Into the Frey-ing Pan


"But still I'd rather be famous than righteous or holy,
anyday, anyday, anyday..."
~The Smiths, "Frankly, Mr. Shankly"



Okay, so I didn't want to add to the public lambasting of James Frey... I heard about the Smoking Gun investigation before it hit major news media, but I didn't read the book, so wasn't about to play the role of reader betrayed. But as a recent MFA grad who tried her hand at memoir, I and the other folks in my program couldn't help but be completely disgusted by him.

And we were very disappointed in Oprah when she called into Larry King Live to defend the book. At that point, Tim and I even hashed out whether she still had any personal integrity or if the money and power had completely corrupted her--I was arguing that her handlers had probably forced her to be nice. I don't consider myself one of her followers, but I do maintain that she's caused a lot of everyday people (including my own mother) to examine their lives in a more serious way. After this incident, my faith in her was definitely shaken.

So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that when Oprah had Frey on her show again, she ended up apologizing to viewers and had it out with Frey the way I hoped she would! I was also proud that my favorite memoirist, Mary Karr, wrote a scathing op-ed piece for the NYTimes (scroll down to read full text here).

My favorite part is this:
"'Memoirs don't generally come under the type of scrutiny that mine has,' Mr. Frey whined during the interview.
But memoirs should always come under scrutiny: by their authors, as the books are being written."
Preach it, sister!

Now, the publishers and Frey have posted responses to the controversy on the Random House website and plan to include an author's note in future editions. But the book is still selling like mad and remains on the NONFICTION bestsellers list, much to the dismay of #2 guy, Jared Diamond.

Lastly, even if you've had enough of the Frey scandal coverage, you gotta check out this awesome Onion infograph and the NYTimes op-ed piece from Daily Show writer, Tim Carvell. (We all know where we get our real news.)

Posted: Wed - February 1, 2006 at 06:59 AM           |

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