I finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frye. I found the book to be less than perfect.Even though it is supposed to be a biography I would have found it hard to belive even before Oprah went on her war hunt for his balls because there were some untruths in his book. First of all, this is written by a man who is a confessed, alcoholic, dope smoking crackhead. Of course there will be lies and untruths in his life story. He was fucked up most of the time..how is he supposed to remember all the shit that went down..? Besides, he is a alcoholic, dope smoking crackhead...why not bolster up a story with a little imagination? So it makes for a better story, and wasn't the point of this book(beside making him some bucks) to reach out and help other addicts? I give him full measure for letting the world know that you can get clean and sober without turning your life over to God, the sky, a tree or some other higher power. I went to 3 AA meetings and made a promise to me and who ever was in ear shot of my screams in the parking lot of my last aa meeting...I promise I will never drink again, as long as I don't have to go to those damn meetings.I wish the AA people nothing but continued success,(15%) but I agree with James Frye, that by joining AA and turning your life over to a 'higher power' and doing their 12 steps, and just giving up all control of your life to them..well, you have traded one addiction for another...now you're addicted to AA.....I have been sober for over 14 years(actually I have lost count as counting each sober day one day at a time is a pain in the ass) and it wasn't because I went to meetings, or turned myself over to a higher power, or walked in the steps of my fellow drunks...It was because I said I am not going to drink anymore. Then proceeded to do it...I am my higher power...I have control over what I do and don't do...I have no excuse for any of my behavior other than it is what i wanted to do and I did it...Now I don't want to do it any more and I don't...That doesn't mean that some peole aren't predisposed to
being a drunk...I do believe it is in the genes, but I also believe you can use that as a great excuse for a series of wild and drunk weekends too. OOOOOh, it's not my fault...my Daddy, or Mother or both,were drunks, so I am a drunk too...Well, fuck that..quit your whining and get off your ass and take personal responsablity for your own sins.. It sucks, but that's the truth...I will be atoning for my sins till they throw dirt on me...and so will James Frye....Which brings me back to the heart of this post..In the book James gives the results of a test he took, called the MMPI-2...it said: he suffers from depression, low self-esteem, confrontational, tends to be agressive.Sometimes reacts to confrontation with violence. He engages in self-destroying behavior. he has low tolerance for frustration. He internatizes stress and deals with it through a process of self-destruction. He is irresponsible, resentful, manipulative, hurtful and has a psychological predisposition to addition. So after reading the book, and knowing all of this what does Ms Oprah do? The woman who is supposed to have this heart of gold, who gives cars away, donates money to all sorts of charities(and lets us know all about it)who has done nothing but good for all sorts of folk for the last 20 years....what does she do? She drags this alcoholic, dope smoking crackhead out onto her stage and humilates him in front of the entire world...and why? Becuase he lied to her through his book.. He duped her...she was emabarrassed by his 'duping'. Hell, if she was going to be embarrassed ..she should have been embarrassed when Tom Cruise made an ass out of himself, her, and who ever was watching when he did his trampoline act on her couch and pumped his arm and said "I'm in love, I am so much in love."....now that was embarrassing...Why didn't she drag ole Tom's ass back on her show and have him account for his behavior. That asshole owes ME an opology.
So I say to James Frye...good book.....continued success...and to Ms. Oprah? You should be ashamed of yourself.
8 comments:
I read somewhere, (before He was brought back to be raked over the coals) that the book was submitted as a work of fiction and somehow when published it wasn't.
I never watch Oprah or Dr. Phil. I find her book club pretentious and it seems that a lot of the selections were picked by the type of critics who are failed writers and delight in tearing apart any book by a commercially successful author. In other words the only use of her book club is to try to control the reading habits of people to shallow to make their own choices. Rant over. :)
I think Oprah got caught up in what she believed the general publics reaction was. All the holier than thou jerks that populate this country (and probably never set a finger on the book) only heard that this man published a book and it had a few lies in it!!!! GASP!!! "Someone LIED in a BOOK??!!" How DARE he! So suddenly there was all this uproar over things that were nobody else's business and Oprah thought, "Hmmm...I smell some excellent publicity here" and decided to humiliate the guy on national tv. The clips then continued to run for another week so that knife really got twisted into James Frey's back good and deep. I expect he will have committed suicide by the end of they year. Shame. Think Oprah will be held accountable for that?
WOW! Great post, JS! I dare you to submit it at oprah.com
Awesome post about Oprah and Frey- I haven't read the book but will probably some day!! As for AA I have to say, based on the heroin and crack addicts I have known that some people need to transfer their addiction to something less destructive. It may not be perfect, but for someone who cannot get out of the gutter AA is a very strong, lifting arm, IMHO.
yeah, being aware of all the hooplah over this book just makes me want to read it sometime. christ if they went thru every book that was sposed to be based solely on self-fact they'd be stringing up more than just this bloke.
i agree think oprah had to be seen as saving face...dunno wtf why really. what??...just because SHE plugged it. meh. yeah send it in jackiesue. is a really good well said post.
the club i worked at used to give a conference room to the AA people to use for their weekly meetings. was kinda weird watching them walk past a huge stocked bar with their eyes averted. a lot of people don't have your inner strength...guess they don't call it the demon drink fer nothun huh...that's more power to ya lady!
AA's make the best liars!!! Well, maybe drunks in general. Hell, you have to come up with something to get yourself outta all the shit you cause while drinking.
I had to trade my drinking addiction to an AA meeting addiction for at least a year. Otherwise, I would have been drinking because I just didn't know what to do with myself but drink. At least at a meeting, it was a fairly safe bet I wasn't going to be drinking.
But even in meetings, MANY people embelished their drunk stories. Some people were habitual liars and would say something and then do a 10th step right away and say, I just lied. Ya, not the picture of pefect mental health in those rooms.
Which is why I don't go anymore either. I needed it for awhile to stay sober, but I don't anymore.
And why are you watching so much Oprah??? Didn't the Dr. warn you about your blood pressure???
Hello Mizz Susan. How are you doing. Just surfing through blogmad.
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