judge books by their cover

I was browsing an airport bookstore recently, looking for something to occupy my time on a cross-country flight.

The back of the book read, "Anyone who has ever felt broken and wished for a better life will find inspiration in his story."

It was a book about drug and alcohol addiction, a topic that hits particularly close to home because I have seen these struggles in friends and family. The back of "A Million Little Pieces" intrigued me: A "memoir" about an alcoholic crack addict's six weeks in rehab. What the heck, let's give it a read.

As the plane lifted off I opened to the first page--a note to the reader, from the author, explaining many of the experiences in the book have been altered or embellished. Page Two is a similar admission from the publisher, Doubleday (a division of Random House).

Immediately I felt ripped off. If I hadn't bought the book in the San Diego airport, I would've returned it. Years ago I was aware of the controversy surrounding James Frey's memoir, but stupidly I had forgotten the title and didn't associate the author. Now I'm stuck on a three-hour flight with an inspirational book that turned out untrue.

I read it anyway. It's a decent book, although highly unbelievable. Too many fairytale occurrences and far-fetched characters. But I like fiction--I tend to read mostly novels--so the validity shouldn't have irked me as much as it did. I found myself questioning the level of truth behind each situation in the book and it turns out years later none of Frey's stories have ever been validated.

But my bigger concern is not what lies within the pages. What left me most disgruntled was the presentation--the fact the book is labeled a memoir, sat in the nonfiction section and makes no admission of inaccuracy on the cover. A liner on the front reads, "With notes from the author and from the publisher," but does that even hint at the book's veracity?

It's not real admirable, in my opinion, for the publisher to make the reader aware of the book's faults once he or she has already spent $17 on it.

In this particular instance, I'm fully suggesting this book be judged by it's cover.

After finishing the book and researching the controversy further, it turns out the publisher has agreed to refund readers who send a sworn statement indicating they purchased the book under the assumption it was a memoir. My book says "memoir" on it. I'm going to give it a try, and I'll keep you updated.

In case you're as apparently forgetful as I am, here is some history behind the controversy of James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces."

-- The book was released on April 15, 2003, and received mixed feedback. Some critics praised the book while others said the book rings false.

-- In 2005, the book was picked as an Oprah's Book Club selection, and shortly thereafter became the number one paperback non-fiction book on Amazon.com and topped the NYT Best Seller list for 15 straight weeks.

-- The book garnered international attention in January 2006, after it was reported by two journalists at The Smoking Gun that it contained fabrications and was not, as originally represented by the author and publisher, a completely factual memoir.

-- The Smoking Gun's editor, William Bastone, said a probe into the book was prompted after Frey appeared on Oprah. "We initially set off to just find a mug shot of him," he said. "It basically set off a chain of events that started with us having a difficult time finding a booking photo of this guy."

-- In January 2006, Frey appeared again on Oprah and this time admitted the same "demons" that made him turn to alcohol and drugs had also driven him to fabricate crucial portions of his "memoir." He admitted the book was first shopped as being a fiction novel but declined by many, including Random House itself. Winfrey brought out Frey's publisher to defend her decision to classify the book as a memoir, and forced Talese to admit that she had done nothing to check the book's veracity.