A Million Little Angry Oprah Readers

Unless you've been living under a literary rock, you know about the James Frey story by now.

So between the book refunds and extra publicity on Larry King, here's my take on Frey:
He's no where near the writer he claims to be, but his PR skills are great. Yes this is a scandal and it's quite possible that millions of Oprah-worshipping book clubbers will burn him in effigy and he's be 2006's answer to Jonathan Franzen. Or, the fact that he timed this just as his second book came out, and his stated love of Bukowski could mean he: doesn't care two shits about the average Oprah's Book Club reader and wants a fanbase that also dislikes the Maya Angelou set.

Plus, I've read enough Boudrilliard and the like to know that this is a perfect place for the "reality is what you can get away with" excuse/defense. So, bascially I don't care. Plotwise, Frey's book doesn't do much for me: guy grows up with many advantages, gets fucked up, gets better...I dunno, if I want to read a book that talks about Fiction, I'm going with David Foster Wallace.

But all that aside, if Frey's career does fall flat, one guy is going to be really pissed:



John C. Reily (you know, the cop in Magnolia) really is the perfect guy to play Frey.

Which makes me wonder that if I become a famous author (correction: when), will there be some yahoo on the net posting my pick next to an actor? And if so, what actor?