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    A Million Little Pieces
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    A Million Little Pieces
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    A Million Little Pieces
    Ebook640 pages9 hours

    A Million Little Pieces

    By James Frey

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A gripping memoir about the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery from a bold and talented literary voice. “Anyone who has ever felt broken and wished for a better life will find inspiration in Frey’s story.” —People

    “A great story.... You can't help but cheer his victory.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

    By the time he entered a drug and alcohol treatment facility, James Frey had taken his addictions to near-deadly extremes. He had so thoroughly ravaged his body that the facility’s doctors were shocked he was still alive. The ensuing torments of detoxification and withdrawal, and the never-ending urge to use chemicals, are captured with a vitality and directness that recalls the seminal eye-opening power of William Burroughs’s Junky.

    But A Million Little Pieces refuses to fit any mold of drug literature. Inside the clinic, James is surrounded by patients as troubled as he is—including a judge, a mobster, a one-time world-champion boxer, and a fragile former prostitute to whom he is not allowed to speak—but their friendship and advice strikes James as stronger and truer than the clinic’s droning dogma of How to Recover. James refuses to consider himself a victim of anything but his own bad decisions, and insists on accepting sole accountability for the person he has been and the person he may become—which runs directly counter to his counselors' recipes for recovery.

    James has to fight to find his own way to confront the consequences of the life he has lived so far, and to determine what future, if any, he holds. It is this fight, told with the charismatic energy and power of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, that is at the heart of A Million Little Pieces: the fight between one young man’s will and the ever-tempting chemical trip to oblivion, the fight to survive on his own terms, for reasons close to his own heart. "

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateMay 11, 2004
    ISBN9781400079018
    Author

    James Frey

    James Frey is originally from Cleveland. All four of his books, A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard, Bright Shiny Morning, and The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, were international bestsellers.

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    Reviews for A Million Little Pieces

    3.5/5

    142 ratings144 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I had heard about this book when it hit the Oprah's Book Club list.... then I heard about it again when the "truth" was "revealed".... that it wasn't actually a memoir, as touted, but a work of fiction... ooh! the CONTROVERSY!!!!

      I picked it up at a book sale or in a bargain bin about a year ago, having always been curious about it. Yes, I knew it was a work of fiction, or at least more fiction than truth... but I was still interested in the actual story.
      I'm glad I finally started reading it--it was REALLY intense and very interesting. Regardless of whether or not it's a true story, it was very, VERY good! I was immediately sucked into James' story. I'm incredibly curious about the Road to Recovery for addicts, and this, to me, was a clear picture of how difficult and harrowing it can be. There were a lot of things I'm sure happen to some people, in reality, and they were naked and scary and ugly and painful. I appreciated that candor. I also appreciated, by way of reading this story, how lucky I am to have missed these problems. It became clear to me, once again, that addiction can hit anyone at any time, regardless of class, race, upbringing, values, etc.

      I think everyone should read this!
    • 3/5
      I read this a few months before the scandal broke. I hardly agree with the author that the embellishments were minor. I do see why Oprah chose it - it is a very motivating piece about how one man reclaimed his life from his destructive habits - empowering for anyone who struggles with any sort of addition or destructive cycle. Also written in a very unique style. Given what we know now, I feel it does diminish the power of the book
    • 4/5
      Experiential
    • 1/5
      Borrrrrrrring....
    • 4/5
      I knew that Oprah had this book on her Book Club list; I knew she had interviewed James Frey three times; I knew that there was controversy; I knew that the supposed memoir wasn't actually that; I was curious . . . so I read the book. I am glad that I did. From the start, it didn't feel like a memoir, it felt like a novel with intriguing characters who had significant flaws. At the end of the book, I felt that James Frey had taken all his experiences, those he had witnessed and those he imagined and gave them to the characters he met in rehab and to his main character. I really loved all the characters, and I enjoyed the telling of his thoughts during his recovery. His philosophy gave me a chance to think, and I find myself continuing to think about the book and what it is saying now that I have finished it. I am not overly concerned about the controversy or what is real in the book - I liked it.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the story, but it was difficult to get past the lack of punctuation and other horrible grammatical things. And, when I read it, there was already talk about Frey having exaggerated some points, so I decided to look at it as fiction. I think that is an important thing to do if you decide to read this.
    • 4/5
      Controversial Oprah pick; excruciating look at addiction.
    • 4/5
      When you pick up this book and read the first word, you are lost in James' world through his time at rehab. Meaningful and funny and sad and alive and true and painful.
    • 1/5
      I know everyone probably says this now, but as I read this the day after Oprah recommended it, I thought...this is so far fetched. I believe in poetic license, but COME ON. It's soOoOoOO over-the-top unbelieveable, and a slap in the face to folks who suffer true abuse from their parents or captors or others in their lives.
    • 5/5
      I know this book turned out to have a lot of lies in it but it doesn't matter to me because I absolutely loved the read! Yes, he should probably should have put it as fiction but even though he didn't I still read another one of his books, My Friend Leonard and also loved that one just as much! Highly recommend this book to anyone!
    • 4/5
      Traumatic,controversial,heart breaking
    • 1/5
      reading as fiction, not biography.
    • 1/5
      The first part of this book is well done. Frey does describe what it is like to be an addict well. I'm one & I know. After that, it was pure fiction - very dangerous fiction for an addict.From his description, I believe he went to the same treatment center as I did. They would never allow him to run his own program or pull half the crap he said he did. His best thinking & will power got him to treatment. It isn't logical nor part of any reputable treatment plan, to allow the addict to cure himself. If it was, none of us would ever be in a treatment center in the first place. I went there because it was that or death. My mother read the book & said it gave her an insight into my disease she had never had before. Kudos for that. Seriously, I am most thankful & it's the only reason this didn't get a single star. She believed the whole book - I knew most of it was fiction way before Oprah finally got around to saying it. Thumbs down to Oprah on this one - she had to know it too, from her medical expert who supposedly told her well before air time. As for Mr. Frey, he got his moment of fame, probably a lot of money & hopefully he really isn't an addict or it will likely kill him.There are better ways for a loved one to know what it is like to be an addict. If that person won't go to AA, NA or Alanon - if you think this is the only way for them to learn - by all means give them the book. Just rip the last half to 2/3 of it out first.
    • 5/5
      Rumor has it that James Frey tried to sell A Million Little Pieces as fiction 19 times and it was rejected every one. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know I was grateful to be able to read this book. If the events of the story were exaggerated, the rendering of an addict's mind is absolutely true and so is the story of self-reliance and salvation this book tells. I was sorry to finish it.
    • 3/5
      Certainly dramatic. I remember enjoying it years ago when I read it for the first time, but I don't remember much.
    • 4/5
      What struck me most about this book was the use of language. It is composed of short sharp repeating phrases, which embody a desperation, a loss of direction. Everything is either one way or the other.
      The prospect of death is always just one step away. There is no chance it will happen immediately; we know that because we are not at the end of the book, so we are drawn towards the character's fate. What will he do? It could end on the next page. We could read the entire book only to reach his overdose suicide on the last page.
      The female character provides us with an alternative. Her's is a natural addiction. Addictive personalities are defined as the cause of her destructive addiction. This is done early on, so we are also faced with the transition to an essay, interestingly balancing the transition to female.
    • 5/5
      I think everyone should read this book one time in their life. It educates people about the disease addiction, which i think people do not take seriously. I can tell you from personal experiences that it is very real. This book lets you live in the mind of a recovering addict for a few months while he deals with the devastation that he has caused ever since he started down this path (circa the age of 10). It gives you hope that addicts can get better. It also gives you insight about what addicts go through, because i for one do not understand how they cant just stop and i think that that is a common thought that plagues society. Addicts are not accepted properly, and they are portrayed as week because they cannot put down the bottle. This book takes all of those ideas and shoots them to the ground and frankly makes you feel guilty for thinking them in the first place. I loved this book. I cried at so many points, but that isn't why i loved it. I loved that the author used a candid tone throughout the whole book and shared the good the bad and the ugly with the readers.
    • 2/5
      Didn't finish it. Had a hard time getting into it and then found out he was a fraud anyway.
    • 3/5
      I never paid attention to the hype about this book back when it was abuzz. I wanted to read this book just because it's an Oprah Book Club book. Only after I finished it did I go and read about the scandal. I thought this book was pretty good. Kind of depressing, though. I probably wouldn't read it again. Some parts were hard to believe.
    • 4/5
      A quick read. I enjoyed Jame's lyrical writing style. I really didn't care Oprah disowned this book , or that some parts were embellished, it was an interesting story. Some parts where to graphic for me to read, particularly the scene where he has dental work done without any painkillers. I enjoyed reading about the relationships built with the other patients and their life stories. Unfortunately I did not find the book very climatic and felt the end fall flat.
    • 3/5
      Interesting read. This book rejects the Twelve step program and makes getting "straight" the addict's responsibility.
    • 2/5
      The book is positioned as a true account/a life story. So I come down on the side that knowingly adding 'enhancers' is fraudulent. I think the book would have been powerful and a good seller without adding the extra, so it's a shame for the guy. There are a number of parts that seem obvious to me that are 'made-up'. There are pretty proscribed doses of alcohol and drugs that are lethal, and he's listing quantities in here that are unlikely to be accurate (because if they were he'd be in the Top 10 consumers-without-dying ever). His whole grab-someone-by-the-throat/stick 'em in the throat thing is not as effective as he makes it out. If it was so great more people would do it; the fact is that many can keep or get your hand off them which then devolves into them pushing you backward or off your feet. So to me the book was hard to read because of the inflation of the guy's crimes, dosage tolerances, tough-guy attitude, etc. I'd recommend avoiding the book on principle.
    • 3/5
      I know this book was fiction based on the author's vivid imagination and a tiny bit of real life experience, but it was still an interesting read.
    • 2/5
      I admit it...I read this because it was part of Oprah's Book Club. It was very repetitive and told me more about the mind of an addict that I ever wanted to know. I had a hard time getting through it and I was glad when it was over. I did admire Frey for his stance against the 12 steps and finding his own way to fight his addiction, despite the rehab staff's insistence that the 12 steps was the "only way."
    • 4/5
      Although Mr. Frey writes his now argumentative memoir with a terpsichorean ambivalence towards punctuation and grammar, the book nevertheless has immense impact. Take it as a novel, perhaps justly so, and it still pounds the senses. Our main character, Frey, stands at the edge of a vertiginous abyss called addiction and will assuredly die if he cannot change. The story has power, whether truth or fiction.
    • 4/5
      Captivating story about a young crack & alcohol addict who is administered in an rehab-center. The pain, the agony, the craving for destroying & drugs is frightening. One part about a rootcanal treatment at the dentist without anastesia almost me sick. Very will written and rooted in horrible experiences
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book thought it was captivating and was interesting to see the dramas associated with drugs, addiction and trying to become clean. I read it after the dramas associated with it not being 'as factual as first advertised' but still thought it was a good read even though at times it made me sick.
    • 4/5
      While I did enjoy this book - I really wish the controversey didn't exist. While I knew about the whole situation before I read the book, I treated it as a novel rather than a biography, so that helped.I had to give it 3 and a half stars as I did enjoy it quite a lot, however, if 100% true, this easily would have made it to 4 and a half.
    • 1/5
      A bookclub read, this is either a relentlessly gruelling and honest account of the horrors of addiction, or a self-indulgent, repetitive, nasty and dull monologue about vomiting, hallucinating and wondering whether suicide is the better option.I found nothing to like here: it starts with Frey semi-conscious and amnesiac, spitting, swearing and sulking, with no redeeming features on offer even after he starts to clean up. The supporting characters are no more appealing, thinly drawn and disinteresting (perhaps in part because the narrator is holding himself aloof), unable to engage my sympathy or curiosity.As if very little happening (at length) to a dislikeable man weren't enough, Frey chooses to capitalize random Nouns and eschews use of standard punctuation (especially for speech). The resulting Hodge Podge of inconsistent capitals and no syntactical crutches makes for a subpar stream of consciousness that hurt to read. The Evening Standard's assertion on the cover that "this is brilliantly written, and if you disagree you can fuck off" was frankly red rag to my enraged bull.This may (or may not - see Google for debate on whether this novel is as autobiographical as it claims) be a searingly honest account of one man's struggle back from the brink. If so, good for him. I hope he's fully recovered and making up to friends and family for being an asshat. It may be an accurate portrayal of the horror of recovery. But it's not escapist or entertaining, and (as I'm not an addict, and don't plan to become one) it's not educational.There was a tiny chance in a million that I'd find this interesting, touching, even inspiring. Instead, I quit halfway through rather than work up a truly interminable rant to vent at bookclub. Sorry bookclub.
    • 3/5
      Hard to get into at first but once I did... I couldn't put it down. Some parts were really difficult to swallow. Overall I really enjoyed the book, even if some of it was untruthful.