James Frey | News & Events

Words and Pictures

As James Frey’s primary publishers have been in America, they do the editing on the books. Although James is always very accommodating to any of the few suggestions I make - few because that unique prose style, which looks simple, is incredibly finely wrought, and as soon as you remove or tinker with a word, the whole sentence collapses and loses it impact.

James has such an eye for art and a strong visual sense that we spend some time discussing cover approaches (the iconic and timeless Million Little Pieces cover came from his mentioning Damien Hirst, and the Bright Shiny Morning one from a conversation about Tracey Emin); then it’s on to marketing and publicity plans and all that goes with publishing such a major author. He did look a bit surprised to be taken to the Hay Festival for his first book, though….

Roland Philipps, John Murray MD and James’ Editor

Posted August 6, 2008

Video

When we first started out with this website, one of the things we wanted most was to have James Frey talking about his new book; what it was like to write ‘A Million Little Pieces’ and, unashamedly, his run-in with Oprah. Similarly, when I attended a readers’ discussion group about James Frey (more on this in a future blog), everyone kept circling around the idea that what they really wanted was a film of James Frey talking about his experience and giving his side of the story. It became the holy grail.

So, one fairly blustery day in March, we did just that. James Frey was over for his first publicity trip and so while he was still recovering from jetlag, we scouted our building for any non-corporate location for filming in our office at 338 Euston Rd - a feat to say the least! But, one of the blessings of working in a tower block is the view and so in the end we settled on the balcony on the 16th floor of our building where you can see right across London - the London Eye, Battersea Power Station et al.

As Bright Shiny Morning revolves so tightly around the city life of Los Angeles, we wanted to incorporate the theme of ‘the city’ into our film. To further this, we also planned to head into Soho after filming the interview to get the requisite ‘in the back of black taxi cab’ shot and some more footage of James walking the streets. (Unfortunately me and my boss did not walk far enough behind him and so embarrassingly you can see us stalking behind James but I think it’s one of those things that only we notice.)

Leaning against the barrier of the balcony, battling against the wind, James Frey spoke out. As a Frey fan myself, what he said was everything I wanted to hear - he was the ‘hero’ I’d imagined, I was not disappointed. Im sure you won’t be either.

Polly Ho Yen, Publicity, Sales & Marketing Assistant

Posted August 6, 2008

Blogging

If you’re a fan of James Frey you might be interested to know a bit more about how his new book is being published. My colleagues and I at John Murray - James’ UK publishers, are going to blog about the creative processes involved and the different stages in the life of the book.

I’m kicking off with a bit about the cover. Sara Marafini, our Art Director, commissioned the brilliant Jon Gray to design it, with a simple brief: something cool and brash. Jon has produced some amazing covers including Everything is Illuminated and A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, and we reckon this has classic written all over it too. He hired The Neon Sign Store in east London to make a … well, a neon sign:

… and photographed it for the book jacket. The result is highly colourful, but in a kind of sinister, almost seedy way which is totally in tune with the feel of the book. Sort of explosive and unsettling at the same time.
Bright Shiny Morning jacket front

In May it was featured on the The Book Design Review blog, which regularly features comparisons between UK and US jackets. Click here to see the US version - a very different look, by celebrated artist Richard Prince

Let us know what you think …

James Spackman, Sales & Marketing Director, John Murray

Posted July 25, 2008

Waterstone’s Bookclub

Everyone’s talking about Bright Shiny Morning at Waterstone’s Bookclub.

Posted June 4, 2008

Reviews from US

“Bright Shiny Morning reads quickly, has great dialogue and some expertly placed dramatic moments, and teaches you more about L.A than you ever knew” - Washington Post

“(James Frey) became a furiously good storyteller … He stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park” - Janet Maslin, New York Times

“If, despite the scandal, you loved A Million Little Pieces, you might want to devour Bright Shiny Morning. Like its author, it can be called many things, but never boring. Or timid.” - Deidre Donahue, USA Today

“A sprawling ambitious novel about Los Angelos, written with all the broad-stroke energy that was so irresistable to readers in A Million Little Pieces. By turns satirical, tense and surprisingly touching, it is a portrait of a city onto which so many millions have projected so many dreams. Compelling, cinematic.” - Vanity Fair

“Relentlessly entertaining … It’s reminiscent of one of Tom Wolfe’s billion-footed beasts” - Lev Grossman, Time

Posted May 29, 2008

New exclusive video - James Frey speaks out

James Frey talks about his new book ‘Bright Shiny Morning’, Oprah Winfrey and how he has been treated by the world’s media. Watch this exclusive video here.

Posted May 19, 2008

Reviews in for ‘Bright Shiny Morning’

‘Bright Shiny Morning’ published in US last week … here’s how people are finding Frey’s first novel:

New York Times

Time Magazine

Posted May 19, 2008

Bright Shiny Morning Neon Sign

This is the neon sign that was made for the ‘Bright Shiny Morning’ cover.

Posted April 24, 2008

‘Dreams that come true’ - another extract from ‘Bright Shiny Morning’

Tammy and Carl moved into the park in 1963. They were from Oklahoma and both grew up, on opposite sides of Tulsa, dreaming of a life at the beach. They met in their freshman year at Tulsa State, they were both studying to be teachers. They married a year later, had their first child, Earl, a year after that, Tammy dropped out to stay home with him, Carl stayed in school and got his degree. Two days after graduation they got in their wood-paneled station wagon and drove west. When they got to LA, Carl started looking for a job and they started looking for a place to live with a view of the ocean. They looked up and down the coast, from Ojai to Huntington Beach. Carl applied for seventy-four jobs, they couldn’t afford anything that was habitable. They lived out of the wagon for a month, parking in the lots of public beaches, cooking hot dogs on a small hibachi.

The job came first. It was teaching science to eighth graders at a public junior high school in Pacific Palisades, an upscale ocean community that lies between Santa Monica and Malibu. It was a good school, and the pay was good for a teaching job, but it was not enough to live in the Palisades or in Santa Monica or in Malibu. They found the trailer park, which was on the edge of the Palisades. They bought a double-wide for $3,000. They had two more children, a boy named Wayne and a girl named Dawn, and they lived together as a family in the trailer. It was crowded, but the lack of space brought them closer, forced them to live in peace with each other, made the good times better and the bad times shorter. They would walk down the hill to the beach every weekend, and every day during the summer, and they would play in the sand, in the waves, the boys both learned to surf, they continued cooking hot dogs on the hibachi. The kids went to the public schools, which are among the best in the state, all of them did well and went on to college. Carl continued to teach science, and became the football coach, at the junior high for thirty-five years. Once a year at Christmas they went back to Tulsa, where their relatives looked at them like they were aliens. Once a year, at spring break, they drove down to Baja and rented a bungalow on the beach and spent a week eating tacos, playing Frisbee and surfing. The years drifted by simply and easily and wonderfully. Aside from the fact that they lived in a trailer park, the family had a quintessential California beach life.

The kids are gone now, grown and on their own, Earl is an entertainment lawyer in Beverly Hills, Wayne is a college English professor in San Diego, Dawn is married with children in Redondo Beach. Carl is retired and he and Tammy spend their days walking along the beach, sitting on the patio in front of their trailer reading history and mystery books, playing cards with their neighbors. They see at least one of their kids every weekend, usually at the trailer, and their grandchildren, there are seven of them, love visiting them. Earl, who makes an absurd amount of money, has offered to buy them a house but they don’t want to move. They love the park, they love the trailer, they love the life they have led and continue to lead. They want to stay until they’re dead and gone, until they move on to what they believe will be their next life. Tammy and Earl, like hundreds of thousands of people a year, came to Los Angeles to make their dreams come true. Sometimes it happens.

Posted April 9, 2008

‘Bright Shiny Morning’ extract

She is twenty-six years old. She is originally from Indianapolis. She has lived in LA for nine months, she moved here to become a publicist, her family did not approve. Three weeks ago she was walking through a parking garage, it was late at night, she had been on a first date, she had had two glasses of wine with dinner. Her date had wanted to walk to her car, but she liked him, really liked him, he was a year older, an entertainment attorney, someone who wanted, like her, a career and later a family, and she knew if he walked to her car he would try to kiss her. She wanted to take it slowly, try to engage in as old-fashioned a dating process as possible. She said she’d be fine. He said he would call her. She smiled and said she looked forward to it. She walked away.

She had been in the garage many times, her office was down the street, it was in Santa Monica, which is a safe, wealthy, stable community. The garage was fairly empty. She took an elevator to the fourth floor. She got out and started walking towards her car, which was on the opposite side of the garage. She immediately felt uneasy. She started walking more quickly something was wrong wrong she was suddenly terrified absolutely fucking terrified something was wrong. She was twenty feet from her car, fifteen, ten she reached for her keys ten feet away as she reached for her keys she was terrified. He stepped out from between two cars, came at her from behind, she was five feet away, her keys in her hand.

Posted April 8, 2008