REVIEW: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

James Frey might just have broken his life down to a million little pieces, but I'm trying to pick up all its shards to lay down this review, piece by piece. After all, rebuilding one's life anew is worth all the trouble.

PIECE 1: The Plot

At age 23, James Frey was on the brink of death. Guess it wasn't late yet to be in rehab and be detoxified from drugs. Inside he was prohibited to use it, counseled that he'll stay sober for long, met friends who might be as badly broken but later proved to be vital in his recovery, and fought the cause of his 'Fury' that enslaved for long.

During the detoxification process, morning every morning James would always vomit blood with chunks of his innards. Drowning yourself in alcohol for ten years and crack for three probably did it. At night, he dreams badly of taking drugs. More, more, more as if the wanting will never be quenched. He adamantly rejects the Twelve Steps as the only recourse to sobriety. But eventually with loads of help from his friends Lilly, Leonard, his rehab mates and his family, he tried to hold on. Later too, both him and his parents discovered the reason of his addiction. With it he understood more his 'Fury', his own self.

In one way or another, we can say that this is James's success story in his battle never to turn again to vices.

PIECE 2: The Style

Dirty scribbles to welcome you instead of a heartwarming note might just be a good warning. No, you will not be taken that seriously. If you are a book critic, taking one good look before you pour out all your brain to it is a good option. Because this book will make you crazy! It doesn't follow the conventional style of writing: no right punctuation, no quotation marks to indicate conversation, uses too much of repetitive words and dirty scribbles tell you, you have now moved to the next phase.

However somehow, did we almost forget that this book was written by an addict who just happened to live to tell his tale? Maybe he wrote, not stopping, not caring whether he punctuated right just so he can give the most accurate account of what was happening to him at the time being. He was chasing his stream of thought.

Maybe too, in that way, he is able to freely let us in his mind- as candidly as he can. Not editing anything out of fear that in the process, he is also editing the truth.

This style is for me, justifiable. In fact, it became much more effective. It's like James is your friend recounting personally his story at his own pace, the way words would naturally come out his mouth.

PIECE 3: The Morals

The moral of this story is pretty obvious: it is not worth your life to be destroyed by vices and if ever you've been already snared, a rebound is still possible. Agree. However, to have the latter as a result, it will take a lot of dirt work. To succeed, the first requisite is full acceptance. Before you can truly solve your problem, you must accept that along the line, you did something wrong and you take full responsibility of its repercussions, whatever that is. Just the case when James finally went to rehab and admitted to himself that he had been such a waste, broken into a million little pieces.

Finding the strength to hope for the better and gather all what was remaining to move on once again is also one lesson to learn after acceptance. You can't stagnate; you have to proceed with life. James might have done it the hard way, but he was never alone in the process. His support group made it conducive for him to 'live'. He had with him Leonard, who might be a goon but encouraged him greatly to hold on even when he was already escaping. He had Lilly, who shared with him dreams of a life better than before. He has his family who tried to understand him in his darkest and still loved him despite everything. All of them served as his fuel for his body that stopped long ago.

That said, we must find our own fuel in every battle too. Alongside, understanding our ‘Fury’ is essential in overpowering it.




There's just this part of the story that I don't agree with, others might have differing opinions. For someone who is a strong believer, I am not comfortable chucking away the angle of, not religion, but faith to achieve soberness. For me, it is still the ultimate guide to one's resurrection, although I also admit that there are lots of ways to cope up.

There are just some battles that we cannot fight with our own strength. There are some puzzles our human minds cannot fathom. In such, he always sends his divine providence whether realize it’s His or not.

PIECE 4: The Controversy

While trying to research about the book while reading, I came across articles saying that his recount was full of lies, thus was "A Million Little Lies." They were under the impression that it was a memoir/nonfiction and they felt cheated.

I wasn't bothered actually, although I just cannot place how he managed to remember all the tests given to him given his condition. For the sake of argument, let's say that there was really an intention to mislead. Fine then, punish them for that.

But what really matters to me is the value of the book, the lessons it was trying to impart. The hope it was trying to give. If it was able to lift one spirit, then it's also worth the applause.


All in all, I give the book three stars it deserves; for being brave enough to go out of norm and be unique and for its moral lessons.

For all the James out there, I pray that soon, they will also be able to pick up their life’s broken little pieces.