...ranting

S&S 2.0

Random Rant

to rant (n):
Violent or extravagant speech or writing.
A speech or piece of writing that incites anger or violence:

This isn’t what I was originally going to post…however I just couldn’t help but rant re: James Frey…but don’t worry I’m not violent. You all must have heard about the controversy? It was actually on the FRONT page of the Toronto Star last Friday…front page? I suppose if I had to make a choice of what should appear on the front page – I’d grudgingly choose Oprah over another story about the Boxing Day shooting.

So to recap for those who do not have cable, have no access to the this thing called the worldwide web and may even predate newspapers: late last year, our beloved Oprah chose James Frey’s “A Million Little Pieces” to represent the Oprah Book Club. Frey, a former alcoholic and drug addict, wrote a memoir and it is his heart wrenching, mesmerizing, riveting, provocative, gripping, willpower infused road to recovery story that had millions captivated.

Okay so that’s a little over the top but what else do you expect when Oprah voices her opinion - good or bad. For example,

Good – With Oprah’s backing, Frey’s book went from being a good read to something of epic proportion rising to the top of the non-fiction best seller list.

Bad – Remember the Hermes incident - the store that was condemned by Oprah b/c it doesn’t allow po’ black people in?? Oh I’m sorry, what happened was that it didn’t let Oprah Winfrey in or was it all black people or just all po’ people…I’m so confused.

Anyhoo I digress…it was this same book that has now led to Frey’s tumultuous downfall. Apparently overlooked by the editor, publisher, lawyer and pretty much everyone else including Oprah’s producers were a few embellishments made by Frey…okay okay a few alterations…grrr a few ideas that were voiced in a different way…okay damn it – I’ll say it (deep breath)…they were LIES (I’m so ashamed).

So what – he lied. He embellished in his book; he wrote that Lily died by hanging herself but in reality she cut her wrists. He said he spent 87 days in jail but it was only a few hours – [insert gasp]…say it aint so. Let’s not forget about the Novocain…did he or did he not have Novocain while having two root canals? Or was it one root canal? Well with the audience gasping in despair – it seemed apparent our hero to zero had lied in the book.

I suppose that if you’re the type to find solace in books…then you may very well be offended and demand a refund of $11.99 + GST and PST (on a positive note, at least that pesky GST will be going away shortly).

At the beginning of this whole hoopla, even Oprah did not think it was a big issue and she went on Larry King Live to say that she still supported the book because the “essence” of the book was true and given this truth we can all overlook the slight embellishments b/c he is still a hero to millions.

Well within a week she had a change of heart – maybe HARPO stocks had plummeted in value. She went from believing in the “essence’ of the book to stating that her mind was ”clouded” by the positive emails that she had been receiving from readers saying that Frey’s book had essentially saved them…hallelujah praise the lord. What a minute…Oprah clouded? Weird. Doesn’t she have anti-clouding personnel on her staff? Well, from clouded she became 3D (disappointed, disgusted, and duped (my personal all time favourite)).. and Oprah 3D can only mean one thing…

…the darhlin’ of TV sitting righteously, hand on hips, lips puckered, looking at Frey with utmost disdain, seething with anger (with being duped of course) eyes full of condemnation demanding Frey to say he lied….

Oh oh oh wait – I almost forget the sanctimonious video inserts where a number of well known journalists stated that how wonderful Oprah was. How “big” of her to admit a mistake in front of billions…to say that she was wrong with initially supporting Frey. FTLOG. As for Frey, he was called everything from a liar to cheat to having a boney ass (although how that has any journalistic cred is beyond me).

Talk about hero to zero in seconds – that’s the power of Oprah. 40% of this democratic country can’t get off their asses to vote but we sure like Oprah. And now Frey is in his basement glued to his crack pipe

In the whole scheme of things – this is all very easy for me to say…after all I’m not a drug addict or an alcoholic nor do I really turn to books for answers to life. But I’ve got the luxury that half the world doesn’t listen to me (although they probably should).

At the end of the day – where does all this get us? Well James Frey is still at the top of the best seller list (good for him); Oprah still has her adoring fans (why is beyond me); and contemporary capitalism still carries on. Who are the real losers? Aside from the alcoholics and drug addicts that were being “saved” by the book - I’d wager a guess that it’s those people that can’t decide what book to read on their own.


Princess Riff Raff Book Club Selections
A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
Run Like a Gazelle, Brother of Tapio
Handsmaid Tale, Margaret Atwood
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
How to Pick-Up a Guy that looks like Justin Timberlake, J Roxybaker
Anything by Robin Sharma
The Art of Painting, Sir Eduardo I
Shake Hands with the Devil, Roméo Dallaire
Dummies Guide to White Trash Living, The General

Happy Reading.