When it comes to celebrity book clubs, Oprah is the OG. Winfrey started her eponymous book club way back in 1996 as a segment on her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Decades later, the media mogul is still recommending titles that consistently earn spots on the bestseller lists. Over the past few decades, her selections have ranged from iconic works by Toni Morrison to recent bestsellers like Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. And, impressively, out of 108 books Oprah’s Book Club has featured, there’s only been one major miss: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
This Selection Was a Rare Misstep for Oprah's Book Club
Remember this controversy?
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Published Nov 19, 2024
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In case you’re unfamiliar, A Million Little Pieces was first published in 2003 and was marketed as a memoir about Frey, a 23-year-old alcoholic and drug addict, and how he copes with rehabilitation in a twelve steps-oriented treatment center. Though it initially received mixed reviews, tides changed when, in September 2005, the book was picked as an Oprah's Book Club selection, and quickly became the number-one paperback non-fiction book on Amazon and topped The New York Times bestseller list for fifteen straight weeks. (I was a bit too young to read it at the time but vividly remember seeing my mom’s copy around the house.) The only issue? Frey made up major parts of the story.
Initially, Winfrey stood by Frey, going so far as to call into Larry King Live to defend Frey and the book. Thankfully, as more evidence came out, Winfrey denounced the work and confronted Frey on her show, saying she felt “duped.”
Though Frey’s publishers initially stood by him, as fabrications were confirmed, they chose to include a publisher's note and an author's note from Frey as disclaimers in future publications. What’s more, in September 2006, Frey and Random House, Inc. settled a lawsuit (though neither party admitted wrongdoing): Readers who felt defrauded by A Million Little Pieces were entitled to a refund by submitting a proof of purchase, pieces of the book itself and a sworn statement saying that they purchased the book thinking it was a memoir.
Kudos to Oprah for tackling the issue head-on, regaining readers’ trust and going on to choose dozens and dozens of incredible titles that aren’t mired in controversy. (If you’re looking for a recent memoir Winfrey stands by, I’d highly recommend Viola Davis’s Finding Me.)
