Virtually every non-fictional account of lives and times, especially when told in the manner chosen by Mr Frey contains at very least embellishments. The true test is whether the writing works or not. I would be more concerned about issues of veracity when reviewing a manufacturer’s blurb prior to purchasing a pricey product.

I’m Irish-Canadian so I read Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes” with some interest. There were moments when I wondered about the probability of some passages, but the question “is this true or not?” never became so compelling that it got in the way of my appreciation.

The category “recovery memoir” would probably have provided leeway for some of the “sins” Frey is being accused of, but I gather he chose not to place his work in that context.

I think when Smoking Gun discovered there was no mug shot to be had, they sensed they had a story on their hands and went to town on it. Part of the motivation may have been the Oprah Winfrey endorsement, because obviously whistle blowers could be assured of nationwide attention, although I’m not suggesting for a moment that Smoking Gun would ever be so cynical … ahem.

A while ago I read a book that passes itself of as biography – “Meeting with Remarkable Men” by one G.I. Gurdjieff. In the course of this peculiar little book we are told that during his travels as an itinerant jack-of-all-trades, the young Gurdjieff trapped sparrows which he then painted and sold as exotics to the easily deceived. In time of course the paint wore away, but by then the young mountebank was many miles away with coin clinking in his pockets.

This struck me as a tall tale; an allegory of sorts. Did it matter to me whether or not the young Gurdjieff did in fact paint and sell sparrows? Well only if I am interested in the man and matters of his truthfulness come into my assessment of his character. Otherwise, my requirements are simple – a good story that hits the mark, and his book certainly did that.

So lacking much interest in Frey the man and not having any personal stake in the issues relating to addiction, I would tend to judge Frey’s book soley on its own merits.

As for Mr. Frey he seemed a little pitiful. He had difficulty being honest and it looked to me like he had difficulty even being honest with himself. And to think this man was held up as an example of “recovery”. Im quite sure his book hasnt really helped anyone. It was graphic and horriffic in its fabricated details but he evidenced little understanding about addiction.

I was glad to see Oprah pinned him down on the fabrication about the root canals. He squirmed and didnt want to admit it but she finally got him to fess up it didnt happen or at least he wasnt sure. As I said in previous posts Ive been in those drug treatment programs and I never heard of anybody being denied novocain for dental care.

Oprah says her pick of the novel/memoir “Night” was just a coincidence. Thats a little hard to swallow. It seemed to me it was spin and damage control. It was like saying, “See no big deal lots of memoirs are fictionalized”. However, she insists that isnt so. Its suspicious but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.

After my memoir is published I’ll send it to her along with my rap sheet. Who knows maybe I can get picked for her book club. She should be looking for one that is true and verifiable now.

Anyway, she did the right thing even if she was a little angry.

And, yes, Oprah. Truth matters.

At the end of the show the question was asked:

“How much value does contemporary culture place on truth?”

Very little Oprah. We have a whole society that buys into the lie that addiction is a “disease”. Thats how dishonest this society is.

Ted Wegener

Christian Recovery

As for Oprah, will somebody be so kind to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with her. She proves over and over that she is lost and has no affiliation with the creator of this universe, except by creation.

Oh, she looked fabulous didn’t she!

1. is the RICHEST (or pretty close to it)
2. can say the name of a book they read and millions will follow suit
3. celebrities fight each other to be a guest on their show
4. has their own religion named after them (with their own gospel message of inclusiveness and intolerance)
5. can go on national TV, on their own show, and rip a white man apart for lying

IS (drum roll please)…
a BLACK WOMAN!!! (and she didn’t even have a silver spoon in her mouth, light-skin, or any of the other stereotypes)

For some reason the race pimps (including Hilary who is still hanging out on a plantation somewhere) missed that one

Ya just gotta luv America!

Grrr. For some reason my Tivo didn’t record Oprah yesterday. However I did see clips all evening of the program on Scarborough Country, Larry King, and Tucker Carlson’s show, Anderson Cooper’s show, etc.
It looked to me like Oprah …