A Million Little Pieces

by James Frey

Book Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A gripping memoir about the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery from a bold and talented literary voice. "Anyone who has ever felt broken and wished for a better life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385507755
• ISBN13: 9780385507752
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Very enticing! Keeps you interested all throughout the book! I read it over and over!

Brutally Honest

My brother just committed suicide partially because of or maybe entirely because of alcohol addiction. In the airport on the way home from the memorial for him, I found this book. I read half of it on the plane - hoping for answers. I found a few in Mr. Frey's vivid descriptions of the helpless, hopeless, endlessly disappointing battles with addictions. It is a bittersweet explanation to me of what my beautiful brother must have been dealing with. Over and over again he redeemed himself but in the end he must have seen no way out and so he ended the addiction and his shame and disappointment in the most logical way he could think of. I don't know how his story could have been any different and reading this book makes me realize how hard he must have fought and none of us in the family ever knew. As to the mechanics of the writing, it's visceral and eloquent and blunt and meaningful and angry and defiant. A masterpiece of truth telling. I hope that families of folks with addictions will read it and take some solace or at least a glimmer of what their beloved addicts life must be like. And finally, it is a piece of hope that some others may have the good fortune to make it back from the abyss. This book helped me accept my brother for what he was and what he did. Thanks, Mr. Frey. I hope that if this is your true story that you continue to win the battle. Life without my brother, addicted though he was, is really unbearable. Life without you, I would imagine, would be unbearable for all of us because of your eloquent sharing of your experience. Thanks for being so brutally honest. Your efforts have helped me understand my brother a little better and the choice he made at the end. I recommend this book to anyone whose life has been touched by the losing someone to addiction and to anyone looking for satisfying, beautiful, honest, gifted storytelling. If you do not have anyone like this in your life, it's still a great book, passionate and honest with a grim humor that makes it bearable to read the truth of an addicts life.

The Best Memoir Ever

This book is undoubtedly not only the best memoir I've ever read, it's also one of the best books I've ever read, period. The writing style is gorgeous, immediate, and unique, but the subject matter is unbelievable. The writer's life--of drugs and crime and violence and sadness--is almost too much to bear at times, as is the suspense of knowing that any moment he might return to all of it. (The story is about him being in rehab...but this is no "28 Days." This is relentless.) I still worry about him after reading it, and after reading its sequel, "My Friend Leonard," which is also great, but sadder. At times reading this book is a lot like being beaten up, but even in some of the book's harshest moments, there are little moments of kindness and friendship that are so touching, that I'd start to hope again, and my heart would melt. This book is full of sex and violence and drugs and explicit language, yet I would recommend it to every high school and college student out there, just to remind them of the danger of drugs. And I would recommend it to everyone else, just because it is an amazing book. My brother was so moved by it, he named an album after it. Kudos to Oprah for choosing it for her club; I almost can't believe it--I thought she was into Steinbeck and "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and that kind of stuff. Read this book, read its sequel, and read everything James Frey ever writes. He is a literary genius, he's alive today, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Worth Every Penny

"A Million Little Pieces" is told with brutal, in your face honesty and an almost hyper active writing style. I found it to be absolutely brilliant. This is the story of an addict by an addict and doesn't try to paint it as anything saintly or appologetic. I was very pleased with this purchase and do not hesitate to recommend "A Million Little Pieces" to other readers. I also recommend "My Fractured Life", "The Glass Castle", "Running With Scissors", "Dry", and "Smashed."

It Will Tie Your Stomach in Knots

Kelly Krisler, a graduate student,Simply put, I really liked "A Million Little Pieces." I agree with the review comparisons to "Nightmares Echo," "Running With Scissors," and of course "My Fractured Life." I also would include "Less Than Zero" among the favorable comparisons. Although a fiction novel in comparison to "A Million Little Pieces" being a memoir, "Less Than Zero" deals with the same situations of poor little rich boy becoming an addict not because of life on the mean streets, but simply because he has the money to waste. In terms of impact though, it is hard to top "Nightmares Echo" or "Basketball Diaries." Whereas, it in terms of an addictive reading experience it is hard to top "My Fractured Life" and "Running With Scissors". In all cases, "A Million Little Pieces" deserving belongs among all the aforementioned. It is graphic and impacting and at the same time addictive to read. A gripping journey that will put knots in your stomach.

As a member of the "recovery community"...

...I found this book compelling. There were passages where my heart started to race and I found myself trying to read faster because the experiences described felt so true. I underlined lines that put my own experience into words better than I ever have. I am a member of a 12 Step fellowship but do not believe it is the ONLY way to recover from addiction; Frey's struggle with the idea of a Higher Power closely mirrors my own. Though our "core issues" (Frey's is "the Fury"; mine is depression) and our paths differ, our experiences of addiction are the same. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who wants a better understanding of why we do what we do and how it feels to stop. ******** I need to amend my review of this book in light of The Smoking Gun's expose. Because I gave it an emphatic five stars, I am obligated to acknowledge this new information. I certainly don't know how much of what he wrote he actually experienced. The fact remains that his description of addiction and recovery therefrom - the feelings he described - rang true for me. Whether the book is fact, fiction, or some combination of the two, he nailed what I went through. I would still offer this book to someone wanting to understand what it is like to be an addict. I may also tell them to take the rest of it with some little pieces of salt.