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James Frey Returns, Like It or Not

Nonfiction fantasist's new novel will be on sale soon

By Neil Turitz,  Newser User

Posted May 2, 2008 4:32 PM CDT

(Newser) – James Frey regrets nothing. In an interview with Vanity Fair to promote his new novel, Bright Shiny Morning, the author discusses the 2006 controversy regarding his "memoir," A Million Little Pieces, and how he was vilified by the media and humiliated by Oprah Winfrey. "I've said all along that I never wanted my books published as memoirs," he tells the magazine.

Frey insists that he always referred to the story as a novel, but his agent pushed it as a true story, which was what made publishers interested. Now, after the scandal, standards for similar accounts have changed, as has public perception of them. "The enduring myth of the American memoir as a precise form is bullshit and needed to go away," says Frey.

A Million Little Pieces
A Million Little Pieces   (Getty Images)
James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, meets with an angry Oprah Winfrey in January, 2006. His new novel, Bright Shiny Mornings is being released this spring.
James Frey, author of "A Million Little Pieces," meets with an angry Oprah Winfrey in January, 2006. His new novel, "Bright Shiny Mornings" is being released this spring.   (AP Photo/Harpo Productions, George Burns)
James Frey, circa 2003.
James Frey, circa 2003.   (AP Photo/Gino Domenico)
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