The last time James Frey was in the public consciousness, he was being reprimanded by Oprah Winfrey herself for fabricating numerous events in his critically-acclaimed, bestselling “memoir”, “A Million Little Pieces”.
When he came out with “Bright Shiny Morning” in 2008, it was meant to be his comeback novel and auger his return to the public eye. But “Bright Shiny Morning” got mixed reviews — The New York Times praised the book a called Frey a “furiously good storyteller”, while The Los Angeles Times called it “execrable” — and barely made a blip on the New York Times Bestseller List.
But now Frey is taking an entirely different plan of attack with “I Am Number Four”. Produced by Frey’s own Full Fathom Five publishing company, “I Am Number Four” is a young adult novel done in collaboration with Jobie Hughes, a student of the masters writing program of The Columbia University School for the Arts. With “I Am Number Four” now having spent more than a month on the New York Times Bestseller List, has Frey finally for his grove back? Or is this success in the young adult field merely a lucky strike?
