Tell me lies

James Frey's rehab memoir "A Million Little Pieces" is coming under immense scrutiny for alleged exaggerations and fabrications. Thesmokinggun.com reported on it from the angle that Oprah Winfrey, who endorsed the book by giving it "Oprah's Book Club" status, had been duped by the author. \nThe book tells of Frey's six weeks in a Minnesota rehabilitation clinic, how he ended up there and how the experience changed him. He tells of his sordid past, the failed relationship that broke his heart, his tumultuous relationship with his parents and the friends he makes in rehab. Frey also speaks of a substantial arrest record, which is apparently not completely factual.\nFrey has confessed that parts of the book are "embellished" for "obvious dramatic reasons." \nAnd personally, I'm OK with that.\n"But, Kehla, don't you feel lied to? He made things up!"\nI do not, nor will I ever, believe lying is acceptable. But I have a copy of the book in front of me, and on the back, in the spot reserved for the genre classification, is printed the phrase "Memoir/Literature." It's there for the convenience of bookstore managers, but to me, it makes a difference. The word "memoir" itself means "what follows is subjective, like all memories." The word "literature" means "beautifully written fiction." Calling something "literature" can mean it's based on reality, but it's not something I take for granted when I pick up a piece of fiction.\nGenre semantics aside, I challenge the book's critics to read it the way I did before I knew it was under investigation: with open eyes, a believing heart and prepared with a grain of salt. Any book requires the suspension of the reader's disbelief. The willingness to judge a book on its contents, rather than its author, is how we ultimately relate to our reading. \nI've never been a drug addict. The closest I've ever come is trying to switch from regular Coke to Diet Coke. But "A Million Little Pieces" opened up the possibility of horror in a way that no "Just Say No" campaign could. It told of a young man who was a lot like me -- he had loving parents, plentiful opportunities and a bright future. But unlike me, Frey was derailed by addiction. \nThe story of his recovery and his painstaking efforts to rebuild his life did more than just scare me -- they gave me hope. There are a lot of ways to destroy your life, but there are also a lot of ways to rebuild it. If James Frey could get himself off crack -- whether he actually did or not -- I should be able to start getting up in time for class. \nSo no, I have to say that I don't really care that Frey was only arrested once, rather than four times. He shouldn't have passed off fiction as fact, if that's indeed what he did. But ultimately, the value of the book outweighs any possible ethical transgression on Frey's part. \nFalse hope, it turns out, is better than no hope at all.