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 enlarge | Author: James Frey
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy Used: $8.33
You Save: $18.62 (69%)
New (60) Used (48) Collectible (9) from $8.33
Rating:  132 reviews
Sales Rank: 5295
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 512
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.7
ISBN: 0061573132
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061573132
ASIN: 0061573132
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Clean book with no markings.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 132
 I love LA August 31, 2008
Kristen Nemeth (Boston MA)
I loved this book. It was my summer beach book - read only on weekends between July 4th and today - Labor day weekend. I love the way in which this writer pulls us in with his style. I am so sick of typical "beach reads"! Crime novels retold with same story - different names. Or even more vomit-inducing "NYC single girls" and their struggles to date a decent man - yawn. This book was vibrant, exciting, told in a richly detailed way. I've never been to LA - but I now feel I know it well. Buy this book - you will not be disapointed!
 From fraud to plagarist..... August 29, 2008
T. Berg (Indianapolis, IN USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Most reputable authors, even when writing fiction, include a list of "Suggested Books to Read", fiction's answer to a bibliography when one isn't given, as it should be in this case.
He so obviously got more than 75% of this book from other sources that I can't believe HarperCollins thought it was permissable to cover their butts by putting on the copywright page "This is a work of fiction. References to real people and locations are used fictionally. All other names, characters, and places, and all dialogues and events, are the product of the author's imagination." Oh, please.
And the mind-numbing minutae! Any English teacher would cross out 20% of the book with a red pen and mark 'filler' in the margin. Pages of names of people treated in the VA, people who are working other jobs when they want to be an actor/actress, etc. Most of the vignettes are like 'the people game'-look at a stranger and make up a story about them.
The few main characters that appeared throughout the book were never woven together, except they all lived in L.A.
He wrote about 120 pages of a 486 page book. Hopefully the authors listed on his top 10 (12 to be pretentious) list here at Amazon are reading his book and filing lawsuits.
i disagree with a lot of these recommendations August 26, 2008
Emily A. Hartsough (NJ)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read this large read in only a few days and thought that it was beautifully written. The characters were precise, unique and captivating even characters who only made it in for a few sentences.
I am a fan of James Freys style of writing and he really brings it home with this one.
Overwhelmingly Depressing August 26, 2008
DJY51 (Westchester County, NY USA)
James Frey is a very talented writer. His style is identifiable, and some of his writing is annoying. He oftentimes writes in run on sentences. And he loves repeating phrases within a sentence to make a point. But, he knows how to write characters and how to make them completely believable.
The main characters in this book are fully developed. There are four story lines that weave their way throughout the book never intersecting. Yet in between their stories, theres about a hundred pages of information both about Los Angeles, and about the types of people who are drawn their.
Los Angeles is as much a character as any of the people. It destroys, adulates, taunts and seduces hundreds of people from all walks of life from all over the world.
I wish after he made his point about L.A., that he would have focused more on the main characters and less on random stories. Especially ones that were about nameless, generic people.
That said, I'm a fan.
it doesn't get worse than this August 23, 2008
J. Schaeffer (Gettysburg, PA)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Bad, bad, bad. 100% bad. Terrible writing. Not a sentence worth reading on any page. On any page. On any page.
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