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.

As I Was Saying...

It's a new term and I'm learning web coding and website usability at Washtenaw Community College. These are technical writing skills that I can't get as part of my master's program at EMU, by the way, at a fraction of the price.

I plan to practice webby stuff on my new domain, touchberry dot com. At long last I am master of my domain.

I'm still looking for full time employment. When, Oh When will they recognize my talents?

Currently on my reading list: The Four Noble Truths, Epic of Gilgamesh, the Big Book, and He by Robert Johnson. In my head I'm blending them, creating something like The Fisher King Seeks the Middle Way in Uruk One Day at a Time. I forgot about William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, which is a real slog. Oh, and textbooks too.

In other news, Bush and Cheney should be impeached and tried for high crimes. There is no war on Christmas. Michigan needs to raise taxes to provide more social services. The state also needs to rewrite Proposal A and create exemptions to the Headlee Amendment so that we can properly fund public education. Charter schools should be evaluated as the experiment they are, given the failing grade they deserve, and shut down permanently. I knew Angelina Jolie was going to get pregnant. I just knew she and Brad were having sex.

Death Cab for Cutie's new one, Plans, is the cd I can't get out of my player. I might as well superglue it. They looked pretty good on SNL tonight, too.

Acceptance is the key to serenity.