Memoir: Life in a Story - Analysis of 'A Million Little Pieces' by James Frey

This analysis is based on memoir one, two, three, and four of ‘A million little pieces’ by James Frey. The use of the stream of consciousness writing style enables the reader to connect with the fragmented reality of a drug addict.

Running head: MEMOIR: LIFE IN A STORY 1
Memoir: Life in a Story
Name of Author
Name of Professor
Course Name
Date of Submission

MEMOIR: LIFE IN A STORY 2
Memoir: Life in a Story
1. Reading Analysis
This analysis is based on memoir one, two, three, and four of ‘A million little pieces’ by
James Frey. Across the book, James Frey displays a high level of arrogance and stubbornness
that not only hinders journey to recovery but later enforces his decision to abandon his addiction.
As the Protagonist, James excessively demonstrates his cocky attitude which is highly restrictive
to his recovery. Due to this attitude, it takes him a long time actually to want to recover. The
counselors at the rehab even inform him that they can help but only until he was ready to help
himself (Frey, 2003). James desperately tries to display his sense of dependence and avoids any
help provided by other individuals. He even refuses to visit a halfway house after rehab since he
views it as a safety net which he regards as being for losers. His determined spirit to suffer alone
dramatically slows down a process that could have been completed within a shorter duration. It
even leads him to a new addiction- Lilly. He views Lilly as an opportunity to display his heroic
tendencies and show how strong he can be. However, this determined spirit enables him to even
apologize to his mother at the end of the family program. According to him, this is the first time
in his memory that he has initiated contact with either of his parents (Frey, 2003). Therefore, it
takes him out of the self-destructive path that he has been in. Despite his recovery being an act of
stubbornness and a show of independence, James is finally able to get clean and triumph over his
addiction.
2. Connections to Course Content
The use of the stream of consciousness writing style enables the reader to connect with
the fragmented reality of a drug addict. As can be observed in ‘A million little pieces 2.4.3-2.4.4,

MEMOIR: LIFE IN A STORY 3
Frey capitalizes a few words such as ‘Poor Child’ and ‘Main Rooms’ to give them a sense of
importance. This writing style, therefore, demonstrates the fractured nature of being a drug
addict enabling the reader to understand the reality that James exists in (Theme, 2017). “Leave.
No. Drink. Smoke. Panic. Panic.” (Frey, 2003 3.4.596-3.4.615). The fragmented nature of this
sentence displays the million little pieces that James’ reality has broken into. This writing style
also eliminates the dependence of the writer on the content as being factual (Karr, 2015).
3. Personal Connections
During my junior year in high school, I had a friend who was on the same track team as I
develop a hernia just before the district competitions. Due to our close relationships and the
excitement that my friend had formed in anticipation of the tournament, I, therefore, felt that I
had to win my race for both our sakes. This pushed me to train and push myself harder, and I was
able to win the race finally. This relationship could be likened to that of James and Lilly. James
views Lilly as a broken woman and hence feels that he has to be a hero. This increases his
determination to become clean and deal with his addiction.

MEMOIR: LIFE IN A STORY 4
References
Frey, J. (2003). A Million Little Pieces. New York: Anchor Books.
Karr, M. (2015). The Art of Memoir. New York: Harper Collins.
Theme (2017) Literary Devices. Retrieved from https://literary-devices.com