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
S3, Ep6 How to Fail: James O'Brien
S3, Ep 5 How to Fail: Raven Smith
S3, Ep4 How to Fail: Deborah Frances-White
S3; Ep3 How to Fail: Jonny Benjamin
S3, Ep2 How to Fail: Chris Patten
S3, Ep1 How to Fail: Lily Allen
How to Fail: End of Season Two
S2, Ep8 How to Fail: David Baddiel
S2, Ep7 How to Fail: Tara Westover
S2, Ep6 How to Fail: Farrah Storr
S2, Ep5 How to Fail: Alastair Campbell
S2, Ep4 How to Fail: Otegha Uwagba
S2, Ep2 How to Fail: Mishal Husain
S2, Ep1 How to Fail: Jessie Burton
How to Fail: End of Season 1
S1, Ep8 How to Fail: Elizabeth Day
S1, Ep7 How to Fail: David Nicholls
S1, Ep6 How to Fail: Gina Miller
S1, Ep5 How to Fail: Olivia Laing
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