[Cody Dawg]

One of this nation's bestselling books is a supposedly non-fiction account of a young man's descent into drugs and crime and his supposed rehabilitation and coming to terms with himself then writing about it in a book called A Million Little Pieces. The author is James Frey. His book was supposedly a cautionary tale, a gripping read, a book that makes a person want to accept responsibility for himself or herself and promise to do better things with his or her life. If James Frey can do it, so can the average person - or so the thinking goes.

Well, The Smoking Gun website went looking for this person's mug shot in order to honor him, as is usual, in their "Mugshot Mania" section. Many celebrities are customarily honored by TSG in this manner.

However, The Smoking Gun ran into problems finding a mug shot of the guy. For a person arrested and incarcerated multiple times, why was this a problem?

The Smoking Gun would soon discover that James Frey had fabricated not some, but MOST of his arrests and incarcerations. And, as they investigated further, they discovered that the majority of the book is a fabrication. We're not talking poetic license here, we're talking downright fabrications, wild imaginations that never took place.

Why is this a big deal? Because Oprah Winfrey herself, the unwritten Queen of Literature, openly endorsed the book on her website and show. When Oprah declares a book a worthy read, it instantly sells millions of books and in this case, it was propeled to the top of the bestseller list.

This is a HUGE story that The Smoking Gun has unearthed. And, it makes a great read. Not only did he make up every arrest he's had, but he also lied about his supposed girlfriend who was killed.

You can read it here at The Smoking Gun under the title The Man Who Conned Oprah and if you have a few minutes it's a great read and in TSG style, very amusing.

I'm simply astounded. This guy makes Jayson Blair and his lies about the New York Times seem like a boyscout.

I can't wait to see what the fallout is on this thing. It's going to be huge.

Wonder what Oprah's thinking about this morning as this hits the news nationally? It's been put up at CNN bright and early this morning.

[meelk]

so its fiction instead of non-fiction. who gives a flip? "oh no, he conned oprah!"
how stupid.
Calling it " The Biggest Literary Fraud Ever Perpetrated" is rather misleading as well. This isnt even a blip on the radar of 99.99999% of the world.

[Cody Dawg]

meelk: You are truly either naive or not a reader. It IS a big deal. It's not, "So he wrote fiction."

People who read non-fiction expect it to be TRUE.

That's why Jayson Blair, who wrote for the New York Times, Stephen Glass who wrote for New Republic, Mike Barnacle and Patricia Smith who wrote for The Boston Globe, and Mitch Albom, who writes for the Detroit Free Press, got into trouble for authoring fictions for their respective newspapers. (Mitch wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, also.)

Non-fiction is supposed to be true, whether it's a non-fiction book or a news report.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

meelk: You are truly either naive or not a reader. It IS a big deal. It's not, "So he wrote fiction."

People who read non-fiction expect it to be TRUE.

That's why Jayson Blair, for example, and Mitch Albom, who writes for the Detroit Free Press, got into trouble for authoring fictions for their respective newspapers. (Mitch wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, also.)

I have an English degree actually. This is meaningless. It matters to YOU because it happened to Oprah. It is completely meaningless to the rest of the world. Stop blowing it up.

[Cody Dawg]

You have an English degree and you say things like "Stop blowing it up."







Blowing WHAT up, meelk?

I could give a crap about Oprah other than I admire her success. I haven't read even one of her recommends for books, nor this book.

Where is your "English degree" from, by the way? What kind of English degree is it?

I guess where you come from they didn't educate you about the dangers of prevarication in recounts of actuality?

Here, this will make it easier for you to understand:

As St. Petersburg Times columnist Philip Gailey wrote recently, if the news were a consumer product, the public would have demanded a recall because of shoddy service.

"[W]hen we fabricate quotes and names, when we traffic in rumors and unsubstantiated charges, we risk losing the credibility that is an essential bond with our readers and viewers. We can live with our honest mistakes, but we can't fulfill our role as a vital check on abuses of government and other institutions if we compromise our credibility with irresponsible and dishonest journalism."

Frey's book is a cautionary tale meant to inspire others and he himself is the litmus test. If everything that he experienced is a fiction then the book means substantially less. To some, nothing.

[meelk]

the truth of the matter Cody, is that you are a pretentious bitch. This is EXACTLY like you preaching against the death penalty then changing your mind when it suited you. Youll also notice that here, on an internet message forum, I really dont give a damn about proper grammar, syntax, etc.
Stop dictating to the rest of the world what is important because it made Oprah look stupid.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

You have an English degree and you say things like "Stop blowing it up."







Blowing WHAT up, meelk?

I could give a crap about Oprah other than I admire her success. I haven't read even one of her recommends for books, nor this book.

Where is your "English degree" from, by the way? What kind of English degree is it?

I guess where you come from they didn't educate you about the dangers of prevarication in recounts of actuality?

Here, this will make it easier for you to understand:



Frey's book is a cautionary tale meant to inspire others and he himself is the litmus test. If everything that he experienced is a fiction then the book means substantially less. To some, nothing.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Y


Frey's book is a cautionary tale meant to inspire others and he himself is the litmus test. If everything that he experienced is a fiction then the book means substantially less. To some, nothing.

go tell it to Chaucer.

[Cody Dawg]

meelk
the truth of the matter Cody, is that you are a pretentious bitch. This is EXACTLY like you preaching against the death penalty then changing your mind when it suited you. Youll also notice that here, on an internet message forum, I really dont give a damn about proper grammar, syntax, etc.
Stop dictating to the rest of the world what is important because it made Oprah look stupid.

Uh-oh. Now you've gone tangential on me.

Clue? Don't post here if you don't like the subject matter.

[Cody Dawg]

"Go tell it to Chaucer?"

Since when did Chaucer write a self-revelatory coming-of-age story...that turned out to be a lie?



Oh, forget it. You just don't get it or want to get it. It's with you.

Just post somewhere else where it's obviously more meaningful to you.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Uh-oh. Now you've gone tangential on me.

Clue? Don't post here if you don't like the subject matter.

I dont really believe I need your permission to post. I simply pointed out that things you believe in change on a whim. You are arrogant and it shows.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

"Go tell it to Chaucer?"

Since when did Chaucer write a self-revelatory coming-of-age story...that turned out to be a lie?



Oh, forget it. You just don't get it or want to get it. It's with you.

Just post somewhere else where it's obviously more meaningful to you.

you just "dont get it" as they say, but here, ill stop posting in your stupid thread so that it can move on down the page and out of sight, as others will look at it and have exactly the same reaction I did, "who gives a ****?"

[Cody Dawg]

meelk
I dont really believe I need your permission to post. I simply pointed out that things you believe in change on a whim. You are arrogant and it shows.

Uh, English major person? You need something called an apostrophe in "don't."



Why don't you join the Apostrophe Protection Society and learn how to use it.

[von Wrangell]

ibl


and

I think stealing text from a Nobel Prize winner in literature being bigger than this.

[Atriot]

Attack his argument not his syntax Cody.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Uh, English major person? You need something called an apostrophe in "don't."



Why don't you join the Apostrophe Protection Society and learn how to use it.

Perhaps you missed this: "Youll also notice that here, on an internet message forum, I really dont give a damn about proper grammar, syntax, etc."

[BlueSky]

I give to the Muscular Apostrophe Association every year.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Uh, English major person? You need something called an apostrophe in "don't."



Why don't you join the Apostrophe Protection Society and learn how to use it.

Perhaps you missed this:
"Youll also notice that here, on an internet message forum, I really dont give a damn about proper grammar, syntax, etc."

[Cody Dawg]

von Wrangell:

You're probably right. It's on par or perhaps even bigger. I'll concede that. But, I still think that this matters a great deal.

[Cody Dawg]

Bluesky
I give to the Muscular Apostrophe Association every year.

I saw that! My don't went to don❜t.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by meelk

I have an English degree actually. This is meaningless. It matters to YOU because it happened to Oprah. It is completely meaningless to the rest of the world. Stop blowing it up.

The only person that is blwoing anything up, and or acting like a spazz it is you.

the truth of the matter Cody, is that you are a pretentious bitch

Seek help.

[BlueSky]

Is don't a contraction for donut? Anyway, Jerry's kids need your punctuation. The children, meelk, think of the children.

[Cody Dawg]

I see that the New York Times now sees fit to delve into the James Frey fabrication controversy so I guess it's not just me that thinks that this is a substantial issue.

Police reports and other public records published online on Sunday have raised substantial questions about the truth of numerous incidents depicted in James Frey's best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces."


Robert Caplin for The New York Times

James Frey's "Million Little Pieces," an Oprah Book Club selection, has come under scrutiny.

Forum: Book News and Reviews

The book, originally published in 2003 by the Nan A. Talese imprint of Doubleday, soared to the top of the best-seller lists in the fall after it was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her television book club. Ms. Winfrey's enthusiastic endorsement helped the book to sell more than two million copies last year, making it the second-highest-selling book of 2005, behind only "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." "A Million Little Pieces" currently tops the New York Times paperback best-seller list; Mr. Frey's second book, "My Friend Leonard," is on the paper's hardcover best-seller list.

Mr. Frey has repeatedly stated that his book is true. But a lengthy article posted Sunday by The Smoking Gun Web site (www.thesmokinggun.com) quotes Mr. Frey as saying that events "were embellished in the book for obvious dramatic reasons." In particular, it quotes him as saying he did not spend nearly three months in jail after leaving an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center in the mid-1990's, as he contends in his book, but rather only a few days, at most. In "My Friend Leonard," Mr. Frey writes that his girlfriend, Lilly, whom he'd met in rehab, called him distraught just before the end of his sentence. Upon his release he races to her side, only to discover that she has committed suicide.

In "A Million Little Pieces" Mr. Frey says that the three-month sentence stemmed from a 1992 arrest on felony charges, including fighting with police officers and hitting an officer with his car, that could have landed him in jail for up to eight years. But the Smoking Gun article and supporting documents state that Mr. Frey was held for a few hours after an arrest on a drunken-driving charge and that he eventually paid a small fine, but otherwise spent no significant amount of time in jail.

The Smoking Gun article, which did not carry a byline, stated of Mr. Frey: "The 36-year-old author, these documents and interviews show, wholly fabricated or wildly embellished details of his purported criminal career, jail terms and status as an outlaw 'wanted in three states.' "

Yesterday, Mr. Frey did not respond to a telephone message left at his home in Manhattan. Officials at Random House, Doubleday's parent, would not comment on the Smoking Gun article but issued a statement saying, "We stand in support of our author, James Frey, and his book which has touched the lives of millions of readers."

Ms. Winfrey and her representatives at Harpo Productions also did not return calls yesterday. Ms. Winfrey's promotion of Mr. Frey's book was among the most enthusiastic she has ever given to an author. When Ms. Winfrey announced her choice - the first work of nonfiction she had selected - she called the book "a gut-wrenching memoir that is raw and it's so real."

Ms. Winfrey is scheduled to announce her next pick for her book club on Monday.

But given the response from viewers yesterday on Internet message boards devoted to Mr. Frey's book, Ms. Winfrey might find herself having to address questions about its truth. On Ms. Winfrey's site, some readers expressed dismay that they had been lied to. But on Mr. Frey's own site, bigjimindustries.com, one fan who identified herself as Julie wrote: "Even if his story is fake, he opened up the eyes of so many people. How about if we all focus on that instead of accusing him of being a liar?"

Mr. Frey's agent, Kassie Evashevski of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer representing Mr. Frey, who wrote a letter to The Smoking Gun threatening legal action if it published a defamatory story about the author, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Also declining to respond to telephone messages were Sean McDonald, Mr. Frey's editor, who now works for Penguin's Riverhead imprint, and a spokesman for Penguin, which announced last week it had signed a contract to publish two additional books by Mr. Frey, including a novel.

The discrepancies and Mr. Frey's reported admissions of falsifying details of his life raise questions about the publishing industry's increasing reliance on nonfiction memoirs as a fast track to the best-seller list. It is not at all uncommon to see new books marketed as nonfiction containing notes to readers saying the author has altered the time sequence of events, created composite characters, changed names or otherwise made up details of a memoir. "A Million Little Pieces," however, contains no such disclaimer.

And the questions about Mr. Frey came at almost the same time as new revelations about the identity of JT Leroy, a writer whose supposedly autobiographical novels draw on a lifetime of prostitution and homelessness.

Since its publication in April 2003, "A Million Little Pieces" has attracted attention for its graphic descriptions of Mr. Frey's harrowing withdrawal from substance abuse and for its remarkable story of his redemption and sobriety. But aspects of the story, including the author's claim that he underwent root canal surgery without anesthesia, have drawn repeated questions at book readings, from fans of Ms. Winfrey's book club and from journalists.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Mr. Frey said that he had provided extensive documentation of his account of events in "A Million Little Pieces" to lawyers at Random House Inc., the parent of Doubleday and Anchor Books, which published the paperback edition, and to lawyers at Harpo, the production company owned by Ms. Winfrey. But he declined to allow a reporter at The Times to view those materials or to ask his publisher or Ms. Winfrey to share them. Random House also refused to allow a reporter to review the materials or to discuss them.

In an interview with The Times last month, Mr. Frey said that he originally envisioned "A Million Little Pieces" not as a memoir but as a novel. "We were in discussions after we sold it as to whether to publish it as fiction or as nonfiction," he said. "And a lot of those issues had to do with following in a legacy of American writers." Mr. Frey noted that writers like Hemingway, Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac had written very autobiographical books that were published as fiction.

But when Doubleday decided to publish the book as nonfiction, Mr. Frey said, he did not have to change anything. "It was written exactly as it was published," he said.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Kevin

The only person that is blwoing anything up, and or acting like a spazz it is you.


Seek help.

Oh please. The huge number of really important things that happen in the world and Cody is worried about Oprahs flippin book club. What a joke.

[Judge_Fire]

Originally Posted by meelk

Weird, that actually translated into an emotion. I need to give web forums a rest... until it's Stevenote time.

J

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by meelk

Oh please. The huge number of really important things that happen in the world and Cody is worried about Oprahs flippin book club. What a joke.

A huge number of really important things that happen in the world, and you are being an spaz about a Cody post.

What a joke.

[Dakar]

Wow, I'm surprised none of the atheists haven't posted a snide remark in here.

[Cody Dawg]

Anyway, how's all the peeps on this fine day?



Have a great day!

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Kevin

A huge number of really important things that happen in the world, and you are being an spaz about a Cody post.

What a joke.

I'm sick of hearing from her, quite honestly. Shes one of those most irritating members of this forum with her holier than thou attitude. I suppose I need to check to see if this forum has an ignore feature.

[Cody Dawg]

Yes, do check, why dont you?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by meelk

I'm sick of hearing from her, quite honestly.

Then put her on ignore. Don't click on her threads. But by all means don't make the rest of the forum have to weed through your inane babble.

Shes one of those most irritating members of this forum with her holier than thou attitude.

Actually you come off with the same attitude. And she was being sarcastic.

[turtle777]

-t

[meelk]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Then put her on ignore. Don't click on her threads. But by all means don't make the rest of the forum have to weed through your inane babble.

Actually you come off with the same attitude. And she was being sarcastic.

Sarcastic my ass, she was, and is, a bitch.

[Mastrap]

Biggest literary fraud ever perpetrated? Please, gimme a break.

[Yose]

Originally Posted by meelk

I'm sick of hearing from her, quite honestly. Shes one of those most irritating members of this forum with her holier than thou attitude. I suppose I need to check to see if this forum has an ignore feature.

It does and it is wonderful.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by meelk

Sarcastic my ass, she was, and is, a bitch.

Well lets see, your first post in here was attacking her. And you continued too.

Did you expect her to pour you tea?

Funny, she gets along just fine with most of the people in here. Me inlcuded.

Why is that?

Funny how some guys call any women that doesn't kiss their butts "bitches"

I bet the girls or guys that you asked out that rejected you were "lesbians" or some such too huh?



BTW, keep it up, and I am sure you'll get a ticket to baninnationville.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Well lets see, your first post in here was attacking her. And you continued too.

Did you expect her to pour you tea?

Funny, she gets along just fine with most of the people in here. Me inlcuded.

Why is that?

Funny how some guys call any women that doesn't kiss their butts "bitches"

I bet the girls or guys that you asked out that rejected you were "lesbians" or some such too huh?



BTW, keep it up, and I am sure you'll get a ticket to baninnationville.

[paul w]

Originally Posted by Dakar

Wow, I'm surprised none of the atheists haven't posted a snide remark in here.

I was considering being really controverisal and saying "what about the Bible?" but then I decided it was best not to bring it up.

Oh and I like my cody all riled up. Heh.

[meelk]

You must live in the same fantasy world she does.

Originally Posted by Kevin

Well lets see, your first post in here was attacking her. And you continued too.

Did you expect her to pour you tea?

Funny, she gets along just fine with most of the people in here. Me inlcuded.

Why is that?

Funny how some guys call any women that doesn't kiss their butts "bitches"

I bet the girls or guys that you asked out that rejected you were "lesbians" or some such too huh?



BTW, keep it up, and I am sure you'll get a ticket to baninnationville.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by paul w

I was considering being really controverisal and saying "what about the Bible?" but then I decided it was best not to bring it up.

They are talking about PROVEN frauds.

Not projected ones by insecure atheists.

[Mrjinglesusa]

Calling this "The Biggest Literary Fraud Ever Perpetrated" is laughable. I wonder: If Oprah hadn't endorsed this book, would you have thought twice about this "news"? I think not.

Seriously, get a blog and then all your fanboys here can read your daily musings over and over and over..

[euchomai]

Originally Posted by meelk

Sarcastic my ass, she was, and is, a bitch.

Wow, you are really crazy to get this worked up over a web forum. It is now time for you to relax and step away from the computer.

So she posted something that to her was a big deal, you have every right to dog it, but then you turn into a total jerk. Read your writing again, I'd hope you'd be appalled.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by meelk

You must live in the same fantasy world she does.

Huh? No, I am just not a whiner.

Some people in here really need to bite the pillow.

If you cannot control your rage, use the ignore list.

You are still posting in this thread why?

Seriously, get a blog and then all your fanboys here can read your daily musings over and over and over...

Why don't you just put her on ignore?

I never seen so many insecure little boys running around these forums.

Does a woman with a bit of confidence really make your manhood shrink?

Overcompensating?

[euchomai]

Originally Posted by meelk

Sarcastic my ass, she was, and is, a bitch.

Wow, you are really crazy to get this worked up over a web forum. It is now time for you to relax and step away from the computer.

So she posted something that to her was a big deal, you have every right to dog it, but then you turn into a total jerk. Read your writing again, I'd hope you'd be appalled.

[meelk]

Originally Posted by euchomai

Wow, you are really crazy to get this worked up over a web forum. It is now time for you to relax and step away from the computer.

So she posted something that to her was a big deal, you have every right to dog it, but then you turn into a total jerk. Read your writing again, I'd hope you'd be appalled.

Appalled? Yeah, appalled by someone thinking an Oprah book of the week was a life changing newsworthy literary masterpiece.
Anyway, leave me out of it. I put her on ignore. If you dont like me, try doing the same.

[The Windozer]

Originally Posted by meelk

Oh please. The huge number of really important things that happen in the world and Cody is worried about Oprahs flippin book club. What a joke.

If you're looking for really important things that happen in the world, don't bother looking for it in an internet forum.

Also, I like how threads in this forum regularly degenerate into flame fests, no matter what the threads are about. Hmmm. I feel like I've said that before. No matter. A good thing can never be repeated too much.

[Cody Dawg]

It's really not that big of a deal.



It's controversial and for that reason I thought it would get us all talking about it.

Which it did. In a roundabout way.

[paul w]

Originally Posted by Kevin

They are talking about PROVEN frauds.

Not projected ones by insecure atheists.

Um, you're the one projecting, silly. I was just responding to the title.

And being a bit of a wiseass.

But this thread has legendary potential. It's amazing how seriously some of you people take yourselves.

[anti-sleep]

iWrite, would it kill you to post something that actually matters, for once in your life?

[esXXI]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Why don't you just put her on ignore?

I don't mean to chime in here but the last time someone mentioned using the ignore feature, didn't you call it an immature solution? You might have used different words but that's the impression I got.

(Apologies if I'm muddled up with someone else.)

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by Kevin

You are still posting in this thread why?