James Frey on Larry King

I only watched a few minutes of the show. I really do not enjoy Larry King's interview style. The author was unapologetic and stuck by his book. He did say he admitted off the record to The Smoking Gun that he embellished parts of the book but somehow it became on the record. Random House is offering to refund people for their purchase of the "memoir". Wow. Look, I'm all for creative license but at some point he coulda mentioned he made up stuff -- hell, he was on drugs that's reason enough for a disclaimer. But in his defense, I have worked with an editor at a big publishing house and there is heavy pressure to add salacious details in order to sell more books. If he succumbed to that, I understand. I'm a writer, too. And there isn't a lot of money in this. Oh sure, there are some very successful writers, but there are 100 unknowns for every star. It's a feast or famine existence. I was a ghost writer on someone else's book otherwise I might have been tempted to give the editor what she wanted. But instead I chose to do what the subject asked. Guess that's why I'm still not rich and famous. Either way, there are ways he coulda let people know. But once those checks roll in, man, it's gotta be tough. I still wouldn't have lied to Oprah. But that's just me.