This week on How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, we're joined by the author James Frey who also just so happens to be my first American guest (hello, USA! I heart you!). Frey has written four critically acclaimed novels, and his fifth - Katerina, a sweeping love story set between 2018 Los Angeles and 1992 Paris - has just been published.
But he's probably as well known for his notoriety as his talent. In 2003, Frey published A Million Little Pieces, a memoir of his criminal past and addiction to crack cocaine. An instant bestseller, it was picked by Oprah Winfrey for her influential book club. But when it was subsequently shown that Frey had fabricated large portions, Oprah brought him back on her show to give him an exceptionally public dressing down that made headines around the world.
This is a man who has been a literary rock-star and a literary pariah; someone who has experienced public failure on a level most of us couldn't even begin to comprehend. He joins me to discuss what that felt like, what he learned from the fallout, what the difference is between factual truth and truth in fiction, living with addiction, what he has learned from failure, and he tells me about his peronsal motto: 'Fail Fast, Fail Often'. Along the way, he also reveals whether he'd vote for Oprah if she ran for President and his unlikely support for the England football team.
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day is hosted by Elizabeth Day, produced by Chris Sharp and sponsored by 4th Estate Books
Katerina by James Frey is out now published by John Murray
Social Media:
Elizabeth Day @elizabday
Chris Sharp @chrissharpaudio
4th Estate Books @4thEstateBooks
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S12, BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Holly Willoughby
S12, Ep8 How to Fail: Meg Mason
S12, Ep7 How to Fail: Lady Hale
S12, Ep6 How to Fail: Stanley Tucci
S12, Ep 5 How to Fail: Ruby Tandoh
S12, Ep3 How to Fail: Phil Wang
S12, Ep2 How to Fail: Jacqueline Wilson
BONUS EPISODE! How to Fail: Tanya Reynolds
S12, Ep1 How to Fail: Derren Brown
S11, BONUS EPISODE How to Fail: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
S11, Ep8 How to Fail: Maggie O'Farrell
BONUS EPISODE: HEERRREE'S DOLLY!
S11, Ep7 How to Fail: Martine Wright
S11, Ep6 How to Fail: Paris Lees
S11, Ep5 How to Fail: Christie Watson
S11, Ep4 How to Fail: Guvna B
S11, Ep3 How to Fail: Ed Miliband
S11, Ep2 How to Fail: Jessica Ennis-Hill
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