A Million Little Pieces

Rating:
Summary: Give me a break
Review: Pure garbage. I can't believe they tried to pass this off as non-fiction. The only part I actually bought was the author's impotence; the rest of the book is macho overcompensation for this genital malfunction. Boring, with laughably bad prose and cliched characters that the author actually expects his readers to believe are based on real people, which is insulting. I can't believe this moron had the nerve to compare himself to Dave Eggers in an interview.

Frey is an example of a spoiled, rich brat who used his parents' money and connections to have his crap published. See Tiffany Debartalo's 'God-Shaped Hole' for another example of a mind-bogglingly terrible novel published because the "writer" has rich parents. It's an alarming trend.

Rating:
Summary: Why I Work in the Detox Unit of a Treatment Center
Review: Read this book and you may understand why. James Frey's wonderful, dark, and truthful portrait of addiction and the infinitely small possibility of recovery is one of the most honest portrayals of drug addiction that I have ever read. It's not a pretty story as no true story of addiction can be. Frey writes about the gritty reality of life on drugs and never once attempts to glorify any of it. His story is sad, honest, frustrating. Vomit and snot and rage. Victims, brutality, and very little in the way of hope. Frey is a Substance Abuse Counselor's nightmare - he refuses to play by the rules, he won't attempt to "go along and get along", he often bites the hand that feeds him. His addiction is a living thing residing in his head like a monster with huge bloodied teeth. I loved this book. Read it, feel it, learn from it.

Rating:
Summary: To the Extreme
Review: There is something about "A Million Little Pieces" that makes you have to keep reading no matter how much it churns your stomach. It's that phenomenon like watching a car wreck. We have to watch. This guy destroyed his life with his addictions. You squirm when you read it. Think "Requiem for a Dream" or "My Fractured Life". It is EXTREMELY graphic. It is EXTREMELY vivid. AND it is EXTREMELY good.

Rating:
Summary: Addicted!
Review: Wonderful Book! This is the Story of James Frey's Journey Through The Hell Called Rehab.I have never had the addiction but it doesnt sound pretty..I cried for him and cheered for him..Its a very deep moving book and If James can beat drugs as much as he went through anyone can..This book should be put in every Rehab in the country! I look forward to a sequal! Good Luck Mr Frey!

Rating:
Summary: Former addict still trying to score
Review: Writing should reflect the writer. In "A Million Little Pieces," a story about his journey to sobriety after a 10-year addiction to drugs and alcohol, author James Frey certainly writes like an addict - arrogant, ruthless, shocking, exasperating and unbelievable - but never ashamed or contrite.
Frey allegedly recovers but his brutal story doesn't because while there are many climaxes to his tale - anesthetic-free root canals, bloody and explosive vomiting, brawls and a litany of ugly and dehumanizing incidents - there is no real resolution.
This book is classified as nonfiction with Frey elevating himself to hero status for single-handedly slaying his addiction demons. But to the exhausted reader, it's a joyless and soulless victory since there is no feeling of redemption.
Frey's book is novel writing - in both senses of the word. And it probably would have been a far stronger story as an honest work of fiction in which the addict ultimately cons his final victim - himself. That story would have gotten five stars. This dishonest "memoir," however, only rates two.