literary hoaxes

I think no to both. If books had to do what they purport to do then blurb writers and cover designers would be out of a job. The action thriller as we know it would be confiscated. Also, literary hoaxes are interesting. I'm far more likely to read this book now than I was before - no just because you've mentioned it, but I'd be interested to see how closely the author nailed the 'tell-all' writing style. I probably still wouldn't buy it though, and it's a bit done-before for a literary hoax.

I have not read Million Pieces but I watched the interview on Larry King when Oprah called in to the show. What smokinggun is calling into question are details about the author's police record and jail time, some of which was evidently exaggerated for effect. Not very bright of the author or the publisher, but there it is. They are not calling into question the 400+ pages of recreated conversations and recollections of his experience in rehab, presumably because everyone would know that is a recollection not a tape recording. The author also originally shopped it around as fiction but no one was interested. As a memior, the publishers took a gamble because memiors are popular now. It sold very few copies until Oprah picked it for her book club, then it went through the roof. My problem is more with the Oprah phenomenon than with Frey. What does is say about a society when it has to rely upon book selections made by someone like Oprah? Most of her contemporary selections are weepy self-absorbed victim myths told by or for American women. I guess since Frey couldn't be a women, he could be the next best thing, a recovering drug addict, another of weepy self-absorbed 'victim' of oppression. All Hail Oprah-- the Nubian Goddess of Plenty! Fountain of all Wisdom! Source of all that is Good and Great! Abandon your Own Minds, Ye who enter here, assuming you ever had one in the first place. blech.

I've read "A million little pieces" and it was readable but it did seem like it had been written as a kind of horror show. And I really don't need to read someone else's rehab horror show which did, as Justyn pointed out, seem to be exaggerated but who can prove? I don't watch Oprah and if the rest of the world needs to select reading based on her nomination then good luck to the rest of the world ...I don't have to!