Bright shiny morning - by James Frey

BRIGHT SHINY MORNING

GENRE: Fiction

AUTHOR: James Frey

Chandana speaks:

So this is the last and final book by James Frey. This is entirely fiction and is in no way connected to his previous books. But it is just as in-your-face, touching and truthful as the previous ones. The story is about L.A, a city of contradictions. It is a home to movie stars and to down-and-outs. Palm-lined beaches and gridlock. Shopping sprees and gun sprees. There are filmy snapshots that zoom in on the parallel lives of the many characters in the book, bringing their egos and ideals, hopes and despairs, dreams and anxieties to life. Its the story of L.A and its people. The land of dreams and also the land where dreams get shattered. 

There are four main parallel stories:

Amberton and Casey - the rich actor and actress couple living in their huge mansion, with their kids, with all kinds of luxuries you can think of and leading a so-called perfect life. But what they hide is a deep and dark secret. Their marriage is a sham, a facade for the public. Amberton who thinks he can have it all, finally realizes that there are some things that are beyond his reach.

Old Man Joe - He is homeless, except for the bathroom where he sleeps at night. He sits on the beach every morning waiting for an answer. He hopes to do some good someday. His attempts at trying to save a spoilt teenage runaway backfire and instead result in getting someone killed.

Esperanza - the mexican immigrant with loving parents and obnoxiously large thighs. She spends all her life struggling to cope with her self-confidence and self esteem.

Dylan and Maddie - the madly-in-love young couple who run away from their respective dysfunctional families in search of a better life. They are both big dreamers. They are hopeful, in love, and their simple wish is to be together.

Frey throws in a few snippets of stories of people with dreams, hopes, who go west, who drive towards "the glow", to start a new life. And true to his style the ending is tragic. Some of them suffer, like the noble homeless Joe who tries to save the teenage girl, others gain and then suffer like the canny talent agent who turns sexual harassment into blackmailing advantage. Some are loaded or grounded or have luck on their side. Others like the countless actress-turned-waitress, singer-turned-hooker, or schoolboy-turned-gangster are plain doomed. 

At first the title 'Bright Shiny Morning' seems to be making a mockery of the whole book. But somehow the stories wouldn't have been right with a happy ending. It is so disappointingly, tragically perfect.

This book has got a lot of mixed reviews. A lot of brick-bats from biggies like L.A Times and New York Times. I liked it, it made sense to me but its definitely not everyone's cup of tea!

PRICE : INR 295/-

RATING : 4/5

PAGES : 547

My friend Leonard - James Frey

GENRE - Semi-fictional Memoir

AUTHOR - James Frey

Best Sellers - Million Little Pieces

SYNOPSIS -

My friend Leonard is the story of an extraordinary friendship formed in the most unlikely circumstances.

While in rehab James Frey finds a father figure in Leonard, a shady mafia boss. When Loenard returns to his dubious, prosperous life in the criminal underworld of Las Vegas, he promises James his support on the outside. Tragedy strikes the day James is released from jail and his world seems set to implode. Unsure where to turn, he calls Leonard. Paradoxically, it is in Leonard's lawless underworld that James discovers the courage and humanity needed to rebuild his life.

EXCERPT - 

Would you mind coming back to my office?

Why?

I need to talk to you. I'd prefer to do it in private.

Where's Lilly?

Why don't you come to my office?

I want to see Lilly Tom.

Please, James.

I'm not going back to your office Tom. Just tell me where the fuck Lilly is.

He looks at the floor, takes a deep breath. He looks up at me.

Before I tell you, I just want you to know that Lilly loved you very much. She talked about you all the time and….

He looks at me. He doesn't speak. His eyes are wet.

What the fuck is going on here?

He looks at me, bites his lip, takes a deep breath. My heart pounding.

Lilly.

His voice breaks.

Lilly.

His voice breaks again.

Lilly passed away this morning.

I stare at him. I am holding her roses.

What? My heart pounding.

Lilly died this morning. 

My heart pounding. What happened?

Pounding.

She took her own life.

I stare at him. 

My heart, my heart, my heart. 

He stares at me, speaks.

I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry

Her flowers slip from my hand. What happened?

My heart.

We don't know. Her grandmother had just died. She was very shaken. We found her hanging from the shower faucet. She dint leave a note

I turn around. I walk out of the house.

My heart.

My heart.

My heart.

Chandana Speaks - 

So the second book, the sequel to 'Million little pieces' is just as captivating and touching. By now you know that Lilly has died. Don't worry, I haven't given away the story! This is just the beginning. At the end of the previous book we get to know that James was going to spend three months in Ohio County Jail, finish his sentence and then join Lilly, who was going to be at a halfway house until then. As soon as he is out he rushes to meet Lilly but finds out that she has died. Desperate, James goes to a liquor store and buys the cheapest bottle of wine with the intention of drinking it. He spends the night in his car and does not drink the alcohol. James asks Leonard for thirty thousand dollars, which he uses to bury Lilly and her grandmother. Leonard had told James while they were in the treatment center that he would look out for James as though he were his father. He gives the money to James on two conditions: 1) James must agree to tell Leonard later what he did with the money, and 2) if James does decide to drink the bottle of wine (which he still keeps in his apartment), he must agree to call Leonard beforehand. At the end of the story, Leonard goes into hiding and James does not hear from him for eighteen months. Finally, Leonard meets with James in San Francisco and informs James that he is dying from AIDS. Leonard takes his own life by overdosing on pain medications.

Yes this books starts from the bottom, slowly climbs up, gives you hope, and then spirals down and smacks your head on the concrete floor.

When I read James Frey's Million little pieces, I though it was the most intense book I had read in recent times. But this one is even more intense. Frey is unbelievably stubborn, which for some reason makes him very attractive and appealing! He transforms his traumatic 24 year old life into something very raw, emotional and human. He struggles, he is afraid of himself, hates his fears, suffers, but never gives up. Especially since he knows that giving up will mean death for him. Leonard plays a major part in Jame's life. He has his own issues but is a brilliant father figure + friend.

This book is brilliant. DONOT read it without reading 'Million little pieces' first.

Pages - 375

Price - INR 304/- (Flipkart price)

Rating - 4/5

A million little pieces - James Frey

A MILLION LITTLE PIECES

GENRE - Semi-fictional Memoir 

AUTHOR - James Frey

BEST-SELLERS - A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard

SYNOPSIS - 

Aged just twenty-three, James Frey has destroyed his body and his mind almost beyond repair. When he enters a rehabilitation center to try to reclaim his life, he has to fight to determine what future, if any, he has. His lack of self-pity, cynicism and piety gives him an unflinching honesty - a fearless candor is that once charming and appalling, searing and darkly funny.

EXCERPT - 

I look at my clothes and my clothes are covered with a colorful mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood. I reach for the call button and I find it and push it and I wait and thirty seconds later an Attendant arrives.

How can I help you?

Where am I going?

You don't know?

No.

You're going to Chicago, Sir.

How did I get here?

A Doctor and two men brought you on.

They say anything?

They talked to the Captain Sir. We were told to let you sleep.

How long till we land?

About twenty minutes

Thank you.

Although I never look up, I know she smiles and feels sorry for me. She shouldn't.

Chandana Speaks -

I refused to pick this book up the first two times, seeing that it was a memoir (which I am not really a fan of). But something made me pick it up the third time (maybe the name?) and boy! Am i glad! By the time you read one-fourth of the book you would be feverently wishing that it WAS fiction just so you can tell yourself that the pain the author was going through wasn't real. 

It starts with James finding himself half-conscious, delirious, with a broken nose, covered in his own vomit and blood, en route to chicago on a plane and with no clue as to how he got on the plane. After he lands he is picked up by his parents who put him in a rehabilitation center. And from there his inspirational and courageous journey starts. 

James has been an alcoholic for ten years and a crack addict for three. He is also wanted by the police in several states for different charges. In the rehab clinic he butts head with the unit supervisors when he doesn't agree with their methods. As stubborn as he is, that he's going to follow his own route to recovery, there is a certain charm to it. His agonizingly self-critical nature is something that will touch your heart. As part of his recovery he is forced to undergo a series of painful root canals without any anesthesia because even that is considered as substance abuse. The 10 page description of his root canal is something I haven't yet dared to read word to word! He copes with the pain by squeezing tennis balls until his nails crack

He also forms an unlikely friendship with Leonard(who happens to be a mafia boss). Leonard's advice to James to just "Hold on" until things get better is one of the things that helps him recover. At the end of the book he begins to care deeply for James and starts to regard him as his Son. Then there is also Lily, James's love interest. He meets Lily a fellow patient with whom he falls in love despite the strict rules against contact between Men and Women in the center. James also starts to build his almost crumbling relationship with his parents with the help of the 'Family Program'. He speaks of his 'Fury' which he thinks is the cause of all his drinking and drugs.

Another thing that hits you as soon as you start reading the book is the absence of "quotation marks". His style of writing is very unique. Its more like reading his thoughts rather than a conversation between two or more people.

All-in-all its a heartbreaking memoir. Its brutal, its candid, its a book that will make you think about family, friendship, love, death and perhaps most of all the never-say-die human spirit.

Rating - 4.5/5

PRICE - INR 295/-