Book Report: I had to know what everyone was all worked up about.

I just finished reading James Frey's controversial, and partially fabricated, memoir A Million Little Pieces. I'm not a huge Oprah fan, but I did catch wind of the story when it broke. The book is the harrowing account of James Frey's battle with alcohol and cocaine addiction, and his 6 week session in a rehab center. Originally hailed by Oprah as a life-changing read about the human struggle, the book fell from the charts and lost huge amounts of money when Random House was moved to offer refunds amidst allegations of Frey's falsification and plagiarism. When I saw a used copy at the library for $1.00 I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

I don't begin to understand addiction or what it takes to get to the level of the character in the book, or how to pull oneself out of the depths, but I did think the book was an interesting, engaging read. It doesn't matter less to me, though I know it is somewhat fictionalized, but I may have felt differently had I not known that going in. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is a story about a man who seeks redemption, and it is a good read at that, but perhaps not the inspirational hope that it could be if it were true.