Just read a CNN review of sorts for James Frey’s My Friend Leonard. The book sounds really powerful.
“My Friend Leonard” is told in the same style as “A Million Little Pieces” — an idiosyncratic, repetitive but always evocative spinning of words that approaches stream of consciousness. Frey says the process can have its difficulties.
“It’s exceedingly delicate. I spend a lot of time making sure it flows,” he says.
The books are also fearless. Frey isn’t afraid to show himself in the worst possible light, with the toughest language he can muster. He writes about death, he writes about tears, he writes about wetting his pants when a crazed client points a gun at his head.
I kind of wonder if Leonard is still around, and if so, what he thinks of having his gangster lifestyle outed in a book.
My Friend Leonard is the sequel to A Million Little Pieces, which tells the story of Frey’s battle with drug addiction and also sounds like a good read.