first place. Find some inner peace and strength addicts, so you don't have to embellish or manipulate anymore."

Meagan says (1/27/2006):
"In light of the recent comments on your blog, I'd like to make a simple defense. The words on the 382 pages of "AMLP" remain the same. It's a shame that biology did not allow Frey to begin his career during the Beat Generation when writing with style was worth something. If we as a nation would like to chew on fraudulent writing, we need only take a good look at modern mammoths like Clancy and Grisham. What proportions of their best-selling books are written by their team of ghost writers? Perhaps we need to define the limits we as readers have set on what we'll consider reality. Is it the miscategorizing of a genre of a book, intentionally or not? Is it the intentional publishing of art that one has not created?"

B to the T sends us this comment today (1/17/2006):
"There is no doubt in my mind that James Frey did drugs and liked to get high. The doubt comes in to play when talking about the gory details, the insane stories of near death, the clash with authorities and time spent in jail. I think James Frey is just a great story teller. Anyone who knows a creative person, knows that they usually have the gift of elaborating. James Frey is a creative person, who did a lot of drugs and elaborated his stories to the point of making a best selling book. I am still waiting to hear from the dentist that did his hours and hours of dental work with no pain killers, I am still waiting to hear from the pilot and/or stewardess that witnessed him on the plane in the opening chapter...the list goes on. These people need to come out and verify his stories to help his credibility. How hard is it to find these people, because it's surely something they wouldn't of ever forgotten if it was as horrifying as James described!"

Ben sent us this e-mail today with the subject line "duped" (1/17/2006):
"I have so many things to discuss, but I also have a lack of time and energy to spend on this drug using smartass. At one point in the book he lets it be known that his memory has always been there. He could never shake his memory. It is a point that he wants to be very clear so that we can feel good that this is all true accounts. Now recently he uses the statement on Larry King that one is not going to remember all of the events exactly or even at all after such a long period of time between treatment and book writing. With that being said, he is letting us know that embellish is not the word for his fictional writings. Garbage with poor writing skills would best define the touching story that this guy hand-crafted.
One other thing is that at no point in the story was this guy weaker than anyone or anything except his drug addiction which really wasn't an addiction at all. My thoughts are scrambled because it would take an email the length of the book to respond to all of the places where this tale went astray. My bet would be that only a fraction of the characters ever existed. Pretty easy to have a setting of a drug rehab center and finish the book with nearly all of the main characters dead. Nobody should be able to dispute any of that.
That's all I have.

Drew at Rocketboom sent me this message today (1/16/2006):
"We received a note that your site is actually in cahoots or created by Frey himself. Do you have a comment on this? Can you prove that you are not Frey or associated with his interests?"

Good question Drew. I noticed that a person by the name of Rorie posted on your site that said he or she had first hand knowledge that I was actually James Frey himself or associated with Mr. Frey. Hysterical. Drew, I have ZERO connection with James Frey, his publisher, his manager, his pets, his parents, his Pilates instructor, his grocery check-out person or his past coke dealer. I've never met the man or any of the above people I mentioned. I can assure you I am a normal person who fell prey to the hype on Friday, January 6, when I purchased a copy of Frey's book at a local Borders. I devoured nearly 250 pages over that weekend and on Monday was sent a link to The Smoking Gun report by a friend. I felt duped. I consider myself a smart person, and at times I thought the stories were a bit much, but I never really cosnidered that he was making this stuff up. I didn't read another single word of the book after that. My lovely wife returned it to Borders the following evening and we received a full refund. I started this site so people who perhaps felt the same way I felt could share their feelings. It's as innocent as that.


Do you feel duped by James Frey? Do you think the whole thing's just been blown way out of proportion? Send your comments to amillionlittlelies@gmail.com. We'll post all feedback, good or bad, related to the events of the last couple of weeks.

AMLL featured on Rocketboom

AMillionLittleLies.com was featured on Rocketboom this week. Rocketboom is a great daily video log, or vlog for short. I'm a conservative Republican, but I love what they're doing and how they're doing it. And apparently 60,000-100,000 people watch Rocketboom everyday. Thanks for helping get the word out guys. Nothing like the truth huh? you can see the clip here.

Oprah defends Frey on LKL

Transcript can be found here. Why can't big-time celebs ever admit their mistakes? The guy clearly lied, made up stuff, embellished. Alot of people were taken by the whole thing, 3.5 million and counting to date. Just because you're a HUGE force in media doesn't mean you're always right. The thing that sickens me most is the fact that he took a real event that he had nothing to do with (the girl who is killed in the car/train accident) and makes himself a third victim just to sell books. His lies have changed lives, so the ends must justify the means??? Ever thought about the addict who found comfort in Frey's book, was able to find the strength to kick the habit and now it comes out that his story is not so credible??? They can't believe they've been duped AGAIN! Not by the drugs or the alcohol this time, but by someone claiming to have once been in the same boat they find themselves in currently. If he lied about doing time, maybe he's lying about being able to stay sober this long? Maybe I can't really stay sober. Maybe I should just give up. That's right, stand by your man Oprah.

Random House refund misreported!

You can read the article here. So it looks like Random House is standing by their author. Why wouldn't they?!?! How much $ do you think he's made them this year with that book of lies?

Random House Offering Refund!!!

Read the article here. Apparently Random House is offering a refund to people who purchased a copy of A Million Little Pieces. The article says this move is unprecedented. If you purchased the book from a retailer though, don't expect quite the polite service. This refund only applies to books purchased directly from Random House. I don't even understand this. Who in the crap thinks to themselves "Hmm, that book I heard about on Oprah sounds great. I think I'll call Random House and order up a copy!" Answer? No one, that's who. We all go to Borders or Barnes and Nobles or freaking Wal-Mart or Target or Amazon.com or our local bookstore but we never, ever, ever call up the publishing house. Seems like they're trying to come off as nice guys without actually giving up that much. Hmm, how about just taking that money that you would pay out and hiring a person to validate your author's stories before you pay him to write his memoirs?!?!?! I honestly think sometimes that two drunk monkeys could run most of the media companies in this country.

James Frey to appear on Larry King LIVE Tonight!

Read the aritcle here. Apparently Larry King has invited James Frey to appear on his CNN program tonight to defend the factual content of his best-selling book A Million Little Pieces. I just hope and pray that Larry doesn't toss this guy some softballs. I think Ryan Seacrest may actually be a tougher interviewer! Check out Larry's site here. The show airs on CNN at 9:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

Amazon.com Speaks the Truth!

Amazon.com is doing a good thing here. They're actually allowing people to negatively review this book based on the recent findings that alot of the book was embellished or just plain made up. Alot of times e-tailers will censor these reviews because they want to sell books. Not Amazon.com. Amazon.com keeps it real and honest and should be commended. Thank you Amazon.com.

Hoodwinked

The truth. That's what Jim Frey wants more than anything in his book A Million Little Pieces. Good or bad, just be truthful.

Well according to The Smoking Gun, James Frey may have taken liberties to embellish the story for drama's sake. Drama?!?! Who wants drama?!?! We just want the truth.

Isn't that what drew most of us to A Million Little Pieces? It's gritty, it's raw, at times it's downright obscene, but at least it's real, or at least we thought it was real.

Here's the thing: you can read the report here and decide for yourself, but I honestly feel hoodwinked by this guy. I mean I'm really, really pissed, so much so that I returned my copy to the local retailer I purchased it from.

Maybe I'm alone in my feelings, but maybe I'm not. I'm interested to hear what other people have to say about it. Feel free to share your feelings here. That's why this site was created.