A Million Little Pieces; A Giant Waste of Time
by Chet
For the short version of my feelings on this book, read here: K. Chet’s review of A Million Little Pieces on Good Reads
Now for the full review:
I’m not entirely sure what led me to decide that I should invest time into this book years after Frey’s exposure by Oprah on national television as a fraud. Maybe there was a part of me that decided that even though most of it was fabricated it would be a decent enough read, assuming the false parts improved the story. However, while the fibs did make the story more interesting, it did not prove to be a good read.
Most of the story is rather trite about a degenerate male who has spent most of his life, age 10 to 23, smashed on booze, drugs or an amalgamation of both. The book doesn’t so much focus on his formative years, as his time in a rehabilitation clinic in Minnesota. Here he meets some interesting characters, all of which have either moved on to better things or ceased to exist at this time.
I could never get my self to accept James Frey as the demented soul that, I think, he was trying to portray himself as. Maybe I don’t have enough respect or understanding for the struggle of a recovering addict, but I’m going to say that I just don’t like Jimmy Frey. His adventure in rehab is marked by him meeting mysterious mafioso, jazzy judges and a woe-some woman. Of course we’re also privy to his “fury”, which I liken to Dexter’s Dark Passenger except self destructive. I will admit that taken at face value the plot isn’t terrible, especially for those who love the underdog. I mean he did become clean and sober in one fail swoop on his own system that has a lower success rate than the 12-step system.
My biggest complaint toward this book is the dialog structure. It was a constant back and forth exchange, or very repetitive conversation. It seemed that Frey assumed that his readers wouldn’t have the mental capacity to keep up with which character was speaking without directly indicating who said what each time a line of dialog was written. There were several instances that I had to skip ahead in the book just to get through the painfully repetitive dialog.
All in all, if you want to read a book about an underdog who pukes and messes himself, goes through dental surgery without anesthesia, falls for a broken woman, escapes from a multi-felonious wrap sheet with a wrist slap and survives rehab all to have a fifth of Jack poured down the sink, then by all means, enjoy. However if you want to read something interesting, and explores the dark side of the human psyche, pick up Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk.
Dearest Chet,
Per your request, I am leaving my thoughts here for you to enjoy. I found the backbone of Frey’s story to be made up of him scintillating the masses with the depths his drug addiction took him down. Generally in a story like this one is drawn to the emotional roller coaster knowing that he eventually emotionally matures and birds sing a happy ending. All we got were illicit drug experiences, some shady friends, and then a post-read discovery that things were not exactly as promised. Which wouldn’t have bothered me except that in perpetrating his lies he popularized a BIG misconception.
He claims to have not only gotten over drug addiction without a support structure but almost as though it were despite that structure being in place. I’m not saying people need religion, or to follow a specific doctrine, only that having some system in place to help you through the hard times is needed. Human contact is needed to stay sane at the best of times. The more this concept is viewed as normal the worse it is for people fighting to get out of addictions. They feel like a failure because supposedly it is possible to just quit. With that framing, his claim is irresponsible at best and, given his track record, an outright lie at worst.
So, disappointing on all fronts, really. Chuck Palahniuk, though, is a solid win. I LOVED Diary.