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T H U R S D AY, J A N U A RY 1 2 , 2 0 0 6More Frey Fallout From "Larry King"James Frey's limp appearance on "Larry King" -- and especiallyOprah's surprise phone call at the finale -- seems to be winning himsupport. The traditional media describes Oprah as backing Frey, but infact she pointedly didn't. Oprah said she was disappointed by thecontroversy, but she stood by the book because it was still powerful. Iwouldn't look for Frey to come back on her show anytime soon. LarryKing, of course, failed to ask a point blank question: Did you ever brawlwith a cop? Did you ever assault a priest? Frey was probably thrilled.Publishers Weekly covers the uproar in the book world,with somepeople saying they don't care as long as the book sells. But most, likeacclaimed memoirist Mary Karr, are furious both with Frey and for hispublisher acting as if it's no big deal to take a novel offered as fictionand market it as someone's true life story.Frey didn't change certain details about the most dramatic andshocking events in his life: he made them all up! The string of arrests,the brawl with police (which figures prominently as a recurring motif),the pummeling of an Italian priest who made a clumsy pass, the claimthat cops were investigating him as a drug lord -- all of it is apparentlya lie.He didn't exaggerate or change some details. He made them up. Theynever happened. And there is no definition of a memoir that includesmajor events that never happened. A dull, everyday DUI arrest isturned into a titanic brawl with cops? A half open bottle of beer isturned into crack cocaine? That's not embellishment. That's lying.POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT
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POPSURFING.COM: More Frey Fallout From "Larry King"http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-frey-fallout-from-...
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