Annotated Bibliography Analysis

The assignment content is about the controversy surrounding James Frey's memoir 'A Million Little Pieces' and its alleged fabrication. Richard Cohen's article 'A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey's Fiction Addiction' reveals the evidence of Frey's lies, while Vivian Gornick's book 'The Situation and the Story' provides literary principles for reading personal memoirs. The content also includes journal articles discussing the impact of drugs and alcohol addiction on individuals, as well as Oprah Winfrey's interviews with James Frey and Frank Rich about the controversy.

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Joan Student
Mr. Hurley
English 102
August 11, 2011
Annotated Bibliography
Cohen, Richard. “A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey’s Fiction Addiction.” The Smoking
Gun (2006). Web. 4 Aug. 2011. The author Richard Cohen discusses the evidence found
in the 6-week investigation of James Frey that uncovers the fabrication of his personal
memoir A million Little Pieces.Cohen has evidence that include“Police reports, court
records, interviews with law enforcement personnel, and other sources have put the lie to
many key sections of Frey’s book.” Cohen reveals the moments in the memoir that hold
no actual truth, along with the proof that unreels the lies Frey told millions of readers.
Though Frey did experience many of his stated endeavors, his writing proves otherwise.
After the investigation Frey admits “that he had embellished central details of his
criminal career and purported incarceration for “obvious dramatic reasons” in the
nonfiction work.” Article not only offers insight into Frey’s memoir, but offers context
for the controversial topic of subjective truth in memoir.
Frey, James. A Million Little Pieces.New York: Anchor Books, 2004. Print.A Million Little
Pieces by James Frey is a semi-fictional memoir about his life as a 23 year
old alcohol/drug abuser, coping with rehabilitation. The main struggle he faces is trying
to beat the ‘fury’ he has towards his desire for alcohol and drugs, along with his habit of
never following any rules. Frey goes through different endeavors that ultimately help
gain his recovery, but not before himand the people that love him, suffer and learns how
to deal with his internal struggles.Even though the memoir is controversial, and likely
untrue in sections, it is well-written and engaging.

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Gornick, Vivian. The Situation and the Story. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001. Print.
Vivian Gornick teaches her readers how to read personal memoir and narratives. Through
her use of her literary principles such as sympathy, self-implication and detachment,
readers are able to connect on a more intimate level with the subject, within the memoir
they are engaged with. Gornick defines in great length each principle along with details
on the situation and the story. Her writing is academic to a fault, however, as it is difficult
for a layperson to interpret at times.
Harbin, Henry T. M.D. “The Family of Drug Abusers.” Abstract. Family Process 14 (2004):
411-431. Web. 3 Aug. 2011.
Weiss, Friedbert. “Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction: Recent Advances and
Challenges.” The Journal of Neuroscience (2002): 3332-3337. Web. 1 Aug. 2011. Drugs
and alcohol do much more damage to a person then is seen on the outside. Within this
journal article Behavioral Neurobiology of Alcohol Addiction by Friedbert Weiss, the
readers are able to see what impact drugs and alcohol do to a person mentally and some
of the reasons why they harbor these addictions. In the article Weiss states, “The
conditions that lead to excessive alcohol consumption in some individuals and not in
others are complex because they involve interactions among genetic, psychosocial,
environmental, and neurobiological factors.”Plenty of useable data is included, accessible
to the average person and scientist alike.
Winfrey, Oprah. Interview with James Frey, Author of A Million Little Pieces. The Oprah Show,
26 Jan. 2006. Web. 8 Aug. 2011. Oprah was one of the first people to give James Frey
the credit he deserved for his well-written memoir. She felt the sympathy that Frey was
trying to portray and even showed this sympathy for him in her tears. Oprah trusted Frey

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until she found out that his memoir had been fabricated. Once she found this out she held
a personal interview with Frey unraveling the issues she had with him, such as him being
liar and a con artist. Oprah discusses his memoir before the controversy and after, along
with the truth, she and the rest of the readers of A Million Little Piecesdeserved. The truth
from the mouth of Frey is revealed in front of one of the most powerful women in the
world. The article by Richard Cohen, A Million Little Lies is also brought up by Oprah
and the information stated within the piece is true according to Frey.Interview is
entertaining, yet quite informative—but clearly biased.
Winfrey, Oprah. Interview with Frank Rich, Author of The Man Who Conned Oprah. The Oprah
Show, 26 Jan. 2006. Web. 8 Aug. 2011.