Rating: 
Summary: Absorbing, fresh, and never cliched
Review: James Frey has been getting a ton of press and hype over his debut work, and rightly deserved. But what really matters is that this is simply a great, intricately told story of Mr. Frey taking back control of a life that he had lost to addiction.Frey's memoir made me really uncomfortable at times, but it was always gripping and honest. From not even knowing where he is at the very beginning of the book, Frey becomes fully aware of who he is by the end. Fortunately, he never pretends to know what will happen next after rehab, only that he'll die if he ever gives up control again to his addictions. He takes responsibility for his life, for his decisions, and for his future rather than giving up control to a higher power. If you are simply looking to whack around with the same old chapters on Don Gately, A Million Little Pieces may be beyond your scope. However, if you are hoping to read a story that will jolt you emotionally and give you honest insight into the recovery of an addict, A Million Little Pieces is a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable
Review: This is a decent,readable book about a privileged white boy hitting bottom then being picked up by his parents. The writing is perfectly adequate and, thankfully, lacks some of the pretension of the other privileged white boys that Frey so famously wants to tear down. Ultimately, it's a bit whiney and, for my buck, Jerry Stahl's PERMANENT MIDNIGHT is a much better, and more honest read.
Rating:
Summary: very good. very descriptive.
Review: this is a must-read for anyone who's ever been through or knows anyone who's been through recovery, addiction, pain, loss, friendships, family strife, aloneness, rejection, death, love, connections, detachments, rage, laughter or fear. and/or. james frey's writing is visceral, honest, confessionary, fearless and bold. i'm recommending this to any and all of my friends, family, loved ones and strangers.
Rating:
Summary: Harsh and Honest.
Review: I'm typically not a memoir fan, but Frey's style has a stream-of-conciousness lyricism that I found poetic enough to keep me reading until I reached the point where I couldn't stop. Usually when book reviews quote mainly from the first chapter, I feel like the rest of the novel won't keep up (ie: The Lovely Bones). But in this case the narrative continues to bite the entire way through. And sometimes I found myself physically wincing. What's most refreshing is the lack of irony. I loved Eggers as much as the next guy, but I can't help but feeling that 5 years from now, when I re-read Eggers' work, I'll be embarrassed that I did. Frey never attempts to attach his life to a grander meaning of the times we live in. That job is left (rightly) to the reader. Relating such gruesome facts so plainly is pure elegance. There's meaning in that alone. This book is bigger than a memoir. It's certainly bigger than a addiction/self-help book. It's near great, in a way that makes me look forward to this author's next work, instead of dreading the ultimate disappointment of the usual second novel flop. It's coming from an honest place, which is the only foundation an author can build on. Read it because of the press overload, or in spite of it, but i promise it's a book that'll be read for many years after the p.r. goes away.
Rating:
Summary: Readers Addiction
Review: I was up 'til midnight reading Frey's Million Little Pieces. I woke again at 4am and read until my alarm went off. This book is an addiction for readers.
I was consumed by the pointed, sharp writing, and felt myself in these experiences with James. Frey does a magnificent job of exposing his vulnerabilities and strengths as a human. The underbelly of addiction has never seemed so virulent. This book makes you want to save anyone you know to be in trouble, while revealing the truths of your chances.
James Frey is a new voice in fiction. I can't wait to lose a nights sleep to him again.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Hurts
Review: We talk of the "hard" truth, never the "easy" truth
and that truth "hurts." In this book it is and it does.
As a therapist, who has tried to help addictive men and women
for over forty years, I know the truth of which James Frey
writes. He has lived it and now he is telling it. Envy the style,
complain about the form, misunderstand the message, but DO NOT
question the validity or insult the purpose. The book has the
paradox of hope and helplessness, help and hopelessness, despair and faith, as life itself.
Rating:
Summary: Real and raw and remarkable.
Review: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is written with such realness that it evoked, in me, numerous physical reactions to his accounts of the emotional and physical journey through recovery. I could picture each character so vividly in my mind that I felt as if I was sitting in the room next to them as an observer or participator. This is an amazing story written in a strong take-no-prisoners voice, it's inspiring and I plan to read it over and over.
Rating:
Summary: one of the most powerful books you will ever pick up
Review: This is the kind of book that will make you glad you know how to read. You simply can't cruise these pages and remain unaffected. Read it for its brutal honesty, its important subtleties and you will appreciate its phenomenally brave author.
Rating: 
Summary: Standing on its own boards
Review: The autobiographical memoir seems to have become the latest trend, mirroring the rise in reality tv (but more intellectual, of course!) Playing wingmen are the four horseman of modern american writing: hyperbole, sarcasm, understatement and condescension. Television, newspapers, magazines and books have largely embraced this style of communication. And reviews are no different. For once I would like to read a review where the reviewer does not try to boost their own feeble intelligence through the review. Oh so you know about David Foster Wallace, and you've read Infinite Jest? What does that possibly have to do with reviewing a book. So enough time has been wasted.... A Million Little Pieces is a good, quick read that explores a life pulling itself out of the maw of oblivion. Drug use and addiction are devestating on a person's life and all those around him. What makes this book so entertaining is the degree to which Frey had destroyed his life and how horrific the struggle to reclaim it has been. There are moments of brutally graphic honesty and unclothed emotion. But above all the book speaks about strength and weakness - how much punishment the body can take or dish out. While Frey is the center of the story, it is the people at the clinic, both patients and staff (as well as his parents) that show addiction to have consequences outside one's self. It is more the events of the book that carry it forward than the writing style. The girls eyes might indeed be "arctic blue" but it is what those eyes have seen that the reader is more interested in.
It is the next book Frey writes, when he is without the aid of such intense personal material, that will show whether he is truly gifted as an author. But for now, this is a story that will not disappoint, and that you are not likely to forget.
Rating:
Summary: A moving reminder that we are all works in progress
Review: Not every author writes in the same style as Wallace, and for this we should be glad - variety being the spice of life and all that jazz. :) I could not stop reading this refreshingly-non-whiny account of one man's struggle with addiction. Parts made me sigh deeply and involuntarily, parts made me squirm, parts made my hair stand on end. I recommend this book to anyone who feels stuck in their life's progress.
| 
