A Million Little Pieces Analysis

Words: 441
Pages: 2

Memoirs allow authors to share a piece of their life with their audience. Taking a highly personal experience and turning it into a beautiful story with emotion, perspective, and flair is the essence of writing a memoir. The issue of how much is truth, and how much is imagination divides the literary and writing community alike. Readers can feel cheated if they learn an author bent the truth to weave a more gripping narrative. However, the reality is there is no truth. An author can only write a memoir based on what they have experienced and the perspective from a memory. If an author embellishes the truth to make a memoir more thematic, he or she is not a liar but rather a true storyteller.
When James Frey released his bestselling memoir A Million Little Pieces, he achieved national fame and millions became emotionally connected with his life. Frey’s memoir looks back at his years of drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and his struggle to survive. Frey encountered another endeavour when he faced a deluge of allegations regarding the legitimacy of his novel. Frey responded by including an insert in A Million Little Pieces. Frey explains his writing process and tells his readers, “This memoir is a combination of facts about
…show more content…
However, O’Brien stirs his readers by admitting in his novel The Things They Carried that not all of his writings are fact. O’Brien takes a notable stance on his writing by declaring, “ I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening truth.” (O’Brien) O’Brien allows his writer's sense to mingle with his memories to create incredible stories. If he wrote a word for word recollection of his time in Vietnam, it would be bland. O’Brien adds flair to bring the reader into how he felt. The guilt, fear and suspense he felt in the Vietnam jungle. Memoirs allow the writer to input emotions into