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Michael Merschel: Michael Merschel edits books coverage for The Dallas Morning News.
Joy Tipping: Joy Tipping is an arts writer and Guide copy editor who occasionally reviews books and author talks.


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James Frey's "Bright Shiny Morning:" Genius or garbage?

6:54 AM Wed, May 14, 2008 |  | 
Michael Merschel / Editor    Bio |  E-mail  |  News tips

2008jamesfrey.jpgMaybe it depends on the coast.

At The New York Times, Janet Maslin raved (while mimicking his style:)

"He got a second act. He got another chance. Look what he did with it. He stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. No more lying, no more melodrama, still run-on sentences still funny punctuation but so what. He became a furiously good storyteller this time."

At the Los Angeles Times, David L. Ulin ripped it:

" Bright Shiny Morning is a terrible book. One of the worst I've ever read. But you have to give James Frey credit for one thing: He's got chutzpah. "

He continues:

"Ultimately, though, it is still what's on the page that matters, and Bright Shiny Morning is an execrable novel, a literary train wreck without even the good grace to be entertaining."

Clearly, the only answer is: America needs more book reviewers, and editors, to help us sort things out.

Can I get a witness?

(AP Photo/Terry Richardson,HarperCollins)


Archived Comments

A bizarre ride through Los Angeles was in a novel published around the same time as this guy's but only the name was similar. It was called A Million Little Pieces of Feces. Probably find it at Amazon or Barnes. Hilarious.



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