So Oprah had a hissy fit over this book. So people were put off because of some alleged fictionalization of this story. Regardless, it is excellent reading, and the author either has done a tremendous amount of research into addiction and recovery, or experienced addiction and recovery to tell this chilling story. In all reality, when one tells their side of a story, who isn't tempted to expound upon the truth a bit? Embellishment makes for good story telling. The only difficulty I had with the story is that an addict as severe as Frey could gain and maintain sobriety in as short a time as six weeks.

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An amazing novel. I wasn't interested in it until after the hype about the story being partially fiction. Even with that in mind, this book was excellent; one of the few life-changing novels I've read in my life.
Frey's writing makes him one of your family members or a close friend. You want him to succeed in sobering up and you hurt when he hurts.
Truly beautiful and incredibly sad, this novel will haunt you for a long time after you've read it.

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Being the wife to an addict and alcoholic(10 years sober) I really enjoyed the book. I felt like it was something I needed to read. A great insite to what getting clean "feels like".

Fiction or non-fiction, it doesn't really metter, it's still a great story.

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A really good book, even though all the stuff came out later on the Oprah show ,about it also being a little bit of fiction as well as a memoir of addiction, it was still a really good book. I really couldn't have cared less if it was real or fiction...it was a riveting realistic portrayal of addiction.

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A controversial memoir about a young man suffering from substance abuse - I enjoyed it immensely regardless if it really occurred like this or not.

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Addiction and recovery; what has changed in 20 years time? This gripping memoir is a bare bones rehersal of cause and effect, trials and failures, expectations and a grasping for any form of hope.

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A very hard book to read. The destruction and wasted lives of substances abuse are hard to comprehend. He was able to stop and gain control of his life without using the 12 steps of AA, but he is a man with unbelievalbe control. It will make you glad your now addicted to anything.

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I don't care that this book was partially based on real-life experiences and parts were fabricated. It was still a very good read. Extremely engaging and you find yourself rooting for people.

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Very revealing.

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Although we now know parts of the book are not autobiographical - the story telling is still very interesting... does paint a rather visceral account of the ugly bits of addiction. Worth the read.

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You know what? I don't care about the big stink over whether every freakin fact is accurate or not (although OKAY, he lied about a lot, LOL). it's such a great book. I think it stands on its own, so if it makes you feel betetr cross out memoir and write novel and be done with it. (Why he didn't do that in the first place is beyond me. He could say like, "based" on my life. Duh.)

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Despite the controversy I felt it was a great account of addiction and recovery

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Sorry, not my cup of tea.. Tedious one line conversations that seem to go on forever. I got that he doesn't believe in God or a higher power, I can respect that. I have about 10 more pages to finish the book & I can't wait.

Anne

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I dont care about all the drama Oprah tried to stir up around this book. I enjoyed it, i felt like i was getting a peek into an addict's head and that was so interesting to me. I think James Frey is a fantastic author with a singular voice, that I was moved by, isnt that what you want in a book? I am looking forward to reading 'My Friend Leonard' which is the follow up to this.

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I read this book after all the hoop-la on Oprah, so I went in to this book knowing parts were embellished. I thought it was very well written. I have never read a book quite like it, it was the hardest and easiest book I have read. Descrepencies or not, I believe the heart of the addiction struggle rings true.

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I'd heard a lot about this book when it first came out, telling a very true-to-life story of a recovering addict. Then it was found that it was a complete hoax. I wanted to learn for myself what was so true-to-life about it. The sentence structure was different, so it took a bit to get used to it. It was pretty graphic and a few times I had to skip the section I was reading to keep from gagging! It was interesting to read what may go on in an addict's mind as they go through the process of detox.

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Great strange read. Once I found out that James Frey wrote the entire book as fiction , it was a complete turn off.

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Augusten Burroughs book Dry, is a better book, and better written.

A big part of the power of this book was the idea that it was a true memoir. It has been revealed that large parts were fabricated, and that diminishes the impact of the story, and kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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I ate this book up word for word. Loved every paragraph. It is compelling! I have never read a book where I find myself having to take a breather to compose myself between thoughts!

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A bunch of crap. All lies. Don't waste your time being sucked into this.

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Difficult to read and follow along. Not what I expected.

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I found it to be a real page turner, despite all the controversy about his imbellishments.

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A story of one man's addiction, painfully honest. "The War and Piece of addiction. One of Oprah's book picks.

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