Self help is no help if it’s not real
The Good Life
I got this book in a thrift store, or more commonly known as a charity shop at home. Our environments change us - what we do, say and how we think. The cover attracted me initially. Pure and white with different coloured dots. When I picked it up, I was relieved to see it wasn’t written in Maltese; ‘A Million Little Pieces’ by James Frey. Upon reading the blurb, I knew it would interest me. I parted with fifty cents for the book and took it back to the student accommodation.
The unusual cover piqued a lot of interest in the kitchen also, with a few people asking if they could borrow it after I was finished. One girl’s comment stuck with me.
“Let me know if it's like any other self-help book I have ever read,” she said as she walked out of the kitchen.
Not that I know what the other books that she has read are like, but I can almost promise that this one is different.
What struck me about this book was its rawness. Nothing hidden, everything was explained down to the last detail. It is based on the story of James Frey; a 23-year-old drinking himself into an early grave. Quite literally, as we are introduced to him, he is being wheeled off a plane, highly intoxicated and unable to perform normal bodily functions, after a friend booked him a flight home to Minneapolis. He was found bloodied and blacked out at the bottom of a stairwell, has a hole in his cheek from constant substance abuse, the track record of a fox in a henhouse and no desire to change his ways. He is admitted to Hazelden rehabilitation centre, informed that if this can't save him nothing will. He enters, stubborn and unwilling to cooperate with no hope of ever recovering.
Interestingly, I wrote the first half of this review while lying on a beach with no access to the internet. Upon returning home, a quick search on the internet to see what other people thought about the book revealed that much the content was fabricated. Newer versions of the book have been published with this apology from Frey: “My mistake, and it is one I deeply regret, is writing about the person I created in my mind to help me cope, and not the person who went through the experience."
I have the first publication. That said, I still stand by everything I said before, the story is raw but untrue. I enjoyed the descriptions of each drug and how addiction affects the individual and their loved ones. There is one part when James is partaking in a Family Programme where families of people come to the rehabilitation centre. They have the opportunity to ask questions about what it's like living with addiction. I thought this was excellent for people who don’t suffer from addiction to gain insight.
Bringing up questions like: how long does addiction last for? A lifetime. How does it feel to be addicted to something? Horrible, because an addict knows what they are doing to themselves and their families but can't stop. James explains what crack cocaine is and how you use it. Cocaine cooked with ethyl alcohol, gas and baking powder. Meth is made by cooking ephedrine, formaldehyde, possibly gas and fertiliser with baking powder. The book also heavily quotes the Tao Te Ching by Laozi, my favourite of which being: “Control by letting go of control, fix your problems by forgetting they’re problems” (310) and “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner” (238).
Upon finding out that not all parts of the book are true, I did feel a bit let down. When reading a memoir, I expect it to be true to the author’s perception of events, not purposely fantasised. There were a few sections of the book where this man is portrayed as a superhero, making a miraculous recovery and helping others in the process.
I feel the book somewhat romanticises addiction. I would recommend it, while also informing people of its fabrication. Unfortunately, with this I believe it will be read with the goal of picking out the parts that are untrue, rather than its ability to help people. For this reason, I am giving this book a three out of ten.
They say write about what you know and James should have been more real.
* Gemma Good is from Killeshandra and a third year journalism student in University of Limerick
READ MORE - THE GOOD LIFE
Darkness into Light - Maltese magic