Tuesday, January 31, 2006

James Frey Dumped By His Agent

Publishers Weekly has an exclusive interview with James Frey's agent, Kassie Evashevski. She has dumped him. The agent insists Frey never told her the book was fiction; he only asked if they could market it as an autobiographical novel to save his family some embarrassment. But ultimately, she too takes refuge in a lie.
"Certainly after this experience, I have to wonder if there is such a thing as a "nonfiction memoir." One can fact-check facts, but how do you fact-check memory and perception?"
Wrong. James Frey did not make an honest mistake on details or simply have a different perception of events. James Frey LIED. He made up events out of whole cloth. He lied about his jail time, he lied about his treatment while at Hazelden, he lied every step of the way. And how about at least starting with some of the big facts? James Frey never went to jail and he never brawled with cops. These events are central to the book and easily checked. Frey didn't remember things differently or perceive them differently -- he made up lies to aggrandize himself. Period. Of course there is such a thing as a nonfiction memoir. They don't include lies.

2 comments:

Michael in New York said...

Well, I don't want him to kill himself or go back on drugs (assuming he was ever an addict). And he does seem so wimpy you both feel a little sorry for him (sort of) and wonder how people could have ever believed his tough guy stories. ( heard him speak for the first time on Larry King and was rather surprised this twit was supposed to be tough as nails).

Michael in New York said...

I wasn't being prescient, but when I glanced at the galleys, it just seemed like aggrandizing bs and I've seen that enough in my life from addicts without needing to read it. Unfortunately, all he keeps reaping is money, for the moment.