Apparently, James Frey and Random House have a proposed settlement on the table in the lawsuit brought by readers of, the now known to be primarily fictitious memoir, A Million Little Pieces. The publisher and author have offered to refund the purchase price of the book to readers who provide proof of purchase and sign a statement claiming that they purchased the book only because they thought it was a memoir. In addition, Random House and Frey will cover the Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and make a donation to an unspecified charity. The settlement has yet to be approved by the court, and has currently been accepted by only 10 of the 12 Plaintiffs.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not one to state that a Plaintiff is a litigation happy whiner. However, in this instance, I must depart from my normal way of thinking. I would like to scream from the rooftops that these Plaintiffs are LITIGATION HAPPY WHINERS!
Who hasn’t embellished a story a little, just to make it more entertaining or inspiring? Can we now, as readers, sue any person who commits to paper that he endured 4 rounds of chemo instead of 2, was abused as a child when he was not, lived in poverty when his family was really middle class, rode a donkey to school when it was really a mule? The list goes on and on. It seems absurd to me.
Admittedly, Frey bent the truth. But, what ever happened to artistic license? This is a book, and a memoir at that. Really, do you think that Liz Taylor told the truth about every little thing in her tell alls? Hell, I would be willing to admit that even Bill Clinton engaged in a little exaggeration here and there. Who actually reads these books and believes that every darn last word is the God’s honest truth? I am really baffled by that. It is written to entertain and inform you, not to be taken as literally as your 5th grade history textbook.
Even assuming that the reader believed that A Million Little Pieces was as honest as Abe Lincoln, and feels duped by having bought into Frey’s fabrications, so what? I mean, really, is it worth suing over? I honestly think the Plaintiffs’ lawyers should be sanctioned for bringing this suit.
I assume (I honestly don’t know) that the causes of action claimed by the Plaintiffs were Fraud and its variations under every statute available to them. Again, was the reader really defrauded by this literary creation? This was not a Chemistry textbook, or even a historical autobiography (literary works of which you could reasonably expect to be presented with only the truth). But, if I were to write an autobiography about…Katy, let’s say…would it necessarily be 100% accurate? I doubt it. As such, I would be exposing myself to the wrath of millions of Autobiography of Katy readers that were pissed off that I gave Richard a pet iguana, just to spice things up a little. Does that seem right to anybody? Not me.
On a side note, I wonder how many of those Plaintiffs did not actually buy the book themselves. That would be a funny twist. All of this effort for nothing. I am sure that they all feel vindicated in some really strange and not-quite-right way. After all, they have made their point…do not commit it to paper unless it is 100% accurate, and provable at that.
Remind me to never write a memoir (or an autobiography about Katy, for that matter). I would hate to have my recollection of events challenged by someone who remembers some instance in my life differently. It would really cramp my style.
