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What percent of a book must be true to call it a memoir? How much of life is recalled exactly as it happened? As for the moments I spent following the hype surrounding James Frey's bestseller, here is how I remember the facts about "A Million Little Pieces."

BACKGROUND.
James Frey wrote a book about his struggles with addiction and the resulting problems he had with the law. It was published and marketed as a memoir. A lot of people read it and enjoyed enough to allow it to reach the top of the bestsellers list and to earn a coveted spot on Oprah Winfrey's Book Club list.

The Smoking Gun, a website that strives to embarrass those who have found fame, released information that called into question some of the anecdotes in Frey's memoir. The controversy-hungry public seized on the possible deceptions and Larry King fed them with a live interview during which Oprah called the show to defend Frey and his work.

Oprah's loyalty to her chosen author did not last long. She soon had Frey as a guest on her show, where she proceeded to scold him for lying to her and to millions of readers.

REALITY CHECK?
Frey wrote a book that detailed all of the highs and lows of addiction. The narration is nothing short of a stream of consciousness that adds to the reader's realization that the author is out of his mind during most of his life's experiences during the time in which the book is framed.

Why is it surprising that not everything in this book is one hundred percent true? Think to yourself of your commute home from work or school yesterday. Remember every detail that surrounded you. Can you remember with whom you last spoke before leaving? Did you have to wait at the second stoplight you approached? What color was the car next to you at the stoplight closest to your home? It is pretty hard to remember all of those details, is it not? Even the details you do remember - are you absolutely certain you are remembering them correctly?

I was completely sober all day yesterday. Given how difficult it is for me to remember the whole in full detail, how is it that everyone was so surprised that a man who could not stay sober had difficulty remembering the exact details of a drug episode or of his withdrawal process? Sure, Frey spent only a few hours in jail rather than 87 days, but does that matter to the story of addiction, rehabilitation, loss, love, and redemption? I say, "No." So do the many readers who bought this book even after the supposed scandal... and the readers who bought the almost-as-wonderful sequel, "My Friend Leonard."

BOTTOM LINE!
"A Million Little Pieces" is a book worth reading. Successful memoirs often involved very complicated, emotional, and stressful situations. If it is difficult to remember the minutiae of a normal day, how can we, as readers, expect memoir authors to be completely accurate in their works? I recently read, "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, a book about his experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Somehow I doubt every anecdote in his book is completely correct, but that fact did not make my opinion of Beah, or the book, fall into a million little pieces.

Learn more about this author, Jane Clarice.
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