a million little bitches

I'm currently reading A Million Little Pieces for the second time, despite all its shitty press about being "a million little lies" (picture me quoting that with the utmost bitter mockosity).
I just don't get what the big deal is. Yes, James Frey exaggerated some things, like how long he spent in jail, and changed some others, such as the way his to-be-girlfriend commited suicide (to protect her identity, i might add). I just think Oprah was a little (read: "way") too sensitive and emotional and uptight about it. The point of the book, as i see it anyway, wasn't how many days he stayed in jail or whether his confrontations with the rehab counselors lasted five or fifteen seconds. It was about an intelligent, fucked-up addict saying "fuck you" to AA and finding a better way (specefically, the Tao Te Ching). It was about taking responsibility for your actions and not just 'letting go and letting god' because you feel like there's nothing you can do about your own life.
Here's a quote i really like from the book:

"I have been to AA Meetings and they have left me cold. I find the philosophy to be one of replacement. Replacement of one addiction with another addiction. Replacement of a chemical for a God and a Meeting. The Meetings themselves made me sick. Too much whining, too much complaining, too much blaming. Too much bullshit about Higher Powers. There is no Higher Power or any God who is responsible for what I do and what I have done and for who I am."

Also, i think it's pretty much fucking ridiculous (refuckingdiculous if you're into infixes) for thousands of dumbasses who bought the book to demand a fucking refund in a court of law because the poor babies were soooo insulted that they were under the impression that they had bought a memoir when they had, in fact, bought a fucking memoir. Frey's publisher said this to Oprah (i read the transcript of the show where she was all whiny to them) and i agree: That Frey's book is a memoir, not an autobiography. He took a lot of it from hundereds of pages of his journals, and the rest from his memory--hence, memoir. The human memory intrinsically faulty, and when you read a memoir, just as when you hear a story, only fucking idiots don't understand that parts are GOING to be exaggerated and changed, and that's a fact.
The book's message and inspiration don't change just because details have.

Here is a funny quote from the book i like a lot, from when James is about to have a lot of dental work, including a double-root-canal, with no novacain or painkillers.
"The Babar the Elephand book is sitting in front of me. I pick it up and start reading it. I remember reading it as a small Boy and enjoying it and imagining that I was friends with Babar, his constant Companion during all of his adventures. He went to the Moon, I went with him. He fought Tomb Raiders in Egypt, I fought alongside him. He rescued his elephant girfriend from Ivory Hunters on the Savanna, I coordinated the getaway. I loved that goddamn Elephant and I loved being his friend. In a childhood full of unhappiness and rage, Babar is one of the few pleasant memories I have. Me and Babar, kicking some motherfucking ass."

This book made me curious about the Tao Te Ching, which is the most amazing book I have ever read. Everyone should read it, period. "amazing' seems like such a lameass way to describe it.

Fun etymology fact of the day: 'decimate' originally meant "the removal or destruction of one-tenth" from when Romans would line up the citizens of a rebellious city and kill every tenth person...as one can guess from the 'deci', but it has come to mean TOTAL DESTRUCTION. (Thank you Steve and the Online Etymology Dictionary.) Anyway, the Romans are badasses. That reminds me (yeah i know they were spartans not romans but it reminded me anyway, HOKAY?)
300 ROCKED MY FUCKING WORLD.