Oprah Fries Frey: More on the Fray
Oh boy, do I love the fury of Oprah--directed at someone else, of course. I think I would shrivel up and melt into a green puddle on the floor just like that wicked witch on the Wizard of Oz who was splashed with water if Oprah ever directed that grim-faced look at me.
I hardly ever watch Oprah because her show comes on at 4:00 p.m. when my house is usually full of children and I'm trying to think up and cook dinner while juggling an assortment of flaming children. Oh wait, no flames. Just kids and juggling. But today, I made a point of turning on the show to watch James Frey look at her with dead eyes and a dry mouth while she demanded to know what was truth and what was false.
Poor James Frey. I mean, sure, he lied and capitalized on his lies, but I felt sorry for him anyway, even though I like the ticked off version of Oprah. I like a person who does not tolerate nonsense. I admire that in a person.
I never read A Million Little Pieces. I probably won't, either, now that I know it's basically false. I read an excerpt and I found his writing style unimpressive anyway. And I have twenty dozen books stacked up to read. (I am not lying. Twenty dozen, at least. No exaggeration.)
Right now, I'm almost finished with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and although it makes me feel about as old as a Pet Rock, I like it. No, I don't like feeling as old as a Pet Rock, but I like this book, even though I'm really really really far outside of Dave Eggers' demographic.
In other news . . . there is no other news.
I hardly ever watch Oprah because her show comes on at 4:00 p.m. when my house is usually full of children and I'm trying to think up and cook dinner while juggling an assortment of flaming children. Oh wait, no flames. Just kids and juggling. But today, I made a point of turning on the show to watch James Frey look at her with dead eyes and a dry mouth while she demanded to know what was truth and what was false.
Poor James Frey. I mean, sure, he lied and capitalized on his lies, but I felt sorry for him anyway, even though I like the ticked off version of Oprah. I like a person who does not tolerate nonsense. I admire that in a person.
I never read A Million Little Pieces. I probably won't, either, now that I know it's basically false. I read an excerpt and I found his writing style unimpressive anyway. And I have twenty dozen books stacked up to read. (I am not lying. Twenty dozen, at least. No exaggeration.)
Right now, I'm almost finished with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and although it makes me feel about as old as a Pet Rock, I like it. No, I don't like feeling as old as a Pet Rock, but I like this book, even though I'm really really really far outside of Dave Eggers' demographic.
In other news . . . there is no other news.
posted by Melodee at Thursday, January 26, 2006
14 Comments:
hmmm... I don't really watch TV... I have one to justify having a DVD player, but rarely do I flip it on to watch... I guess I spend THAT time in front of the computer in the blog-o-sphere! Forgive my ignorance, but who is Frey? Shows you how much I miss when I'm not glued to the media. That, in and of itself is a post waiting to happen... the media.
I passed on this book at my friendly neighborhood thrift store last week. It was a mere 10 cents. Not worth it, says I.
Really though, I'd love to hear Oprah talk to Tom Cruise like that.
"Tom. You are a grown man. Please refrain from jumping on my furniture. And pretty young actresses."
Ohhhhhh, I was feeling for Frey too while he squirmed under Oprah's interrogation. That looked like one very "hot seat" indeed. Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Darn it!! I missed it! I need tivo (hahaha....like I need a hole in the head).
Must say, A Million Little Pieces was one of the only books I have ever read in my life BEFORE it became an international everyone-and-their-grannie knows about it sensation (I'm usually about 3 years late to the game on all fads), and I thought it was fabulous. And even then I knew that a lot of it was a former frat boy talkin' smack to make things a bit more poignant than the truth (which, whatever it is, is still completely riveting). I would still recommend it.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius....aside from the oh my God, I can't believe all of this stuff could happen to one family factor...made me wish that I had been a post-college young adult back Gen-Xer in the early 90s. My oh my has the reality of life changed since the economy has tanked. Incidentally, did you know that his older sister has since committed suicide???
I blogged while watching the show, and as much as I thought it was funny, I also thought Frey's major crime wasn't lying in his memoir - it was embarrasing Oprah.
I thought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was a great book!
I've been sorta keeping track of this story too. My Bookie brought it to my attention a few days ago, saying that private citizens were suing Frey, based on his memoir/novel.
I thought that folks were overstating the impact of his lie... but after reading the articles from the smoking gun and cnn, my views have been challenged and altered, somewhat. The lawsuit is valid, and Frey should
be issuing refund checks.
Turtle Guy... I was a late-arrival on this topic too... If you'd like the lowdown dirty-dirty on this, you might find these links interesting:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0104061jamesfrey1.html
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/01/26/frey.disputed.memoir.ap/index.html
I'm glad she took him to task... But I do have to respect him just a bit for agreeing to go on the show. He could have been chicken and said "no", which is the option I would have chosen in his shoes... lol
I read the book and loved it (loved, past tense). It was a great read at that time because I was amazed that someone could go through all that. I was fascinated. I highly recommended it to people. I watched Oprah yesterday and I actually felt sorry for him too. I bought into his reasons for doing it and thought there were a few things that he had lied about, but for the most part felt it was true. Well then I read the Smoking Gun report today and now I know why Oprah felt duped. There were so many lies, and not little white lies. Big, thought out, calculated lies. I want my money back!
I haven't seen any of this...just read about it. I was surprised that Oprah didn't take the "tone" with him the first time....
I knew there must be a phrase for how old I feel! And that's what it was. As old as a pet rock. Mel, thank you once again for nailing down le mot juste [or I guess the analogy juste]. As always.
i'm just a teeny bit early, but I wanted to be sure to get it in... so... APPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
I also thought Frey's major crime wasn't lying in his memoir - it was embarrasing Oprah. Bingo. This is the case of a greedy liar getting on the wrong side of a too-powerful entity.
I've gotta admit, I hope this will make people think twice about believing whatever falls out of Oprah's mouth.
Happy Birthday to you, you young upstart -- see everything is relative.
Hey! I have four kids too! Anyway, your blog title got my attention and I had to see what you had to say. Turns out I saw the same Oprah show (thanks to a DVR) and I've never seen her so infuriated. I was impressed even showed up. When Oprah originally chose his book...she didn't just chose it...she praised HIGH, HIGH praises. No wonder she was so embarassed. I think it was a good point that we underestimate how important the truth is.
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