A million little lies

A million little lies
EDITOR:
Watching James Frey try to defend himself to Oprah Winfrey and millions of viewers was riveting television. I'll admit, I read "A Million Little Pieces" over Christmas and found it moving and uplifting, if not gripping and profoundly disturbing. But as red flags were going off, page after page, I kept saying to myself, "It must be true. It was on Oprah!" Even after watching helplessly as several relatives and a friend succumbed to a alcohol and drug addiction and even after reading countless articles on the near impossibility of kicking crack cocaine, I slammed "A Million Little Pieces" shut, sighed and said "Wow, there is hope for some people."
Because nobody in their right mind would lie to Oprah.
Oh, how wrong I was. For me, the most excruciating element of the confrontation was watching through a filter of fingers as James Frey sat stone silent while people talked past him. As I watched him sink further and further into humiliation, an irate Oprah on one side, his bumbling publisher and other commentators on the other, it conjured sweaty flashbacks of seventh grade when I cheated on a pop quiz in social studies. It was like I was right there, squirming and staring at the floor, pinned between my parents and the principal while they talked about what I'd done as if I weren't even in the room.
But this was no seventh grade social studies quiz. Not by a long shot. This was millions of dollars in book sales. This was people with staggering addictions looking to someone for a message of hope and redemption. And after Frey admitted that he fabricated much of the story, I am left to conclude (along with millions of other readers) that James Frey's memoir is most likely one piece truth, 999,999 pieces hogwash.
There are many, many things that I now take hindsight issue with in the book. The questions I ask myself now are: Was he really a crack addict for three years? y up close experiences with a crack addict tell me that I'm not so sure now. My experience tells me that crack is the devil's drug and once it's got you, it's got you forever. And also, Did he really beat up a French priest after being sexually propositioned? My gut tells me it's a big old fish story.
But the saddest part for me personally was this: Why did he feel the need to belittle, over and over again, the Twelve Steps Program? Frey's unending mockery of The Twelve Steps are an effrontery to all the addicts out there who are belly crawling their way through each one, trying to beat their addictions once and for all. Yes, I do believe addiction is a choice, but not one that the vast majority of addicts can make alone. They need a support group and AA and The Twelve Steps are time proven methods that provide strength in the face of human weakness. James Frey says he licked crack and alcohol because he simply made a choice. My guess? He made it up.
I'd bet the $14.95 that I spent on the book that the only truth in this so-called memoir is that Frey was a college brat whose parents sent him to a fancy rehab center because he partied too much.
COLLEEN DIPPOLITO
Austintown
Kelly's a false idol
EDITOR:
I was floored when I heard that Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of "American Idol," would not allow this year's contestants to use her songs on the show. Originally, it seemed blame went to her managing company, but I believe Clarkson was the one to blame from the beginning.
One of Idol's three judges, Simon Cowell, did what he does best and said everything America was thinking. He publicly scolded Clarkson, saying that by not letting the show use her songs, she was telling the fans that voted for her that she was no longer interested in them.
One day after Cowell's remarks, Clarkson announced that she would talk to her managing team and try to get her songs on the show. Her team is discussing which songs are allowed to be used and how badly they can be mangled.
I think Clarkson should allow "American Idol" full access to all of her songs. She would never have been nominated for a Grammy or sold nearly 7 million albums if it weren't for the show.
Clarkson has let me down in a big way. If she does not grant American Idol complete access to her songs, she never deserved to win.
TARA ANDERSON
Youngstown