A Few Hundred Words On A Million Little Pieces

An addiction to drugs or alcohol (or both) requires a lot of dishonesty in order to thrive. Addicts lie to their families, to their friends, to their employers and, most importantly, to themselves, to maintain the constant supply of drugs. Therefore users can’t recover until they first choose to live honestly and always remain vigilant against self-deception. This isn’t some abstract concept to be bandied about by dilettantes on chat shows. As any AA will tell you, it’s a matter of life and death. So, as you might guess, I have a problem with James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces.

I haven’t read the book even though I’ve been recommended it a gazillion times. I read that Frey has toured treatment centers and lectured to many groups saying that the book is the true story of his recovery. He also says that he found a route to recovery that bypasses twelve-step programs. (Apparently, his recovery message is “Hold On.”)

However, The Smoking Gun concluded that Frey made up several key passages in his story. On Larry King Live Frey admitted to "embellishing" his story, but said that's okay for a memoir. According to Frey, he published "the essential truth" in AMLP.

Maybe embellishment is okay for a memoir. I don't believe it but, if so, I want a warning label on memoirs that states how much truth is between the covers. ("New! Improved! Now 75% Lie Free!")

If, as it appears, Frey has willingly accepted his mantle of Icon of Recovery, he must also accept recovery's higher standard of honesty. Alcoholics in recovery hold that all truth is essential because to be less than honest is to die.

Oprah said that these embellishments were much ado about nothing. But if you take away the FBI drug sting and the train wreck and the run-over cops, what do you have? Frey as a frat boy who couldn't follow the twelve steps. Hey, you can get those guys by the dozen in rehab.

But I wonder: how many alcoholics have taken false hope from Frey? How many held onto their pride and tried Frey's mantra --"Hold On"-- during delerium tremens but didn't survive? The NIH says that nearly 20 million adult Americans are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or both. That's 20 million little stories possibly more compelling -- and more honest -- than Frey's. May they all get the help they need.