A Million Little Pieces

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NEW YORK (AP) -- For a man who once fell off of a fire escape and crashed to the pavement below, writer James Frey looks pretty good.

Frey grew up in an affluent home in Ohio and later Michigan. His father was an international businessman. He started drinking when he was 10 simply because he saw adults doing it and it seemed like a cool thing to do. By 15, he knew he had a problem but didn't want any help and he didn't want to stop.

His editor at Doubleday, Nan Talese, almost passed on his manuscript because she thought it was just another addiction memoir. But after reading a few pages, the grim subject matter fascinated her.

"I was overwhelmed by the quality of the writing as well as the storytelling," she says. "The fact that this was his first book wasn't an issue, as I was more concerned about the author's passion."

Talese said that "A Million Little Pieces," which has an initial print run of 50,000 copies, fits in well with titles like "The Long Weekend," "The Man With the Golden Arm" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." They're all edgy, often disturbing books.

Frey's prose is raw and brutal. At times, he uses stream of consciousness to relate his fears, frustration and the challenge of kicking several addictions all at once and by himself. He often does not use punctuation and repeats mantras like, "I am an Alcoholic and I am a Drug Addict and I am a Criminal" throughout the book.
 
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