James Frey

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James Frey : biography

September 12, 1969 –

In December 2008, Frey said he is working on an outline for a new novel, which he would depict as "the last book of the Bible", titled Illumination. He would show Jesus resurrected in New York City, living among prostitutes and the flotsam of the city., Guardian UK Review, December 2008 It is called The Final Testament of the Holy Bible and the Gagosian Gallery announced the book would have a limited U.S. print run of 10,000 slipcased leatherette copies, as well as 1,000 collector’s editions signed and numbered by the author. In the end, it is being published in the UK and was released on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. He is self-publishing e-editions of the book. USA Today, March 2011

On August 19, 2010 the New York Post’s Page Six reported that Frey has teamed up with executive producers Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson to write the pilot for a one-hour drama for HBO that will focus on a behind-the-scenes look into the porn industry in Los Angeles. Frey states the show as being "a sprawling epic about the porn business in LA. We’re going to tell the type of stories no one else has told before, and go places no one has gone before." In August of 2012, Frey published "A Moving Story," chronicling the workplace organizing of a New York moving company, on the website Libcom. Libcom, August 2012

A self-professed atheist, Frey has stated that he does not believe in an afterlife and that his work has reflected his attempt to write about a god that he "might actually believe in."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIBndlXsluY

Controversy

Media skepticism

On January 8, 2006, The Smoking Gun website published an article: "A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey’s Fiction Addiction" alleging that Frey fabricated large parts of his memoirs, including details about his criminal record. One incident in the book that came under particular scrutiny was a 1986 train-automobile collision in St. Joseph Township, Michigan.

The website alleged that Frey had never been incarcerated and that he greatly exaggerated the circumstances of a key arrest detailed in the memoir: hitting a police officer with his car, while high on crack, which led to a violent melee with multiple officers and an 87-day jail sentence. In the police report that TSG uncovered, Frey was held at a police station for no more than five hours before posting a bond of a few hundred dollars for some minor offenses. The arresting officer, according to TSG, recalled Frey as having been polite and cooperative.

The book’s hardcover (Doubleday) and paperback (Anchor Books) publishers initially stood by Frey. But examination of the evidence caused the publishers to alter their stances. They released a statement noting, "When the Smoking Gun report appeared, our first response, given that we were still learning the facts of the matter, was to support our author. Since then, we have questioned him about the allegations and have sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished." As a consequence, the publishers decided to include a publisher’s note and an author’s note from Frey as disclaimers to be included in future publications.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune had questioned Frey’s claims as early as 2003. Frey responded by saying, "I’ve never denied I’ve altered small details." In a May 2003 interview, Frey claimed that his publisher had fact-checked his first book. He stated, "The only things I changed were aspects of people that might reveal their identity. Otherwise, it’s all true."

On January 11, 2006, Frey appeared with his mother on Larry King Live on CNN. He defended his work while claiming that all memoirs alter minor details for literary effect. Frey consistently referred to the reality of his addiction, which he said was the principal point of his work. Oprah Winfrey called in at the end of the show defending the essence of Frey’s book and the inspiration it provided to her viewers, but said she relied on the publisher to assess the book’s authenticity.