James Frey's A Million Little Pieces

I can understand why this was such a popular book. Frey leads his readers along with a powerful narrative that spares no detail too gruesome. I could barely read the part where he is getting his teeth drilled and yet I willingly read through it despite how I felt. It is an awful experience that he captures and it comes from interesting perspective. Not only is it written in the first person, but it is written in a way that gives readers only the bare essential background. This focuses the readers attention on the action and the imagery. It works well in this instance because the reader feels as though he is in Frey's shoes getting the same experiences that Frey gets. It helps that he does not use quotation marks and that he does not always identify a speaker. But without the background information, Frey puts the reader in the same dazed state of confusion that he is in. This works fabulously well and is the main reason for the books success I think.

But, we know that the book isn't all true. While reading, I'm wondering what parts of it are exaggerate or made up outright. Knowing this, I do take what he writes with suspicion. I'm not simply taken in by the full force of the story that I'm sure I would be if I believed it were true. Like the Mencken article, I would believe this story if I didn't know any better. It doesn't sound exaggerated. In fact, I feel like these details and the exactness expressed in the story could only be achieved by someone who experienced it. Not even a third-person observed could create this story.

But I do want to know what Frey made up for this story. I want to know how people caught on to his exaggerations too. It won't change the fact that this is a compelling story. But I do want to know how far Frey went in making some of this story up and then we can judge whether or not it was ethical and if this book should still be read.