Well, it looks like we may have found another liar.
There is a book that has been very popular, especially ever since Oprah featured it on one of her shows. It's a book called "A Million Little Pieces" written by James Frey. It's a memoir of the years that Frey spent as a drug-addicted "Criminal" (he always capitalizes the C in criminal in his book, reportedly) and has drawn rave reviews. I have not read the book, but my sister-in-law just finished it and she couldn't stop raving about how great it was and how moving and everything.
The Smoking Gun, a very interesting website, has been researching Frey's life for the past several months and has found several inconsistencies and downright lies about it. A lot of things just don't match up in the book. Frey has refused to talk to them any longer, and has hired a lawyer to protect himself and to threaten legal action against The Smoking Gun, which hasn't deterred them at all. (You can read the full article here.)
It reminds me of someone in the Christian world who was caught in a lie after selling boatloads of his memoir. You may remember him, his name is Mike Warnke. The name of the book was The Satan Seller, and I remember growing up in my home church and talking about the book and satanism in my high school Sunday School class. Cornerstone magazine did an expose on Warnke's life and found out that he basically made up everything about being in a satanic cult, being a drug-abuser, and other strange stories in his life.
I can't imagine what it would be like to make a ton of money off of a memoir of made-up events and situations that never took place, and then try to backpedal your way out of the lies and deceit. I haven't heard about Warnke, who was a very successful Christian comedian, for years - what will happen to James Frey?
These stories remind me of two passages in the Bible. The first one is Proverbs 10:9, which says "A man of integrity walks securely; but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." True. I can think of times in my life when I took a crooked path - whether it had to do with lying or some other type of situation - and I remember how worried I was that someone was going to figure it out and "call me on the carpet". Life is much easier and less stressful when you are attempting to live a life of integrity.
The other passage is also found in Proverbs, chapter 6 to be exact. In Proverbs 6, there is a list of seven things that the Lord hates. I've always found it interesting that two of the seven things have to do with lying. All the other ones are different, yet lying makes its mark twice. Now I don't know if it means that God hates lying twice as much as the other things, but I think it's a good warning to consider. In the words of SNL, double true.
8 comments:
I don't understand why this upsets so many people. the point of reading something like a memoir is to be entertained. It surely isn't to learn how to solve the problems of the world. Entertainment is the only reason to read someone else's personal story. THat being said, if the people who read this book were entertained, then it shouldn't matter if some of the "facts" are really "fiction." I just think we are so voyeuristic that we are angered when our peek into someone else's life is not exactly what we thought.
Wow how ironic The girls in my small group were just talking about this book last night and how good it is and how all their friends are reading it.. I hadn't really checked it out..now I'll have to..
The problem, Mike, is that Frey has made millions of dollars by saying that what he wrote was true in his book. Then, after he's made his money, and people are starting to realize he made up a lot of it, now he's backpedaling and saying that a memoir doesn't have to be entirely true.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson contained a lot of made up stuff, but he let you know right from the very beginning that most of it was because he was on drugs.
Plus, don't you think it takes away from the point of the book and the power of it when you find out that it pretty much was stuff that some guy made up? Why not have it in the fiction area then instead of the non-fiction?
I personally don't see the big deal with it all. I have to say I ride the fence on this one. My thought was that the big hit movie "Passion of the Christ" had creative interpretation with segments of fact from scripture. I guess that's why I didn't really see the big deal about it. Mel made millions on non-fiction and fiction but most people got the point of the movie. Hopefully lives were changed forever. If something positive can come out of this book then isn't it better than nothing at all? The fact still remains that he lied about somethings yet so did Mel. It's all about money.
I would need to read the book before I give an opinion on it After reading the link to the article I don't know how he could write a totally factual book..how could he even remember half the stuff he did if he was that messed up on drugs and alcohol I deal with patients like this at work..telling the truth definitely isn't something they're good at..and they lie so often that the lies become truth to them
Anonymous -
There are things that are black and white. Always will be but discussing a book about a drunk that could be factual or non-factual doesn't have anything to do with pursuing a spiritual kingdom. The point is that as long as we're in this world it will always be about the almighty dollar - not the truth.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't bring forth the Truth. I just think it's pointless to 'publicize' the issue. The less you talk about it and make a big deal of it, the less publicity the 'dark side' gets. And I'm not saying sweep it under the rug either. If the promotion was that it was a true story and it wasn't - then all people have to do is take the book back and get their money back OR get a class action lawsuit together if anyone wants to go that far.
Scripture says "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others."
If Frey did lie it will come back on him and he will be held accountable. How? We may never know but I have enough confidence in God that He'll take care of it and I'm not going to judge or be concerned with what's out of my control. I don't know if this guy is a Follower of Christ or not but if not he doesn't live by the same NT law that we do. He doesn't understand the things of God.
Anyway, this is my book and I'm stickin' with it. :0)
To be honest, this guy's profits will probably go through the roof for this stunt. Sales love controversy!
Again, I wouldn't mind if he lied about his stories but at least admitted it at the beginning. But he held to the "these are all true stories that most definitely happened to me" line, and when he got caught in it, he then had to backpedal.
I guess now they are going to publish a disclaimer on each book.
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