How I Came To Read This Book: I've literally had this book in my to read pile for upwards of three years. I think it deserves an award for sticking it out for so long - and so does my friend Sarah, for lending it to me. I do a roulette to choose my books, hence why this one was passed over so long. That plus I hated 'A Million Little Pieces'.The Plot: This book essentially fast forwards through James Frey's fictional 90 days in prison after his departure from Hazelden, a rehab facility that serves as the key setting for his first pseudo-memoir, A Million Little PIeces. After those 90 days, James is excited to leave and meet up with his rehab love of his life, Lilly. Things don't go as planned in James' life, as per usual, but he is consistently pulled through by the help of his friend Leonard - whether it's a chunk of change, a job that more than pays the bills, an evening on the town, or simply a shoulder to cry on, this book explores life after rehab and going down the 'right path' through the eyes of 'an Alcoholic, a drug Addict, and a Criminal.' The Good & The Bad: I won't lie, my book roulette may have skipped over this book once or twice in the past because I really didn't enjoy AMLP. I found it was trying to hard to get the reader to empathize, it was mentally exhausting to wrap your head around Frey's unique verbal spewage of words, and the characters weren't particularly engaging. This time around though, I liked the whole thing a lot more. Frey stopped trying to garner sympathy and simply told a story - the events in his life were enough to tug at the heartstrings a little bit. It was also exciting to guess where Frey's wanderlust would take him next, whether any of his dark past would catch up with him, and seeing him take tentative steps to full rehabilitation outside of Hazelden. Leonard, who I remember finding kind of annoying, is much more personable and three-dimensional out of rehab. His lifestyle is equally interesting to James' and provided for a good tandem as they both got back to their respective kinds of 'normal'. I'd easily give this book 3.5 stars - I didn't absolutely love it but I definitely enjoyed it, and certainly enjoyed it more than its prequel.The Bottom Line: A surprisingly successful follow-up to a book mired in controversy. Read it for the story, not for the debate on what is real.Anything Memorable: Nope, other than my anecdote that I've had this book in my literal to read pile for years.50-Book Challenge: Book #43 in 2009.
Yawn...If ever there was a book that triggered me to pick up a cigarette after having quit so many months ago, it would be this one. From the ashtray on the cover to the chronic smoking that takes place by almost all of the characters, reading My Friend Leonard turned out to be an exercise in will power, if nothing else. This is the sequel to Frey's first faux memoir, A Million Little Pieces and although I really enjoyed that novel, this one was rather stale and I had to really push myself to get through it. There have been times where I have embraced it, but in this case the stream of consciousness style of writing felt drawn out and boring. I also found his constant repetition of words and sentences to be annoying. I’m sure this was some poetic or artistic impression intended to make me feel his points more emotively, but I think Frey really missed the mark on this. In my opinion, had he cut the bullshit he could have streamlined the pages to about half, however there wouldn’t be much of a book to read then, since the type face was large and there was a blank page between each chapter. It just felt like he took the cheap way out and wrote another book on the tails of his last success, with no respect for good writing or his readers. It felt like a cash-grab. What I did get out of it were some realistic depictions of what the journey through early sobriety looks like. The severe sweet tooth, propensity to overeat, excessive walking or exercising, and the extremely overpowering and constant craving to use are very accurate dilemmas for the poor soul just out of rehab. I loved the idea of him carrying around this cheap bottle of wine just in case he felt the urge to drink; a reminder and a test, as it were. If you dig deep enough you will find a charming relationship between Frey and his friend Leonard, but this seemed ridiculous and hard to believe more often than not. In the end, My Friend Leonard is about love, loyalty, and resilience, with a strong dose of loss. I know that Frey has since put out Bright Shiny Morning, so I’m really curious to find out if he actually tries with this one...
What do You think about My Friend Leonard (2006)?
tI went into the library looking for a book that would keep me wanting to read more and that’s exactly what this book did. I had recently finished the book A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer. So I went to the same section in the library that I found that book. It was full of dramatic books. Realistic fiction and fiction. In the beginning of the story, James is in jail for drugs and alcohol addiction. He is three days from getting out and all he can think about is going home to see Lilly, as she has been waiting for him to get out of jail. When he finally gets out, he finds Lilly is no longer apart of his life. He has to get a job, and survive on his own with no family and money. James best friend, Leonard is like a dad to him and has a lot of money. He is always helping Leonard and finally decides it is time for Lenard to start helping himself. James is told to go collect packages, don’t open them, and drop them off at a new location. Not knowing what was in the boxes, he gets caught. Will James have to spend the rest of his life in jail and without Lilly? And why did Leonard, his father figure, betray him?Abigail Waldrop
—Mrs.Fisher's Classes
This one continues from where James left you in A Million Little Pieces. I may not want to comment on the validation of characters and incidents that are portrayed here, cause quite frankly i do not care and I just love the way James writes. This is a testimony to the best friend of James from his rehab. It goes to show how commitment in relationships can be as or far greater when they are not bound by blood. I loved every bit of the book, cause i believed right through as this being the perception of truth from James point of view.It filled me up quite a few times and just like a million little pieces i couldn't put this one down either till i finished it. I really hope James starts writing fiction and I am of the opinion he can be a great short story writer because of the way he portrays characters and can put journeys into episodes.
—Zahed
I know everyone gave Mr. Frey a whole lot of (probably deserved) shit for these two books of his, but I really enjoyed them. I could even overlook that they were on Oprah's book club list (which I got a LOT of shit about from my generally hateful friends). Since I'd heard about the inaccuracies in his first story - "A Million Little Pieces" - before reading either, I went in to each regarding them as works of total fiction. The writing was gripping, to say the least and the character development in the book was great. I cried several times reading both.Maybe I'm just a sap.
—Kate Hoffman
