Million Little Pieces cont...

So I finished the book this last weekend. I wish I wouldn't have heard all of the press until after I was done reading, but nevertheless, I though the book was still pretty good. If you haven't read it, I don't want to ruin anything, so you may not want to read any further...

Ok... now that all the non-informed have left, here is what I think. I really enjoyed the style of writing. Grammer and punctuation were absent throughout most of the book, which normally I would classify as one of my all-time pet peeves, but in this instance, I think it fit. The drug addicted mind doesn't insert commas or elipses for dramatic pause. Though, elipses are my favorite punctuation. I did expect for them to really go back and get deep into things he did before he got to the drug treatment center. Unfortunately they just mentioned certain instances where he made some really bad moves. I do have to mention that the dentist part was toe-curling horrific. I felt like it was happening to me... I had to set the damn book down and take a breather.

Since so much controversy has surrounded this book, I decided to take a look into the claims made. I did find that when James had his appearence on Larry King Live to clear up the alligations that he embellished, Oprah called in and said she still stands behind James and his efforts to educate the masses on drug treatment and addication. Now, as most of you know, anything Oprah says goes in my book, however, I couldn't help but question James and his mom (who appeared on Oprah when she announced that she has picked Million Little Pieces as her next Book Club selection). When thesmokinggun.com posted all of the inaccuracies in this book, James claims that the inaccuracies are from 18 pages for a 420-something page book. While I would normally look the other way, I can't help but wonder if this is actually a story of some spoiled kid who just did drugs because he had too much money and too much time on his hands. I knew people like that. The kids who had parents who just gave them everything (well... my parents did as well, and I never did drugs), and the kids decide that, just to be cool, they will do some random drugs. If this is the case, then I am not impressed. Thesmokinggun.com alleges that James never spent any hard time anywhere and that the charges he mentions in the book were fabrications. You can check out their article here. I guess judge for yourself.

I think a memoir should be considered just that if everything in the book is true. While names and distinguishing features may be changed, main facts should not. Just call is a novel, man!