{"id":411,"date":"2008-05-11T12:56:49","date_gmt":"2008-05-11T19:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2008\/05\/oprah-wont-be-reading-it-but-maybe-you-should\/"},"modified":"2010-04-02T09:11:27","modified_gmt":"2010-04-02T16:11:27","slug":"oprah-wont-be-reading-it-but-maybe-you-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/2008\/05\/11\/oprah-wont-be-reading-it-but-maybe-you-should\/","title":{"rendered":"“Oprah won’t be reading it, but maybe you should.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

from the NY Daily News<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Disgraced memoirist James Frey opts for fiction with ‘Bright Shiny Morning’<\/h1>\n

BY SHERRYL CONNELLY<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 3rd 2008, 10:38 AM<\/p>\n

BRIGHT SHINY MORNING\u00a0<\/strong>by\u00a0James Frey<\/a>, Harper, $26.95<\/em><\/p>\n

James Frey was publicly scourged by\u00a0Oprah<\/a>\u00a0for fabricating pivotal passages in “A Million Little Pieces,” his “memoir” that she made a best seller when she chose it for her book club. Frey sat still for her nationally televised shaming, his dejection more real than his work.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Well, Frey isn’t taking it sitting down anymore. He defends his processes and calls out his editor for manipulation in the current\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/a>. Now comes his first novel, or at least his first book labeled fiction.<\/p>\n

In the tradition of novels about\u00a0Los Angeles<\/a>, take\u00a0Nathanael West<\/a>\u00a0on one hand and\u00a0Jackie Collins<\/a>\u00a0on the other, then spread your arms wide. Somewhere in the middle, “Bright Shiny Morning” falls in your lap.<\/p>\n

Frey begins on a droll note: “Nothing in this novel should be considered accurate or reliable.” He’s referring to the L.A.-centric lists that stud the book – highway routes, gang names, eccentric laws – where he’s said to mix facts with fiction, just like in his memoirs (his second was “My Friend Leonard”). Get it?<\/p>\n

His many stories mix in the passing with the interspersed narratives of four couples.<\/p>\n

A homeless drunk tries to protect a teenage street kid; a Mexican-American maid is humiliated by her mistress but loved by the woman’s son; two young runaways from the Midwest are desperate to start a new life in the city, two high-gloss movie stars fake their marriage to hide the fact both are gay.<\/p>\n

It’s about grim failure in Tinseltown (West) and it’s so\u00a0Hollywood<\/a>, baby! (Collins) with screen-ready portrayals of the little people, too.<\/p>\n

“Bright Shiny Morning” is a bit literary and a lot schlock. It’s also get-out commercial. Oprah won’t be reading it, but maybe you should. It won’t improve your life, but your weekend maybe?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

[ click to read review at NY Daily News<\/a> ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from the NY Daily News Disgraced memoirist James Frey opts for fiction with ‘Bright Shiny Morning’ BY SHERRYL CONNELLY Saturday, May 3rd 2008, 10:38 AM BRIGHT SHINY MORNING\u00a0by\u00a0James Frey, Harper, $26.95 James Frey was publicly scourged by\u00a0Oprah\u00a0for fabricating pivotal passages in “A Million Little Pieces,” his “memoir” that she made a best seller when she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversation-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigjimindustries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}