Audiobook: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey


Published: 5/11/2004
Publisher: Anchor
Pages: 448
Genre: Adult/Mental Health    
Review: library audiobook


By the time James Frey enters a drug and alcohol treatment facility, he has so thoroughly ravaged his body that the doctors are shocked he is still alive. Inside the clinic, he is surrounded by patients as troubled as he: a judge, a mobster, a former world-champion boxer, and a fragile former prostitute. To James, their friendship and advice seem stronger and truer than the clinic's droning dogma of "How to Recover".

James refuses to consider himself a victim of anything but his own bad decisions. He insists on accepting sole accountability for the person he has been and the person he may become - which he feels runs counter to his counselor's recipes for recovery. He must fight to survive on his own terms, for reasons close to his own heart. And he must battle the ever-tempting chemical trip to oblivion.

An uncommon accounting of a life destroyed and reconstructed, and a provocative alternative understanding of the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery, A Million Little Pieces marks the debut of a bold and talented literary voice.


I picked this book up as audio since all my library had at the time, and I was glad it was audio and not paperback. I was not very impressed with this story being told. A fellow book blogger recommended this book, and she made a post with this book title, so I wanted to check it out. She had certain views, and it made me want to see if I had the same ones. First, let me say I can not imagine the life of an addict. My sister is an addict, and as much as I can always claim that she is no longer my sister because of her choices, she will always be related to me.  When I dived into listening to this book, I was curious to get into the mind of a true addict, let me understand their feelings on things. See where they are coming from while they deal with their demons. In the end, I felt this book was very vulgar to the point that I was shocked at what I was reading. Especially when one of the characters went into detail about one of the female drug addicts who had a train ran up on her. I felt like even though I understood the meaning of the story being told. That was something that needed to be omitted. I felt for her. Like I legit was hoping no one could listen to this story being told through my headphones, and I have read some dirty stories. Also, what made me re-think giving this book a higher rating was because when I finished, I felt that Frey was trying to make himself into a hero that could turn his back on the twelve steps an addict needs to succeed in life. Then, after all the listening I did, I came here to write a review and found the story was not really like I had thought it was. It seemed that most of the things that happened were faked or stretched to make a buck happen. Not cool at all dude, if it was just going to be a story, then great, it is a story. To make it seem like it was your life that was in the gutter and not everything happened like it should have kind of makes it become fiction. I also felt there was much repeating with things. I vomited, I wiped my mouth and kept vomiting, I vomited....and so forth and so forth. I feel like in a story or biography or a memoir or hell, whatever it is that you write to tell the world. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP REPEATING THINGS!! 




James Christopher Frey is an American author and entrepreneur. After battling with alcohol addiction and spending time in rehab, he wrote A Million Little Pieces which was published in 2003 in America and the following year in the UK to critical acclaim. He wrote the sequel, My Friend Leonard about life after rehab, which was published in 2005 in the US and the year after in the UK.

James Frey now lives in New York with his wife, daughter and dog. He is still writing. Most recently he has published Bright Shiny Morning, and his new book The Final Testament of the Holy Bible will publish on 12 April and is available for pre-order now.

He is also one of the authors that share the pseudonym Pittacus Lore, author of the Lorien Legacies.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interview and Giveaway with Author Teri Polen

Spreading Some Love Indie Blog Hop 2016

Review: The Ouija Board (Paranormal Adventure #1) by Shelby White