The book world’s abuzz over news of the upcoming novel from James Frey. Perhaps you remember Oprah spitting his name with disdain. Frey wrote A Million Little Pieces in 2003, a blockbuster “memoir” about a hard-drug lifestyle that happened to contain more fiction than the world was happy about at the time.
After the Smoking Gun exposed Frey as a master embellisher of the truth, the bestseller was yanked from Oprah’s book club and most of the literary world, commercial and otherwise, turned against him. All editions of the book now come with a special publisher’s and author’s note to give people a head’s up about the less-than-truthful aspects of the book. Random House also offered $2.35 million “to readers who said they were defrauded by him” according to The New York Times.
But it’s 2007, and Frey’s back. HarperCollins just announced that it’s publishing his new novel, Bright Shiny Morning, in the summer of 2008.
Controversy still surrounds the writer, leading people to mutter “book of lies” to explain who he is when he comes up in conversation. Sure, the initial non-fiction labeling for A Million Little Pieces was perhaps not the wisest choice. I haven’t read the book personally but its impact quickly brought it to my attention. I’ve glanced over it and read passages and truth be told, the man can write. Liar or not, his prose stirs a reaction in people. His first memoir did sell four million copies, after all.
That makes me extremely curious about what his novel will entail. Will it be literary? I don’t know. But I suspect it’ll have enough emotional engagement to make it a worthwhile read. The publisher told the Associated Press that the novel is a “kaleidoscopic’ portrait of modern Los Angeles.” I also want to point out the guy’s age here: he’s only 38. That’s fairly young in the literary world, considering he already acquired enough fame to be published in countless languages. Decades remain in his potential writing career.
Perhaps the fiction will be more commercial than literary, but I’ll refrain from judgment. I don’t particularly respect Frey, but I want to see what happens first and give him a real chance. He published two memoirs so far but let’s see what he can do with the novel. The infamy over A Million Little Pieces shattered his reputation; this new and honestly fiction book might well redeem him. I want to see if he can put the pieces back together and succeed.
4 responses so far ↓
1
Tim Hayes
// Sep 23, 2007 at 12:16 pm
From what I’ve heard, large parts of this fictional “Los Angeles” novel are exaggerated, distorted, and at times even cynically fabricated. I’m outraged in advance.
2
John Hendel
// Sep 23, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I’m a little unsure about what type of “fabrications” in a novel would bother you so much, Tim, given that novels themselves deal in fiction. Distortions about the city of Los Angeles itself? I can see that being a concern. Any novel that features very real places and events would usually do well to consider the reality behind them, but I don’t consider it an imperative, nor has it ever been with novels of the past. One example that comes to mind is The Grapes of Wrath, which certainly took a few liberties with historical fact.
Even so, this new novel may well be rubbish and worthy of outrage. At least now Frey’s now working outside the realm of non-fiction.
3
Tim Hayes
// Sep 23, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I meant that ironically, John. Sometimes I forget you can’t hear my tone of voice when I’m just typing . . .
4
John Hendel
// Sep 23, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Hah, I’m glad to hear it, Tim. I thought that might have been the case for a second, but I had been really unsure of the tone.
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