Bright Shiny Morning, the third book by Oprah-blacklisted author James Frey, is arriving in paperback next week with an added passage that seems to be based on Frey’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show three years ago. The book, which focuses on the lives of several L.A. “lost souls,” includes the following paragraph, which was omitted from the original hardcover edition. From the Guardian:
He went on the show. It wasn’t what he was told it was going to be. He got berated, yelled at, booed, scolded, lectured, humiliated. He knew there was no way to stop it, or defend himself, so he went along with it. Some people said he deserved it, some said he didn’t, he understood both sides of the argument. It got covered live. It was the lead story on the evening news, ahead of the war, the political shooting, the continued disintegration of Middle Eastern governments.
The character continues by explaining that after his appearance on the show he began taping all of his phone calls, including those with the show’s host:
They talked for almost an hour. What she told him directly contradicted all of her public statements. She told him a story about her life before she was famous, about some mistakes she made. She told him a story about a book she wrote, and about what was in it, and about why she decided to halt the publication of it, and who helped her make the decision. He taped everything. Someday he might tell his side of it. Someday he might play the tapes. Someday.
When questioned about the new section by the New York Post, Frey laughed and said: “The book is fiction. Interpret it however you want.”
If Frey’s intention is to create a stir by adding this passage, I think he’s going to succeed. Fiction or not, that’s quite the statement.
[...] talks about the fracas between author James Frey and Oprah. From their [...]
James got the shit knocked out of him, plain and simple. A public beating, Try as he might he’ll never overcome the fact that he lacked the where-with-all to
fight back when it counted.
Such blustering doesn’t make him any less a jackass or any better a writer.
Jon Stewart does a better berating than Oprah ever could.
FREY…Jackie-O wouldn’t have given your so-called book one look! You have no clue as to what drug withdrwall is,nor did you explain it legitimatly ! I remember your mother saying you drank while you were in school,you know what punks do? You got lucky as did “O” because she has no talent either!You are devoid of any intellectual depth,and your mommy’s newfound wealth I mean riches,she doesn’t deserve either.You’re still arrogant,and a liar& your book is stupid,as insipid as the title! Your brain waves are in “ONE BIG PIECE,a MILLION TIMES!If you hadn’t met “O”’s mentality,you’d still be a zero!IT’S Who You Know…not what..in your case it was who,many great authors have both!
I thought that whole O thing with Frey was disgusting…I felt bad for him. She does have an evil side…I root for his success!