A Million Little Pieces

Part of having this month break before starting school that has been nice is that I have had a chance to sit down and do some reading - something that I really haven't be able to do for a while.

I just finished a book called A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. READ IT. The book is excellent. It is a memoir, and starts of with the author waking up covered in vomit and blood, with a huge hole in his cheek, his four front teeth missing, and sitting on airplane with no idea where he has been or how he got there. It is his story of his six weeks in one of the best rehab clinics in the country. He is as he says "A Drug addict, an alcoholic, a criminal."

The book is brutal, vivid, honest, and true (in every sense of the word).

It haunted my thoughts since I began reading it, and it has continued to do so since I finished it.

It is at times funny, but always serious and thought provoking.

You don't have to take my word for it though here is a link that has an essay written by James Frey, but also a collection of some of the emails sent to him from people who have read his book:

http://www.anovelview.com/james_frey.htm

A couple of the emails:
I'm not an alcoholic, an addict or a criminal but this book meant so much to me The honesty, truth and simplicity that emanates from it is absolutely shatteringThank you and happy late birthdayCarma from Beirut, Lebanon
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thank you for pulling from my head and my heart what I could not form into words. It was like reading the teleprompter of my thoughts, my life, my pain, my journey. The words flowed without the constriction and confines of literary rules and was just REAL. TRUTH. The inconcievable made material. I am sending a copy to my family so that they can see inside the nightmare that is my mind; thank you James Frey for giving them this window.....
Courtney
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I’ve never been addicted to anything other than potato chips. Never understood addiction or addicts, other than I despised both. I’m about as close to Mrs. Cleaver as you can get –a lifestyle I chose in an effort to work as hard as I can to make sure I’d never be like my mother, who is an addict. She infuriates me, saddens me disappoints me, worries me and I love her in spite of what she does. I’m as close as I ever will be to getting it thanks to James’ book. But the sad truth to reconcile is that my mother may never get better. Lily’s outcome made me cry from the depths of my being. Not to sound hopeless, but the truth I realized in this book is an addict must simply chose or not chose their drug of choice all the while wrestling with the drug’s mental and physical hold on them. I can see why many more fail than succeed. I can better see my mother for the human being she is, rather than the addict I’ve written her off to be. I don’t know what steps I’ll take towards her, but I’ll make some with a smarter head.This book will be required reading for my two boys, once they are old enough to grasp it. Thank you, James - I’m thankful I came across your book. Holly AbshireFairbanks, AK
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There are many more but take a look for yourself. Best book I have read in a while.