"A Milliion Little Pieces" by James Frey.
My bookclub chose this book because everyone seemed to be talking about it. Some hesitation since it was an "Oprah" book. (Just a slight rant about people being snobby about Oprah books. I think it's great when ANYONE encourages people to read ANYTHING and to point out that she has recommended the likes of Faulkner and Toni Morrison, End of rant.)
If you are one of the few people in the world who hasn't heard about this book it is a non-fiction account of a 23 year old addict, alcoholic, and criminal who has hit rock bottom and went into rehab. His story is told in a non-traditional style...no quotes, creative use of punctuation and capitals. Not sure what the author of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves would think. I think it works and suits the telling of his story.
It's quite compelling to read and perhaps a little fanciful but I couldn't dig up any dirt by googling on the veracity of the story so I guess most of it is true. James isn't a particularly likable person but his independence of spirit is to be admired. He also rejects the "higher power" aspect of the 12 steps and I can relate to that. I think a lot of people couldn't relate to the 12 steps and perhaps that's one of the reasons why there is only about a 15% rate recovery from addiction. Surely, if we recognize in education that children learn in different ways, it would also seem logical that we must approach helping people with addictions in a number of different ways.
James' brother gave him the Tao Te Ching when he was in rehab and the spiritual yet contradictory and confusing phrases ring true to him. I must say they have a resonance with me as well and perhaps this quote from the book tells why:
"They do not tell me to do anything or be anything or believe in anything or become anything. They do not judge me or try to convince me. There is no righteousness or pretension. They don't fight me or insult me or tell me I'm wrong. There is no Authority and there are no Rules. They are just words strung together on a page sitting and waiting patiently for me to accept or reject them."
This one ended up to be not quite so itty bitty...most will be!
