Thankfully, I just finished A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. As I have said before, Frey lied about his book. He claimed it was a memoir, when really it wasn't. In interviews, Frey claimed he just took out the boring stuff to make it more interesting and easier to get through, (by how long it took me to get through this book, clearly his second idea did NOT work.)
Throughout the novel, the idea of "a simple decision" was a big theme. Frey would often say that when he got out he wouldn't do drugs just because it was a simple decision - do them or don't do them - and he wouldn't need the twelve steps or anything.
Now, think about addiction. Obviously I'm not addicted to drugs or alcohol, but think about a different type of addiction, maybe a habit such as eating cereal every morning. Let's say you eat cocoa puffs every morning. You grab a bowl, poor in the milk,take your spoon and have yourself some tasty cocoa puffs. What if you had cocoa puffs in the morning everyday for freshman, sophomore, and junior year. Then, as a senior you decide you want to start a healthier eating habit before college and decide to eat special k every morning before school. For the first few mornings, you might be adamant about eating special k, but after the first few mornings you might find yourself switching back to cocoa puffs just because you forget or you miss them.
With this in mind, explain to me how in the world Frey could resist one of the strongest addictions of all by just saying "oh no thanks". If I can't resist cocoa puffs in the morning, how am I supposed to believe a drug addict and alcoholic can just wake up one day and say "no"?!
Maybe all that Frey said in the book was true, but I think when Frey tried to make the book more interesting, he should have left in the parts where battling addiction (the whole point of the book) is hard. If I were a struggling drug addict or alcoholic I would not find comfort or a hero in this novel to look up to.
P.s. I also really didn't like what happened to all of his friends at the center, especially Lily. I mean if it's not even true can we at least make the ending happy?? Please and thank you Mr. Frey...
