Frey in Context
by Charlotte Abbott -- Publishers Weekly, 1/16/2006
Author James Frey is not the first memoirist to get caught embellishing the facts. A sampling:
Honor Lost by Norma Khouri (Atria, 2003)
Problem: Jordanian women's groups pointed out factual errors in the author's account of her Jordanian Muslim friend's murder by a family member for dating a Christian man. Then a journalist discovered that Khouri, who described herself as a lifelong Jordanian, had emigrated to Chicago when she was three.
Outcome: Author admitted to changing some facts about herself and making up names, dates and locations. Atria withdrew its printing of more than 50,000 copies in March 2004.
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin's, 2002)
Problem: In August 2005, family members who were portrayed in the book filed a libel suit claiming that Burroughs had embellished scenes and that he didn't conceal their identities well enough.
Outcome: Author and publisher have declined comment due to litigation. Scissors has sold a total of more than 670,000 copies to date and the film version, starring Annette Bening and Gwyneth Paltrow, is scheduled for the fall.
Fragments by Binjamin Wilkomirski (Pantheon/Shocken, 1996)
Problem: Swiss musician's memoir of childhood in a series of concentration camps won many literary prizes, including the National Jewish Book Award for autobiography, until a journalist reported that the author was neither Jewish nor Polish, and his name wasn't Wilkomirski.
Outcome: Author defiantly declared, "I am Benjamin Wilkomirski!" Shocken stopped publishing Fragments, and in 2001 published The Wilkomirski Affair, a report on the hoax that includes Fragments in an appendix.
Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Random House, 1995)
Problem: Journalists couldn't find evidence supporting Carcaterra's claims of abuse in a 1960s New York reform school.
Outcome: Author said he changed names and details to protect his childhood pals. Writer-director Barry Levinson proceeded with screen adaptation and the film grossed $55 million.
