BOOKS: Multiple questions for 'A Million Little Pieces' author

10:30 AM CST on Friday, January 27, 2006

By JEROME WEEKS / The Dallas Morning News

A "duped" and "embarrassed" Oprah Winfrey played angry prosecuting attorney on her television show Thursday, repeatedly telling James Frey, author of the disputed, best-selling memoir A Million Little Pieces , that he had "betrayed millions of readers."

Mr. Frey's hard-hitting account of his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction was chosen for Oprah's Book Club last September. But two weeks ago, the investigative Web site the Smoking Gun cast doubt on several incidents in the book, notably Mr. Frey's reported three-month stay in jail – a stay he now says was only a few hours. The New York Times also reported this week that counselors at the Minnesota clinic Mr. Frey attended have claimed his account of the treatment is inaccurate.

The prosecution of Mr. Frey on The Oprah Winfrey Show made for "amazing television" as one of the guests, New York Times columnist Frank Rich, pointed out. Ms. Winfrey interrogated the rambling, rattled author nearly page by page, demanding to know why he changed this or that scene.

On Ms. Winfrey's show, Mr. Frey said that in writing his memoir, he had "clung" to an image of himself as "tougher and badder than I was."

He claimed that "not very much was fabricated" and that every one of the characters was real, only details were changed to hide their identities.

Then why not simply write it as a novel? Ms. Winfrey asked.

"I don't think it is a novel," Mr. Frey replied. "I still think it's a memoir."

Not only did Ms. Winfrey choose A Million Little Pieces for Oprah's Book Club, she also defended the book during a Jan. 11 interview with Mr. Frey on Larry King Live, calling in to hail the memoir for inspiring readers to seek recovery. Criticism of the book's accuracy, she said, was "much ado about nothing."

"I left the impression that the truth is not important," Ms. Winfrey said. She regretted the call, claiming she had been overwhelmed by the many e-mails from readers who testified to the book's "emotional truth" if not its factual veracity.

When she first read A Million Little Pieces, Ms. Winfrey said she wondered, "How can you remember such detail?" But, she pointed out, Mr. Frey had assured her that he had kept a journal and hundreds of pages of documentation.

On the show, in contrast, the author seemed almost pole-axed. He claimed he could no longer clearly remember whether the two horrific root canals he had described were performed with or without Novocain.

"How can you forget Novocain?" Ms. Winfrey shot back.

But a tight-lipped, clearly uncomfortable Nan A. Talese, who published the memoir under her imprint at Doubleday, said she had undergone just such a root canal. "So it wasn't a red flag" to her, she said, during the book's early consideration. It didn't tip her off that the book's account might be embellished or fabricated.

The conversation nearly became a debate about what constitutes a memoir, a debate that Ms. Winfrey quickly turned into a lecture. She castigated Ms. Talese and the publishing industry for not taking responsibility in labeling books as fiction or nonfiction. She was immediately backed by several of her guests, including Mr. Rich and Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen for striking a blow against the increasing conflation of facts and stories by the entertainment industry, the news media and, Mr. Rich pointed out, the Bush White House.

In a statement issued later Thursday, Doubleday said it had "sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished."

The publisher said an author's note was being prepared that will be sent to booksellers to insert into current editions and that any future printings would be delayed until the note is included in the actual book.

But no changes in the text are planned and the book will remain classified as a memoir, The Associated Press reported.

If Oprah-as-hanging-judge made for amazing talk-show television, it was also a piece of theater aimed to redeem Ms.Winfrey's seal of approval. Her choice of books for Oprah's Book Club can mean a fortune in sales. A Million Little Pieces has now sold more than 3.5 million copies.

Accordingly, Ms. Winfrey was hailed by several of her guests "for standing up and saying you were wrong," as Mr. Cohen said.

The controversy has yet to affect Mr. Frey's Dallas appearance, which remains in place for next Friday, according to John E. Castañeda, executive director of Turtle Creek Manor, the organization sponsoring the event. Turtle Creek Manor provides residential treatment to indigent mentally ill and chemically addicted adults.

More than 500 people are expected to hear Mr. Frey, who will speak at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where individual tickets are going for $125.

But if anyone wants to repeat Ms. Winfrey's interrogation of the author, his Dallas appearance, apparently, won't be the place.

"No, there will be no Q-and-A session," says Mr. Castañeda.

Staff writer Michael Granberry contributed to this report.

E-mail jweeks@dallasnews.com