A Million Little Pieces

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The emotional tale of James Frey’s journey in rehab is told in the memoir A Million Little Pieces. Born in Cleveland but living in New York, James Frey was an alcoholic for ten years and a drug addict for another three years before he decided to finally receive treatment at the age of twenty-four. Since his doctor told Frey that he would surely die at the age of twenty-four from his habits of drinking and doing drugs, his family checks him into the oldest rehab clinic in a last effort to change his ways. He fights his evil, or as he calls it the “Fury”, throughout the entire book as it begs for another drink or anything. It begs for anything in his six weeks in rehab. A Million Little Pieces tells the author’s struggle as he attempts to get clean in his treacherous six weeks in treatment. The memoir begins on a plane with a very beaten and disoriented Frey. He has no memory of the past two weeks, how he received several injuries, nor the criminal charges against him. Once off the plane, James is stunned to find his parents there to pick him up. However, he has no idea of the plans that his parents have in store for him. They are saddened by the physical and emotional state of their son and check him into rehab in Minnesota the next day. The first couple of days in the clinic are centered around James and his pain in the process of getting sober. He is almost always vomiting, and he is in desperate need for something to dull the pain of not having any alcohol or drugs. The former addict has a hard time accepting his new life in the clinic and takes some time to adjust. Although he has some trouble the first day, which include being beaten when he refuses to give up his seat, he quickly finds comfort in young woman by the name of... ... middle of paper ... ...s arranges for it to be paid before being released from his stay in the clinic. The now sober James still must face the criminal charges that he has no memory of receiving after he is released from the rehab center. He receives three months in jail, but he believes that Leonard has something to do with the reduced sentence since James believes that he was to serve three years. Shortly before leaving the clinic, Frey admits to beating a man and possibly killing him after he forced himself on James. He is relieved to get that off his chest and is released a day later. The book ends with James at a bar with his brother, who picked him up from the treatment facility, and the bartender throwing away an alcoholic beverage at James’s request after he looked and smelled it. Works Cited Frey, James. A Million Little Pieces. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2003. Print.

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