A Million Little Pieces

by James frey | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 0719567009 Global Overview for this book
Registered by katfysh of Penrith, New South Wales Australia on 9/28/2006
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8 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by katfysh from Penrith, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, September 28, 2006
This was quite an interesting read. I tried to avoid all the Oprah hoo haa about it and just read it as if it were fiction and was quite happy with it. It did take some getting used to with the strange sentence structure and capitals in weird places, but you get used to it!

Journal Entry 2 by katfysh from Penrith, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, October 4, 2006
http://bookcrossing.com/forum/20/3870828/1
From browsing wishlists it seems there are a few people who want to read this, so I decided to start up an international book ray for this one. PM or post on the forum with your username and country if you want to join.

The Book Ray List
livrecache (Australia)
saidenuj (USA)
star11-80 (USA)
Drusillamac (Scotland) <---- now here
Miss-Owl (Australia)

Journal Entry 3 by katfysh from Penrith, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Now on it's way to livrecache, happy reading!

Journal Entry 4 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Monday, November 6, 2006
Wow! I've just finished reading this. Frey is an amazing writer! I don't care how many million lies he told in the book's execution. It is a harrowing read, I was intrigued to learn that he originally tried to have it published as fiction, but was knocked back by 17 publishers. Then, when it was published as an autobiography, then and only then were there howls of outrage that it wasn't all true (probably mostly because it made a certain book talk show host look foolish). He'd fabricated some of it. This was news! The whole thing fell together so structurally and narratively soundly, that it had to have had some distortion of 'the truth'. Life just isn't like that -- particularly not a life that he was living (and even I know that dentists can provide pain relief that won't make Addicts come unstuck)! But it sure is a good yarn. Subsequent editions of the books have all sorts of disclaimers on them, but I read this (having forgotten the Frey fracas earlier this year) believing this person had undergone every experience he mentions, and from that PoV, it is truly startling as an autobiography. It really only makes sense when you look at the book's background. Thank you so much Katfysh, for introducing me to this. (And yes, the somewhat randon capitilization was odd -- but the least of its worries.)

I'll PM the next person on the list, and be really interested to read others' comments.


Journal Entry 5 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, November 7, 2006
I've posted this book to saidenuj (USA) today (8 November).

Journal Entry 6 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Monday, November 20, 2006
Arrived safely in Iowa USA today. (Actually it may have arrived on Saturday, but I didn't pick up the mail that day.) I have my current read to finish up first, but it shouldn't be too long before I can start on this one.

Thanks, katfysh, for setting up this ray. And thanks, livrecache, for posting it to me and including the nice postcard. I'm intending to read like katfysh said - avoiding all the Oprah hooplah and just enjoy the book. (Who publishes an autobiography that's 100% truthful anyway?)

Journal Entry 7 by juniebug from Marcus, Iowa USA on Sunday, November 26, 2006
Okay, as much as I hate to even bring up the whole Oprah thing... let me just get my opinion on that out of the way first. On the cover of this book, it says "memoir." Gore Vidal has this to say about memoirs as a genre distinct from autobiographies:
"a memoir is how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked."
As a memoir then, I believe what the author has written. And if nothing else, Frey is a very good author.

The dentist episode was downright scary. (I hate dentists anyway, as a rule.) I sat reading those pages, thinking, "ow ow ow ow" much the same way that James was thinking, "bayonet bayonet bayonet bayonet."

The only thing that kept me from rating this higher is the complete lack of quotation marks (makes it confusing to read conversations) and repeated use of run-on sentences. An example from page 259: I'll give my life heart soul money future everything please give me more. And this one from page 324: I like it there feel it there want it there but fear interlopes great fear I am scared. After awhile tho, you mostly get used to it. Like you get used to the seemingly random capitalization. This stream-of-consciousness writing does serve the purpose of expressing time rushing by, uncontrolled, leaving you feeling quite helpless.

This is a story that will stick with me for quite some time.

I'll be PMing the next person on the list and get this moving along very soon.

Released 17 yrs ago (11/27/2006 UTC) at USPS in to a fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to star11-80. Enjoy!



Update Dec 8: From the USPS website
Label/Receipt Number: 0304 1560 0000 6088 7969
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 1:44 PM on December 5, 2006 in ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87121.

Journal Entry 9 by star11-80 from Pittsburg, Texas USA on Sunday, December 10, 2006
received a few days ago... have already begun.... travelling on business this week so should get in some good reading time on the plane.

Journal Entry 10 by star11-80 from Pittsburg, Texas USA on Sunday, December 17, 2006
I had expected so so much more from this book -- after all the hype and it being an Oprah book. I kept reading it because I was hoping it would get better. I think the author uses too much graphic language and imagery, only to have some crappy happily ever after ending. I can appreciate the idea behind it... the addiction and the harsh reality of it all... but this book left A LOT to be desired in the end.

PMd next person on the list so I can send it on.

Journal Entry 11 by Drusillamac from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 9, 2007
I caught this in the post this morning. It's a lot bigger than the British publication which I have seen in bookshops. I'm also assuming this doesn't have the new introduction where Frey basically says "Yeah, I made some of that stuff up."

Anyway, I am looking forward to reading this. Thanks to Katfysh and star11-80 for sharing.

Journal Entry 12 by Drusillamac from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, February 1, 2007
I just can't seem to get into this book. I think it's the way it's structured with one sentence per book line. I don't want to hold this up so I'll PM Miss-Owl and get this book off to her.

Journal Entry 13 by Drusillamac from Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I posted this off to Miss-Owl via surface mail today. From a PM exchange I understand she's snowed under with rings at the moment so, for once, I hope surface mail does take 12 weeks to arrive ;-)

Journal Entry 14 by Miss-Owl on Monday, June 4, 2007
Thank you, Drusillamac, I think surface mail took just as long as it says it does!

This looks like a fascinating read & to be honest, I don't think I had a clue what it was about when I joined the ray, I'd just heard about it by reputation. Looking forward to forming my own opinion.

Thank you for sharing, katfysh!

Journal Entry 15 by Miss-Owl on Friday, June 15, 2007
I haven't quite finished with this yet but posted up yesterday to see if anyone wanted to continue this ray... and I have two takers already! They are:

mummifiedX5 (Australia)
bookwormnicky (UK)

I'll update here as appropriate.

Journal Entry 16 by Miss-Owl on Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Okay, *now* I'm done!

By the way, I had no more takers for the book so I'm sending this on to mummifiedx5, as above, sometime this week.

This was a quite a compelling read for me - one of those books that made me stay awake, muttering, "just one more chapter, just a little bit more..." (hey, is this a genetic addiction trait?) Frey's writing is extremely visceral, and yes, maybe that dentist episode had something to do with it!

I really enjoyed (wait, I'm not sure if enjoyed is the word) - appreciated the way Frey evoked the whole psyche of a person gripped by addiction - the soul & the sickness, and how in the midst of turbulent irrationality there could shine unexpected light. I particularly liked the characters of Leonard, Miles and Hank, and I relished the courage and the challenge the, um, persona needed to look into his own eyes. Overall a poignant tale, well told. The random capitalisations, run-on sentences and lack of punctuation sat okay with me - they evoked an internal world.

I'm not sure about the "happily-ever after ending", though, star11-80! Did you read the epilogue?

Thank you to katfysh for a great read.

Journal Entry 17 by mummifiedX5 from Wollongong, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Just received in the mail today from Miss-Owl...THANKYOU!!
Almost finished the book I'm currently reading and will get this started ASAP.
Cheers~ Tina

Journal Entry 18 by mummifiedX5 from Wollongong, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I found it hard to get into at the beginning of the book but I think it was because of how it is written with one sentence per line and the random capitalisation.

I read it as though it was truly his memoirs and tried to ignore all the 'Oprah' stuff I heard about it.

I found myself cringing at some points like the dentist scene or when he was pulling his toenail off - quite disturbing.

But overall, I enjoyed this book and I agree with saidenuj that this is one story that will stick with me for quite some time.

Thanks katfysh for organising this bookring and allowing me to read this book :)

I'll be sending it on to bookwormnicky shortly. I'll journal again when it's on it's way.

Journal Entry 19 by bookwormnicky from -- Somewhere in Bristol 🤷‍♂️, Bristol United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Recieved yesterday! Thanks very much for sending this on. I will read it soon!

Journal Entry 20 by bookwormnicky from -- Somewhere in Bristol 🤷‍♂️, Bristol United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 28, 2007
I thought that this was a great book. I was immediately hooked from page one and read it is less than two days. I thought it was shocking, fascinating, brutally honest and direct. I raved about this book to my partner and I will never forget the bits about the dentist...

However, having just searched for more information on Frey's other book 'My Friend Leonard' I am disappointed to learn that parts of the book are fabricated and/or exaggerated. This has negatively affected my opinion of the book somewhat and the controversy surrounding the truth/lies issue here is a real shame....

for more see: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey3.html

This is still a fascinating read though....

Reserved for my partner to read and then I will pass it on.

Journal Entry 21 by bookwormnicky from -- Somewhere in Bristol 🤷‍♂️, Bristol United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Read by my partner who enjoyed it immensely and passed on to me friend Clare registered on bookcrossing as 'clucker' at the weekend. Enjoy.

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