Disgraced author James Frey in headlines with new deal

July 5, 8:45 AMChicago Literary Scene ExaminerRobert Duffer

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Chicago Literary Scene Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Stranger in a strange land (Robert Caplin, NYT)

On July 2, the New York Times reported that disgraced author James Frey and a writing partner, Jobie Hughes, have sold a young adult novel about alien teens.

The theme of alien alienation should be familiar for Frey. His blockbuster best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces (2003), chronicled alcohol and drug abuse dating from his tween years to his harrowing near-death recovery. It was a good book, despite the grammatical gimmickrey (no quotation marks for dialogue, each sentence its own paragraph), told in a raw, unflinching style, even when it did strain credibility(four root canals with the only anesthesia being his own self-hate). Its Oprah Bookclub backing helped sell millions of copies, a rarity for any new writer writing in whatever genre. Unhuman. Alien.

Then, if you recall, The Smoking Gun proved his tale so wrong in so many places, intolerable transgressions of the creative part of nonficiton, that the tough guy got beat down by Oprah, who opened a can of whoop-ass the likes of which have not been seen in literary circles. He lied in his book and tainted her book club, then he lied to Oprah and tainted her shOw.

Publishers distanced themselves, literary pundits redrew a million times the line between fiction and nonfiction, writing programs had newsworthy discussions. He was a scapegoat, a pariah, even though millions of readers praised him for helping them through their addictions. The publishing brouhaha took place right as his follow-up, My Friend Called Leonard (2005), about his coke-addicted mafia-mentor from rehab, was hitting the bestseller lists. Two years ago, Harper(who will be publishing the YA series) bought Bright Shiny Morning, Frey's mediocore foray into...uh...real fiction?

Why is Frey still making headlines for succeeding at bullshitting, what any writer should be good at? The former Chicagoan, who wrote the screenplay for the Chicago-based romantic com-e-vomit Kissing a Fool (starring David Shwimmer at the apogee--or nadir--of his Rossness: need I say more?), is a contemporary take on the classic story line of unprecedented success followed by fathomless failure. Then starting all over again. He is the new quintessential American folk hero. Any biographer up for the challenge? Imagine the disclaimer.

Frey might be shady, as trustworthy as a paper towel, and a general sneak, but the guy is a good storyteller. Even though I felt betrayed by the book (though it did affirm my nose for bullshit), you can't really blame Frey. 20 editors and houses passed on the book as fiction; Sean McDonald, who was the editor at Doubleday at the time, took the book on as nonfiction. Did Frey's agent say it was true enough, did McDonald look into it, why didn't these people share in Frey's downfall? What wrtier, in big-time negotiations for his first book, would not say whatever it takes to seal the deal?  

Can't we just wipe the slate clean for poor Mr. Frey? Not when you keep sneaking about.

According to the Times article, Frey's agent "originally pitched the book as a collaboration between an unnamed New York Times best-selling author and an up-and-coming writer. He sent the manuscript of the first book in the series, about a group of alien teenagers who hide on earth after their planet is attacked by hostile invaders, to several editors at large New York publishing houses last week."

Moreover, it's Frey's idea, not so much his writing: "[Frey] conceived the idea of what is proposed as a six-book series. Mr. Hughes, a recent graduate of the creative writing program at Columbia, is writing most of the text."

Hey man, give 'em something to talk about. That's all we want.