Rating: 
Summary: It Will Tie Your Stomach in Knots
Review: Kelly Krisler, a graduate student,
Simply put, I really liked "A Million Little Pieces." I agree with the review comparisons to "Nightmares Echo," "Running With Scissors," and of course "My Fractured Life." I also would include "Less Than Zero" among the favorable comparisons. Although a fiction novel in comparison to "A Million Little Pieces" being a memoir, "Less Than Zero" deals with the same situations of poor little rich boy becoming an addict not because of life on the mean streets, but simply because he has the money to waste. In terms of impact though, it is hard to top "Nightmares Echo" or "Basketball Diaries." Whereas, it in terms of an addictive reading experience it is hard to top "My Fractured Life" and "Running With Scissors". In all cases, "A Million Little Pieces" deserving belongs among all the aforementioned. It is graphic and impacting and at the same time addictive to read. A gripping journey that will put knots in your stomach.
Rating: 
Summary: Has its moments, but don't believe the hype
Review: The plot arc: Spoiled rich kid with tough-guy attitude and severe alcoholism/crack addiction has his parents pay for a stay at the exclusive Hazelden clinic in Minnesota. Goes in a busted-up, addicted idiot. Comes out a semi-repaired, sober jerk. In fairness to him, he's still in early sobriety when he leaves, and he's still young. But when he leaves the clinic doors he's determined not to learn anything from anyone. He forgets that "self-made men are self-evident". Those criticisms aside, James Frey's book has its moments. Some of the writing is beautiful, particularly when there are fewer I's jumping out at you. The story itself is easy to read and has a voyeuristic quality to it some readers will like. There are some interesting characters he meets. I found myself skimming a lot by the middle of the book because of its repetitiousness. The ending is very formulaic and his last gesture probably seems different to those around him than it did to him. That is, it was melodramatic silliness. For a guy with supposed ruthless honesty, he's remarkably sentimental. This is a worthwhile read. But it's not the War and Peace of addiction, as it says on the back cover...
Rating: 
Summary: A dark story of personal salvation.
Review: James Frey's memoir will take you on a wild ride, one that's certainly not for the squeamish. It's raw, convincing, tense, taut and compulsively readable. It's also at times a bit too much. Frey's style is unique and stripped down, with unconventional punctuation rules and almost-cloying repetition. There were times when his style seemed to over-complicate or over-state the emotions and events in his story. He could have stepped back from it in more than a few places for a simpler, and I think, more effective read. In these sections, the prose loses its sharpness and the style gets away from him. Still, it's worth it. It's a broken life put back together on unusual terms.
Rating:
Summary: Portrait of a Lost Soul
Review: "A MILLION LITTLE PIECES by James Frey provides a rare look inside the lost soul who has fallen from the top all the way to the gutter. The look at drug addiction is unforgiving and stunningly vivid. In terms of the details of the story and honest notions on the soul sucking nature of the nastiness of addiction, "A MILLION LITTLE PIECES" is on the same level of brilliance and brutal fascination as "MY FRACTURED LIFE" by Rikkilee Travolta. A+ Material
Rating: 
Summary: How to turn a screenplay into a memoir
Review: If I were james frey I don't know who I'd be more ashamed of; myself for passing a screenplay off as a memoir to make a few bucks or my endless spate of fawning readers who keep telling me I've written what recovery is really like. How many movie cliches can I use before these people realise I've made most of this stuff up? Yes, I went to rehab. Yes, I got clean and sober, but believe me people rehab is actually quite boring, so I decided to write a screenplay very loosely based on my experience since my agent told me it is easier to get a movie made if you have a successful book published first. I just wan't to point out some of the more obvious screenwriting techniques I've for those who may have missed them and then you can tell me then how authentic you think I am; first off I had to create audience identification which means I needed to have my hero suffering, hence the tooth removal scene which has already been discredited by the dentistry community as a hoax. Then I needed a way for him to meet his love interest and I was pressed for a dead line so I got lazy and used the old: Girl drops her school books, papers scatter, boy picks them up, eyes meet. I also knew that I couldn't have the whole thing take place in a sterile rehab unit so alot of the back story would need to be told in flashbacks so I could give more of a hollywood feel to the book; witness my genius in having my mobster friend (who was really this blowhard who was a butcher at Albertson's: I have his father gunned down on the Vegas strip by multiple shots and as the mobster trys to stop them yelling Noooooo! in slow motion I make it so no vital organ is hit and he the father figure can gasp his last breath to tell the mobster friend to make something of himself. You get the picture. I also wanted my main character to be funny so I come up scenes like the laker girl scene and the one where he's with an FBI agent making fun of his mustashe in the tradition of Dice Clay and Vin Diesel. I also needed an industry standard chase scene in the third act so I have him join forces with a crack whore with a heart of gold he can go chase with the help of the supporting cast. Listen people I enjoyed reading this book too and got a kick out of his anti-twelve step crusade and the Laker Girl joke was a riot, but don't kid yourself: THIS IS NOT THE REAL THING! YOU NEED TO READ MORE! Frey is a screenwriter (See the movie: KISSING A FOOL for his WRITING CREDITS and similar structural technique) by trade and this book was written as a screenplay, the three act structure, inciting incident, love interest, the crisis in the middle of the second act, the chase scene in the third act, all of it: and it is coming to a theater near you.
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. A triumphant story about a man's struggle to recovery, but it is not that simple. So many threads of truth and elation and every emotion you can think of are expressed and felt in this story. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: The real thing
Review: I myself am an adict and this book is true to how it feels. Anyone who is an addict or a significant other to an adict should read it. The choped sentencing is the punctuation of the brain in the heat of addiction. I often have felt the heat of addiction and the release of "the fury" throughout my life. This book envelopes the feelings within. What a great piece of literature and an excellent book to read.
Rating:
Summary: Stomach Wrenching
Review: I could never predict what is going to happen next. I could not put down the book once I have picked it up and I found myself finished the 400+ with small font types within a week. There are a few vivid scenes where my stomach were sooooooo wrenched and I had to cover my mouth and narrow my eyes and say "arrrrghhhhhhhhhhhh". I was particularly horrified when I read the part where Frey has to fix his teeth without any painkillers nor anethesia... The childhood of Frey made me feel really sad. The ignorance (from friends) and the withdrawal from people was the chief reason why he started using. The calm, the plain and the emotionaless description of his own past was particularly saddening. I was so appalled that he didn't even blame anyone for causing this (unlike what I would expect from most addict with such a pathetic past). There's no blaming, and he was totally ready to accept the consequence of his ruined life. Frey also confronted a close encounter with drugs and alcohol near to the point of recovery (or temporary recovery). But it was something (you read it!) that saved him from the challenge from the "devil". The characters portraited not only include Frey himself. But also the lives and stories of some of the people he met in the center and the friendship between them. (There is a man who tries to stop swearing too much. And his "pseudo swearing" always made me laugh out loud!) I also enjoyed the way Frey has written this book. It was written in an extremely hysterical manner (a lot of repetition a lot of "and") to demonstrate the unstable mental state and the lack of sanity of him at the beginning. As Frey was getting better and better as the treatment moved on, I found the hysterical style was gradually becoming calmer and more peaceful. I found myself finished the book within a week and every time I picked it up I could not put it down. I was so eager to know "what will happen next" and "what will happen to these people" and "could frey make it".I enjoy the book very very much. If 5 stars is the max rating, I would give it a 6!
Rating:
Summary: this made drug addiction dull !!
Review: I couldn't force myself to finish this book. Thank God I only checked it out from the library and didn't actually spend money on it. The mark of a good book is when you can't wait to pick it up. With this one, I would see it waiting for me and turn on the television instead. There really is no more unpleasant alternative that I can think of. I expected good stuff and was bored silly !! How can you make drug addiction boring??
Rating:
Summary: recommended
Review: This is a great book. People that do not think so, don't understand the power of the mind and luckily for them, have never been in a battle against themselves. His prose is consistent with his thought process and helps you to understand what captures his mind in the midst of his personal war.
| 
