Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Readalikes
James Frey was born in Cleveland, Ohio, 1969. He spent most of his childhood in Ohio and Michigan. Also lived in Boston; Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; London; Paris; Chicago; and Los Angeles. He graduated high school in 1988, and attended Denison University and the Art Institute of Chicago. He worked as a screenwriter, director, and producer in Los Angeles. In 2000, he took a second mortgage on his house and spent a year writing A Million Little Pieces. He has since published two more books, My Friend Leonard and Bright Shiny Morning. He lives in New York with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
January 9th 2006: An article in
the Smoking Gun claimed that James Frey (author of A Million Little Pieces
and My Friend Leonard) fabricated key parts of his books. They cited police records, court documents and interviews with law enforcement agents which
belie a number of Frey's claims regarding criminal charges against him, jail terms and his fugitive status.
In an interview with the Smoking Gun, Frey admitted that he had 'embellished
central details' in A Million Little Pieces and backtracked on claims he made in the book.
January 26th 2006. Frey's publisher stated that while it initially stood by him, after further questioning of the author, the house has "sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished." It added a publisher's note and author's note to all further editions of A Million Little Pieces.
James Frey's website
This bio was last updated on 02/26/2016. We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's a tough task. So, please help us - if the information about a particular author is out of date or inaccurate, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors: If you wish to make changes to your bio, send your complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we can replace the old with the new.
James Frey describes what it took to write A Million Little Pieces.
I started writing A Million
Little Pieces in the Spring of 1996. For two or three years previous, I
had been trying to figure out how to write it. I would sit down, start to
work, and whatever came out was not what was in my head. The work did not
have the strength I felt was going to be needed, it was not as simple as I
wanted it to be, it was not able to carry the emotions I needed to express
to tell the story. I kept at it, kept working. I wrote in my free time. I
spent hours and hours and hours yelling at my computer, pacing across my
floor back and forth back and forth, clenching my fists and clenching my
jaw, writing and erasing, writing and erasing. It was never right, never
even close, never what I thought, never what I felt. I needed to be able to
write what I felt in my heart. I kept working. I kept working.
I sat down one morning. I had a cup of coffee strong and hot, I had a
pack of cigarettes and ashtray. I read my latest attempts and they made me
sick. I dragged them to the trash and sent them away bye-bye and good
riddance. I opened a new document, took...
Nick Hornby is the author of the novels How to Be Good (a New York Times bestseller), High Fidelity, About a Boy and A Long Way Down, and of the memoir Fever Pitch. He is also the author of Songbook, a finalist for a National... (more)
If you enjoyed:
My Friend Leonard
Try:
A Long Way Down
by Nick Hornby
Susanna Kaysen was born on 11 November, 1948, and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her father is the economist Carl Kaysen (b.1920), formerly a professor at MIT and advisor to President John F. Kennedy. In 1967 ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
A Million Little Pieces
Try:
Girl, Interrupted
by Susanna Kaysen
We recommend 9 similar authors
Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten!
A richly layered novel of hearts broken seemingly beyond repair and then bound by a stunning act of human devotion.
About the book
The Scribe of Siena
by Melodie Winawer
Equal parts transporting love story, meticulously researched historical fiction, and compelling time-travel narrative.
Reader Reviews
The Chalk Pit:
A Ruth Galloway Mystery
A string of murders takes Ruth underground in the newest book in the series.
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends books that we believe to be best in class. Books that will whisk you to faraway places and times, that will expand your mind and challenge you -- the kinds of books you just can't wait to tell your friends about.
Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info & giveaways by email.
