A Million Little Lies: A Darkly Comic Novel of Failed Redemption and Tragic Romance

Regardless of the fact that not everything in the book is true, still a great read and highly recommend!

Not the book your looking for... A million little lies is the one you want.....

I intentionally did not read this book following the Frey/Oprah scandal. I waited a couple of years and then read the book, how I think it should be read with no anticipation or expectation that the story is true or Frey's life story, but simply as a story. With that being said, I really enjoyed "A Million Little Pieces". The story relates the tremendous journey towards recovery for James Frey.The story begins with James waking up on a plane with no idea where he has been or what he has done. What he does know is that he is missing several teeth, covered in urine, throw-up and blood, and obviously in a lot of trouble. Taken to a rehab facility by his family, we see James attempt to understand why he has done some of the things that he has done, as well as make some of the decisions that he has made. With the new mantra ....."I am an alcoholic. I am a drug addict. And I am a criminal", James takes responsibility for his past actions, sets limits for his future sobriety and sets out to heal himself as only he can. Not a believer in the "12 step program" or a "higher being", he has decided to get sober on his own terms and in his own way.Along the way, James encounters a variety of people with the same issues of alcohol abuse and drug dependency. Among them: his friend and eventual roommate, clarinet playing Miles (a recovering alcoholic and federal Judge), Leonard (a drug addicted, alcoholic Mafia Boss), and Lily (a pill popping, crack addicted prostitute) who he loves unconditionally. He also makes a connection with Joanne, his counselor and her companion Hank.From the time we learn that James is going to have a double root canal (to fix his teeth that were broken during a blackout) without any pain killers (because he is a recovering addict), to his 22-page confession of bad decisions, rage and embarrassment, we HOPE that he will heal and become whole. So when we read that James stares as a mug is literally being "carried thru the dishwasher", which to me symbolizes his rediscovery of himself, we know that he will honor his pledge to get clean. Like the "mug" he had to experience rock bottom, go thru hard and challenging times to become a better person. I personally enjoyed the story, and while I have not personally experienced addiction, I know several who have. This gave me some insight into the process of getting better. So while the story may not have been true, I thought it was extremely entertaining.

I had to give 1 star just to write this review, I don’t find this parody of James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces to be worth even that. James Frey is an amazing writer who wrote a memoir about his experience while in rehab for addiction, and it was just that …a memoir…his perspective. A memoir is what one sees as their truth. It was an amazing book how he remembered his experience. Whether he embellished, or changed names to protect others was his choice. The fact that Oprah put the book on her best seller list, and then ripped him to shreds on TV in front of millions of people because she was embarrassed was absolutely awful, especially knowing that he is a recovering drug addict. I’m so glad that he didn’t let her ruin him. Like I said, he is an amazing writer, and this silly little book trying to undermine him isn’t worth your time. Buy James Frey’s book instead, any of them…you won’t be disappointed.

Reading these reviews are ridiculous. James Frey wrote A Million Little Pieces and a huge deal was made and it was fake. He classified his novel as something it really wasn't. Now, people, understand that A Million Little Lies is a parody of James Frey's wonderful work of fiction. Not only a parody but a witty retaliation towards a call for attention. This "James Pinocchio" isn't trying to please a reader but (s)he's trying to get his/her thoughts out on the original piece. A lot of people reviewing need to learn the difference between this book and the original because this was not written by James Frey.However, if it were that would be pretty twisted and maybe even make it that much more interesting.I've been seeing this book on a lot of GoodWill shelves lately.

My review is not on reading this book, my review is on how much I laughed my ass off when I realized this was a book. I love the book this is making fun of, in my top 5 books Million Little Pieces is in it...

'A Million Little Lies' may look like a cheap James Frey parody thrown together in about a week by some hack hoping for a quick buck -- and it is -- but the hackwork is so funny and captures Frey's pseudoliterary ticks so exactly that I laughed out loud on the New York subway. This resulted in a seat becoming available. Thank you, James Pinocchio!

As an extended riff on James Frey's book, 'A Million Little Pieces', this is actually not poorly done. At lots of little turns in the plot, there are direct parallels to the hero of Frey's book.First, some background, for those not in the know. James Frey wrote a book, 'A Million Little Pieces', that was presented as a tough-to-read memoir of his own experiences. It was an Oprah selection. It had wide acclaim. Unfortunately, the longer the book was in the spotlight, the more its credibility was called into question, until Frey finally admitted it was not the all-the-truth-all-the-time narrative he'd originally presented it as being.It has since become the object of jokes and derision. This book by Pinocchio (a pen name for Pablo Fenjves) is one of these efforts. Pinocchio wakes in pain not remembering how he got where he was, and goes through mock-parallels of the harrowing events Frey describes (drug addiction is subtituted by addiction to a more frivolous living, etc.).In the end, it is really a bit too much. While Frey's book had at least the virtue of trying to deal with difficult subjects in a serious way (albeit with an ultimately fatal flaw in the execution), I am lost of the point on Pinocchio's book. Like the children's story of Pinocchio, which could be told in a much shorter page length, a parody of Frey's book could also be more effective as a cautionary tale if presented in a different way.