A  Million  Little  Pieces    

 
In  2003,  publisher  Doubleday  released  James  Frey’s  book  A  Million  Little  Pieces,  marketing  it  as  a  
memoir  about  Frey’s  struggles  with  alcohol  and  drug  addiction.  In  2005,  the  book  was  selected  for  
Oprah’s  Book  Club,  in  part  for  the  inspiring  and  supposedly  true  story  of  Frey’s  overcoming  addiction.  
The  publicity  from  The  Oprah  Winfrey  Show  sparked  strong  sales  for  the  book,  which  topped  bestseller  
lists  in  the  following  weeks.    
 
On  January  8,  2006,  investigative  website  The  Smoking  Gun  published  an  exposé  describing  numerous  
exaggerations  and  fabrications  in  Frey’s  account  of  his  life  story  as  written,  creating  controversy  
regarding  the  truthfulness  of  the  book  as  a  “memoir.”  When  Frey  first  appeared  on  The  Oprah  Winfrey  
Show  in  2005,  he  emphasized  his  honesty:  “If  I  was  going  to  write  a  book  that  was  true,  and  I  was  going  
to  write  a  book  that  was  honest,  then  I  was  going  to  have  to  write  about  myself  in  very  negative  ways.”  
As  he  did  so,  he  expanded  on  falsehoods  that  appeared  in  the  book.    
 
Frey  and  his  publisher,  Nan  Talese,  were  unable  to  effectively  refute  The  Smoking  Gun  allegations.  
When  Winfrey  invited  Frey  back  on  her  show,  she  harangued  him  for  lying,  saying  that  she  felt  “duped”  
and  that  Frey  had  “betrayed  millions  of  readers.”  Talese  described  Winfrey’s  rebuke  of  Frey  as  “mean  
and  self-­‐serving,”  while  critics  of  Frey  saw  him  as  opportunistic.    
 
Frey  defended  the  right  of  authors  and  memoirists  to  draw  upon  their  memories,  not  only  upon  
documented  facts:  “I  wanted  the  stories  in  the  book  to  ebb  and  flow,  to  have  dramatic  arcs,  to  have  
the  tension  that  all  great  stories  require.”  Authors  and  literary  critics  have  echoed  this  sentiment,  
noting  that  memoirs  are  not  necessarily  the  same  genre  as  biographies  or  autobiographies.  When  
asked  about  this  controversy,  author  Joyce  Carol  Oates  stated,  “the  tradition  of  personal  memoir  has  
always  been  highly  ‘fictionalized’  —  colored  with  an  individual's  
own  ‘emotional  truth’  …  This  is  an  ethical  issue…with  convincing  
arguments  on  both  sides.  In  the  end,  [Winfrey]  had  to  defend  
her  own  ethical  standards  of  truth  on  her  television  program,  
which  was  courageous  of  her;  and  [Talese]  had  to  defend  her  
standards  as  a  longtime  revered  editor,  which  was  courageous  
of  her.”  
 
 
   

Case  Study  –  A  Million  Little  Pieces  -­‐  Page  1  of  3  

  
Discussion  Questions:  
 
1. In  what  ways  is  self-­‐serving  bias  apparent  in  this  case  regarding  James  Frey?  Regarding  Oprah  
Winfrey?  Do  you  think  one’s  position  is  more  ethically  defensible  than  the  other’s?  Why  or  why  
not?  
 
2. Do  you  believe  authors  should  adhere  only  to  fact  in  memoirs?  Why  or  why  not?  Do  you  think  
authors  have  a  responsibility  to  tell  the  truth  to  their  audiences?  Explain.  
 
3. Cultural  critic  Laura  Kipnis  writes,  “If  Frey,  an  aspiring  novelist,  harnessed  himself  to  the  engine  
of  the  recovery  narrative  to  get  his  story  into  print,  his  readers  compromised  themselves  too,  
swallowing  his  writerly  affectations  like  pills  mashed  up  in  applesauce,  so  eager  for  a  fix  of  
recovery  lit  that  the  eye-­‐blinking  grandiosities  [of  the  book]  barely  registered.”  Do  you  agree  
with  this  statement?  Why  or  why  not?  
 
4. Do  you  know  people  who  seem  to  remember  past  events  in  their  lives  in  ways  that  put  
themselves  in  a  very  favorable  light?  Do  you  have  this  tendency?  Explain  with  examples.  
 
5. Can  you  think  of  other  examples  in  politics,  newspapers,  business,  or  your  everyday  life  that  
seem  to  illustrate  the  impact  of  the  self-­‐serving  bias?  Explain  with  examples.  
 
 
   

Case  Study  –  A  Million  Little  Pieces  -­‐  Page  2  of  3  

  
Resources:  
 
The  man  who  rewrote  his  life  
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/sep/15/usa.world  
 
Blind  Spots:  Why  We  Fail  to  Do  What’s  Right  and  What  to  Do  About  It  
http://www.worldcat.org/title/blind-­‐spots-­‐why-­‐we-­‐fail-­‐to-­‐do-­‐whats-­‐right-­‐and-­‐what-­‐to-­‐do-­‐about-­‐
it/oclc/679940661  
 
Sidetracked:  Why  Our  Decisions  Get  Derailed,  and  How  We  Can  Stick  to  the  Plan  
http://www.worldcat.org/title/sidetracked-­‐why-­‐our-­‐decisions-­‐get-­‐derailed-­‐and-­‐how-­‐we-­‐can-­‐stick-­‐to-­‐
the-­‐plan/oclc/807028907  
 
How  to  Become  a  Scandal:  Adventures  in  Bad  Behavior  
http://www.worldcat.org/title/how-­‐to-­‐become-­‐a-­‐scandal-­‐adventures-­‐in-­‐bad-­‐
behavior/oclc/540643949  
 
Picking  Up  the  Pieces:  How  James  Frey  flunked  rehab,  and  why  his  fakery  matters.  
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2006/01/picking_up_the_pieces.html  
 
James  Frey’s  Morning  After  
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2008/06/frey200806  
 
How  Oprahness  Trumped  Truthiness  
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/business/media/30carr.html  
 
Oprah  vs.  James  Frey:  The  Sequel  
http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1648140,00.html  
 
Author:  
Robert  Prentice,  J.D.  
Department  of  Business,  Government  and  Society  
McCombs  School  of  Business  
The  University  of  Texas  at  Austin  

Case  Study  –  A  Million  Little  Pieces  -­‐  Page  3  of  3