Review: My Friend Leonard

I was hesitant to read James Frey's My Friend Leonard, and not just because he "duped" Oprah with A Million Little Pieces. I think any memoir is non-fiction to the person writing it. Experiences are viewed differently from each person's point of view and its impact varies on each of those people. And a good story is a good story. So I wasn't holding any of that against Frey. Honestly I thought it just kind of sounded like a downer. But I gave it a chance and I'm really glad I did

Read more of my review under the jump.



From the first page, I knew this wasn't going to be a light read but I was intrigued. After the first fifty pages, I was committed. There are a couple of reasons I enjoyed Leonard and I think the combination of them is why it was such a success for me, personally.

First is Frey's writing style. The stream of consciousness, the slight repetition for emphasis. The imagery was fantastic as well. Maybe we just think the same way but the writing really appealed to me.

Also, Frey's character in the book. Some of his mannerisms, little things he says and the issues he deals with really reminded me of someone. At times I felt like I was reading about them instead of Frey.

Even though much of this book was fictional, you could still feel the true story behind it. And like any true story, a happy ending isn't guaranteed. I'm not going to put too many spoilers here because I want people to read it for themselves. I gave Leonard four out of five stars on GoodReads and will be recommending it to people.

Click below if you're interested and want to snag it off Amazon for pretty cheap: