Yesterday, Galleycat confirmed that HarperCollins signed a deal for a James Frey novel. Today, there are a number of reports with quotes and insights from all the principals involved with the deal.
It will be interesting to see how the novel, Bright Shiny Morning sells when it’s released. The Oprah crowd won’t buy it, but then again, would they have purchased a novel (or at least a non-Oprah-endorsed one) from him anyway? The author clearly has fans. Or at least people who want to see what all the fuss is about. Even after all the controversy, Frey’s debunked memoir, A Million Little Pieces continued to sell 1,000 copies a week.
I really liked A Million Little Pieces when it was first released. Later, when all the exaggerations came to light, my opinion of Frey changed. I don’t believe memoirs have to be factually correct down to the slightest detail. I understand some license is needed in order to tell the story. However, taking a couple of hours in a police conference room in Granville, OH and turning that into three months in the big house is a bit much. But I did enjoy the writing. So I’ll definitely read the novel to see how it stands up.
I think there can be some room in memoir for “fictionalization,” assuming the reader is made aware of it, but I think there is a huge difference between changing little details and what Frey did with his “memoir.”
Frey invented many major incidents of the book. He didn’t change just minor details but created out of thin air entire scenes and significant facts, scenes and facts that were extremely pivotal parts of the book. Without those invented portions, the book would have been a shell of its former self and would have lost much of its readability and ability to engage.
I returned for a refund my used copy of Million Little Pieces and the store gladly accepted the return and had a policy in place to do so. Why did I return the book after having read the whole thing and having enjoyed it (prior to the truth coming out)?
The main reason I bought and enjoyed the book was because I believed I was reading the true experience of Mr. Frey. The value for me was not in the storyline or the writing itself so much as in the fact that these experiences happened to an actual person. Learning the book was largely fictionalized thus changes my experience, since most of the value I got from the book was due to its status as a unfictionalized narrative.
I didn’t want to buy a book that demonstrated the extent of Frey’s creativity and imagination in creating events out of thin air; I wanted to buy and read a book about real experiences a real person went through. Mr Frey robbed me and other readers of the freedom to decide for ourselves whether we wished to read his fictionalized story or his memoir. Some, perhaps, would have enjoyed both types of books from Frey. Others, like myself, would prefer one over the other. The final choice though should be the reader’s, and the writer and publisher have an obligation to be honest in the portrayal of the book so the reader can make an accurate choice.
I get different things out of fiction and nonfiction. Frey’s book satisfied my reading needs for a work of non fiction but did not satsify my needs for a novel. Had MLP been a novel I would have had many problems with it and would not have purchased it, much less continued beyond the dentist scene early in the book.
I read and enjoyed the book solely because I thought I was learning about another’s real life, and not because I found the book to be particularly well written, well sturctured, with good, believable characterization, etc. (factors I’d look for in any fiction work I’d buy and read through to the end).
The false pretense is the problem. If this book would have been a good fiction book, it should have been presented as such. I don’t believe it would be good as fiction, but that is my personal taste. Perhaps others would like it as a novel.
The problem is I suspect the author knew that much (or in my case, all) of the draw for his intended readership would be that a real person went through the experiences in the book, and fictionalizing it would lead to the book losing much of its appeal and audience. So, rather than stay within the confines of nonfiction and not fictionalize, which would have potentially made for a much duller and less sensational story, Mr. Frey seems to have chosen an easier approach: fictionalize but pretend he didn’t.
M,
You raise some interesting points. I understand a lot of what you’re saying.
For me, Frey crossed the line not only with the extent of his embellishments and creations, but when he was positioned as a role model of recovery.
Originally, the book was published and it would succeed or fail on it’s literary merits. But as publicity started picking up steam, Frey himself became the story. Frey positioned himself in front of the book, so to speak. Or, else the publishing/sales/publicity/Oprah machine positioned himself there. So when his personal experiences became the focal point, and he was being hailed as this role model for recovery, then the book almost became secondary. And that’s where a big line was crossed, in my opinion.
Frey certainly went through challenging times in his road to recovery. But the extent of the embellishments calls his role model position into question.
Losing weight is undoubtedly difficult. But is losing five pounds the same as dropping seventy-five pounds?
Digging out of debt is challenging. But is paying off a $500 loan from mom and dad the same accomplishment as paying off $98,000 in credit card debt?
If I walk on crutches for a few weeks because of a sprained ankle, can I write a book about beating cancer and then position myself as a role model of beating the health odds?
Frey should be commended for his recovery. He undoubtedly went through tortures the likes of which I’m blessed to never know. But the stretching of the the truth definitely jeopradizes his status as a role model. And, as M points out, since all of his accolades were based on the belief that one was “reading the true experience of Mr. Frey” then the whole thing is bound to collapse.