#AnglophileApril From my TBR...James Frey caused quite a literary uproar when he released his “memoir” about time spent in #rehab only to be called out by internet snoops as a fraud. Nobody was angrier than Ms. O who had endorsed his memoir and chosen it for her bookclub. I think it‘s a fine line labeling something from memory as NF or fiction. Although in Frey‘s case I believe he flat out lied about key story points. *images from Google *
LeahBergen Ohhhh, DAMN! I remember that interview so well. 😆😆 6y
Cinfhen O was PISSED!!!! @LeahBergen 6y
TrishB I somehow missed this at the time! Just been reading about it 🤷♀️ 6y
See All 31 Comments
FashionableObserver Why didn‘t that fool call it “creative nonfiction” or something? It takes some balls to try to scam Auntie Oprah. Scamming the rest of the world...maybe. Ms. Winfrey?! I. Would. Never! 🤣 6y
Megabooks I think this was the beginning of the end for Oprah‘s book club. At least in that iteration. 6y
Cinfhen Agreed!!!!! @FashionableObserver #CreativeNF sounds so much better than #BigFatLiar 😜 I think the public rallied behind O after she publicly shamed and kicked James Frey out of her bookclub @Megabooks This was a HUGE story in the states @TrishB but it was during our #MommyYears 🤪 6y
Megabooks @Cinfhen wasn‘t it like a year or two (if that) later that she stopped choosing new books and started choosing classics?? Then the show ended and contemporary picks started again in the magazine? 6y
Cinfhen That could be @Megabooks Hows the foot feeling? 6y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I just looked on Wikipedia, and she did start picking more classics than usual after 2005, but not exclusively. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah%27s_Book_Club Thanks for asking about my foot. 😊🥰 It‘s feeling better now that I‘m in bed, but I had a busy day yesterday, which was rough. Nothing like kicking back with a good book for the body and soul!! 💕💕 6y
tournevis I found this whole affair quite boggling at the time. In French (mostly but not only in France proper), there's a whole genre called auto-fiction which is basically what this guy did. It's you, but events are changed, invented. It's not about facts. I always thought the problem was the book was wrongly marketed and he fuelled that. I remember a critique on Radio-Canada asking why people were confused about the fictional bits, as if self-evident. 6y
Cinfhen I find most memoirs are probably ״exaggerated״ to some degree but I guess it‘s because he presented the entire story as factual @tournevis when he outright embellished and denied. Supposedly he claimed he spent 87 days in prison when in fact it was 8 hours. 6y
tournevis @Cinfhen I know, I get that. It's precisely auto-fiction. The English-language book business needs to adopt that genre too. 6y
Mdargusch Boy this sure brought up some controversy! Poor Oprah. 😂 6y
Cinfhen I agree @tournevis it‘s a good term 6y
Reviewsbylola I always think this is so interesting. I wasn‘t invested in this book personally so I didn‘t have a reaction about the fabrication. But if the allegations about Augustan Burroughs fabricating Scissors is true (which I don‘t believe they are), that would be disappointing. 6y
Reviewsbylola But yes, I agree most memoirs are likely exaggerated to some degree. 6y
gradcat Omigosh! You‘ve storyboarded it! Ha ha, I love this! 👍❤️🥰 6y
Cinfhen I HATED like REALLY REALLY HATED that memoir @Reviewsbylola and I‘m 99% sure it‘s BS!!!![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png)
Running with Scissors: A Memoir 6y
Running with Scissors: A MemoirCinfhen There are very dysfunctional families BUT that shit was another whole level @Reviewsbylola 6y
Cinfhen I think memoirs in general are very tricky @gradcat @Samplergal and that‘s why im a little skeptical aboutEducated: A Memoir 6y
Educated: A MemoirMegabooks I am skeptical about Educated as well!! I do not see how that could all be true!!! 6y
gradcat I pretty much take everything I read which purports to be true with...well, may be not so much skepticism as to say a grain of salt...but let‘s say I‘ve learned that the printed word is sacred no more, so to speak.... 6y
mrp27 I remember this well, I was managing a bookstore at the time and the nasty customer returns are still fresh in my mind. As if I was personally responsible for the fiasco. Anyway, #unpopularopinion I blame Oprah. She should have vetted her pick better. Frey was wrong to lie but with her resources it should never have happened. P.S. I've never read the book. 😬 6y
Cinfhen Oh wow @mrp27 I‘m sure people were really nasty🙄 of course Oprah blamed the publisher but I agree, there were plenty of people who could have verified information throughout this process. It wasn‘t until 2 years later when Oprah selected the book that it even began to gain such popularity. 6y
Cinfhen @CarolynM recently wrote a great review about Educated @Megabooks 6y
mrp27 I've ready many a Oprah book pick and have loved/hated many of them. I think what she's done for reading is awesome but oh boy did I hate dealing with her book picks on a bookstore/bookseller level! Fun times. 😝 6y
emilyhaldi This was sketch AF 6y
marleed Oh my gosh I remember this well. I had finished the book just days before the interview and somehow took the controversy personally which I know now was just silly. I now read any memoir as auto-fiction. As I read Educated and the Glass Castle my eyeglasses were James Frey tinted. 6y
Cinfhen I like your new approach!!! I found Educated too much to accept as fact but for some reason Glass Castle seemed authentic as crazy as it was!!! Auto fiction is a good term though and should be used more often. @marleed 6y
marleed Maybe we can market James Frey tinted glasses to B&N ;) 6y
Cinfhen Great marketing strategy 🙌🏻❣️ @marleed (edited) 6y