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The made-up memoir: 1,729 people seek refund on book on the basis of court orders

NEW YORK: About 1,700 people asked to be reimbursed for buying James Frey’s largely fabricated best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces, a lawyer said as a judge approved a settlement with disgruntled readers.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell said on Friday the settlement was “most fair, adequate and reasonable.” It offered a refund to anyone who bought it before the falsehoods were acknowledged.

Although the book was a best seller that exploded in sales after Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club, only 1,729 readers came forward to benefit from the settlement, said Larry D. Drury, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

In January 2006, the website The Smoking Gun revealed that Frey’s memoir of addiction and recovery contained many fabrications. Frey and his publisher then acknowledged that he had made up parts of the book.

Although Random House set aside $2.35 million in a fund to cover costs related to the lawsuits, advertisements in 962 newspapers and elsewhere drew only the 1,729 claims for reimbursement by the deadline, costing just $27,348. — AP

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