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James Frey admits 'memoir' alterations

Thursday 2 February 2006
In a note on his publisher's website, James Frey, the author of the bestselling memoir 'A Million Little Pieces', has admitted to embellishing and altering his experiences to serve what he felt was the "greater purpose of the book."

'A Million Little Pieces' is Frey's story of his fight against addiction and his time in a drug and alcohol treatment centre.

Released in 2003, it was picked by Oprah Winfrey for her bookclub and subsequently went on to sell thousands of copies.

Doubts of Frey's veracity started to emerge at the start of this year when The Smoking Gun website questioned the validity of many of his claims.

Last week Frey appeared on Winfrey's show and admitted that certain facts and characters had been altered for inclusion in the book.

In his note on the Random House, he confessed to inventing a three-month jail term, exaggerating other run-ins with law officials and distorting his role in a train crash that killed a high school classmate.

But, Frey argues: "Memoir allows the writer to work from memory instead of from a strict journalistic or historical standard. It is about impression and feeling, about individual recollection. This memoir is a combination of facts about my life and certain embellishments."

His author's note will be included in all future editions of the book.

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