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My Friend Leonard is the follow up book to A Million Little Pieces, which I have reviewed here.
My Friend Leonard is another addictive read from James Frey. From the cover: Click here to display content from Amazon Kindle.
That said, if you’ve read A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard is an essential read as it finishes the story. My Friend Leonard is available to buy on Amazon. Review soon, Antony
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Book Review: A Million Little Pieces by James FreyBy AntonyAmazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
A Million Little Pieces is set during Frey’s stay in rehab; is well paced and has plenty of tension, conflict and resolution. Both internally and externally. He recalls memories of his dysfunctional and chaotic alcohol and drug using past. Stylistically A Million Little Pieces lacked speech marks, but this was possibly deliberate. Not having speech marks was a noticeable stylistic change to the normal layout of a book. Frey was probably using this to subtly hint that his story wasn’t like the story of most people. Frey’s lack of dialogue tags was generally acceptable, but on the odd occasion where Frey had written a scene with a group of people, it did get difficult to establish who had said what. Towards the end of A Million Little Pieces it began to feel fictional. As I was coming to the end of the book and had enjoyed reading it, I decided to look into other books that Frey had written. After doing a Google Search, I discovered the story of A Million Little Pieces and understood why it felt fictional – because parts of it were. A Million Little Pieces was commercially hugely successful both in the US and internationally after being featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. But then The Smoking Gun revealed in an article titled ‘A Million Little Lies’ that some of Frey’s claims around his criminal past didn’t match up with court records. Oprah had to respond to these revelations and interviewed Frey on a few occasions. The most recent, a few years after A Million Little Pieces was exposed as being in part fictional is available to watch below: Click here to display content from YouTube.
I can understand while some people felt lied to, as A Million Little Pieces was promoted and marketed as a memoir. But I wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised that some of A Million Little Pieces was fact and some was fiction. Because that’s how it read. Who wouldn’t change some of their past if they had the chance? Don’t we all do that all the time? Change things to make them sound better or worse than they actually are with the aim of making our stories more interesting to our friends, family, co-workers, etc. Can we really blame Frey for doing the same for the reader? Regardless A Million Little Pieces is still a great read. Worth reading if you are interested in addiction, crime, alcohol, drugs, rehab and recovery. Just hold on is a phrase often repeated in the book and was a phrase that I adopted when I was suffering from severe clinical depression. My Friend Leonard is the follow up book and picks up where A Million Little Pieces ended. I’m currently reading My Friend Leonard and enjoying it just as much as I did A Million Little Pieces. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is available to buy on Amazon. Review soon, Antony
Thursday 11 June 2015
About Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch. Author of six books: Z-VIRUS PowersThe Z-Virus mutates people’s DNA. The majority of infected people become zombies, but a minority seem immune but the virus causes them to develop powers. At first these powers like invisibility, telepathy and telekinesis aided survival. But as the Z-Virus continues to mutate the powers become more and more destructive. Forced with no other choice, one group goes in search of a cure. But will they survive the roaming zombie hordes long enough to make an epic journey across the country to find the cure? Join Alexis, Vis, Chan, Luke, Natalie, Grace, Chloe, Kyle, David and Goliath on this journey in Z-Virus Powers, the first instalment of this three part story. Ways The Human Can Go WrongAre you a Doctor, Nurse, Healthcare Assistant or Other Healthcare Professional? Or a Student?Ways The Human Body Can Go Wrong covers every system of the body, what can go wrong when the body malfunctions or fails, symptoms (including why these happen) and cures/treatments available. It includes knowledge around essential skills for Clinical Excellence such as Assessment, All Age Observational Norms, Models of Care, Communication/Handover Tips, the role of Specialities, Medication Tips, Dealing with Errors, Documentation Advice and a list of Useful Resources. It is written in plain English, but highlights important medical terminology. It has been written at a level where someone from a non-medical background can pick it up and learn, but that it is still valuable to those with significant Clinical Experience. My Royal Navy FriendMy dear friend Roy decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and enlist in the Royal Navy.I wanted to maintain our friendship, to continue to support Roy, to make him laugh and to entertain him. So I came up with the idea of sending him a weekly email on random topics.These emails were on a variety of topics, always being entertaining, sometimes being interesting, sometimes funny and occasionally being serious. Topics included: Jokes, Puzzles, Inspirational Quotes, Future Technology to Be Excited About, How to Fight A Shark, How to Woo A Turtle, Some of the Most Amazing Jobs in the World, Facts About Castles, Do Aliens Exist?, The Kindest Humans, A List of Cakes, 13 Weird Body Facts, 20 Super Space Facts, Ancient Egyptian Curses, 10 Weird Olympic Games, The Great Emu War of 1932, Quiz: Flags of the World, Legendary Characters from the UK and others. My Royal Navy Friend is a copy of these emails. In total, there are 52 emails. Dispersed throughout the book are also Royal Navy facts and stories. The Alcohol Therapy WorkbookThis workbook has been designed for anyone that is struggling with alcohol or has struggled with alcohol in the past.
What you will find in this book is more than just worksheets about alcohol. You’ll find all the tools someone needs to get into recovery from alcohol and stay there. It’s a therapy-based book, not an alcohol-based book. SpellCastSpellCast is a comprehensive compendium of spells, oils, charms and talismans. It is purely a book about magic, folk magic for the 21st century. The spells are ones that are tried and tested, with some that will stand the test of time. In SpellCast you will read about the power of Instant Magic, of Banishment & Bindings, Blessings, Cleansing, Communication, Death, Employment, Finance & Money, Fertility, Friendship, Happiness & Joy, Health, Love & Relationships, Luck Magic, Protection, Transformative Magic and WishCraft. This book will change your life. Your life will be abundant in all meanings of the word. Mental Health WisdomThis book contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness. Understanding is section one and is all about the facts of mental health. In section two, Empathy Through Lived Experience, the author shares his personal experience of mental illness. Life Hacks is section three. It’s all about self-care and quick and easy ways to improve your mental health, prevent mental illness or relapse of mental illness. Mental Health WisdomMental Health Wisdom contains everything that you need to know about mental health and mental illness. If you find my blog educational or entertaining, please consider making a purchase or donation on Ko-Fi. CategoriesAmazonAntony Simpson is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk. Unless Otherwise Stated, Copyright © Antony Simpson, 2008-2024. ×
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My Friend Leonard is the follow up book to A Million Little Pieces, which I have reviewed here.
My Friend Leonard is another addictive read from James Frey. From the cover: A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard, one can’t help but to do so. A Million Little Pieces is undoubtably better than this book.That said, if you’ve read A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard is an essential read as it finishes the story. My Friend Leonard is available to buy on Amazon. Review soon, Antony
A Million Little Pieces is set during Frey’s stay in rehab; is well paced and has plenty of tension, conflict and resolution. Both internally and externally. He recalls memories of his dysfunctional and chaotic alcohol and drug using past. Stylistically A Million Little Pieces lacked speech marks, but this was possibly deliberate. Not having speech marks was a noticeable stylistic change to the normal layout of a book. Frey was probably using this to subtly hint that his story wasn’t like the story of most people. Frey’s lack of dialogue tags was generally acceptable, but on the odd occasion where Frey had written a scene with a group of people, it did get difficult to establish who had said what. Towards the end of A Million Little Pieces it began to feel fictional. As I was coming to the end of the book and had enjoyed reading it, I decided to look into other books that Frey had written. After doing a Google Search, I discovered the story of A Million Little Pieces and understood why it felt fictional – because parts of it were. A Million Little Pieces was commercially hugely successful both in the US and internationally after being featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. But then The Smoking Gun revealed in an article titled ‘A Million Little Lies’ that some of Frey’s claims around his criminal past didn’t match up with court records. Oprah had to respond to these revelations and interviewed Frey on a few occasions. The most recent, a few years after A Million Little Pieces was exposed as being in part fictional is available to watch below: I can understand while some people felt lied to, as A Million Little Pieces was promoted and marketed as a memoir. But I wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised that some of A Million Little Pieces was fact and some was fiction. Because that’s how it read. Who wouldn’t change some of their past if they had the chance? Don’t we all do that all the time? Change things to make them sound better or worse than they actually are with the aim of making our stories more interesting to our friends, family, co-workers, etc. Can we really blame Frey for doing the same for the reader? Regardless A Million Little Pieces is still a great read. Worth reading if you are interested in addiction, crime, alcohol, drugs, rehab and recovery. Just hold on is a phrase often repeated in the book and was a phrase that I adopted when I was suffering from severe clinical depression. My Friend Leonard is the follow up book and picks up where A Million Little Pieces ended. I’m currently reading My Friend Leonard and enjoying it just as much as I did A Million Little Pieces. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is available to buy on Amazon. Review soon, Antony
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