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Now that we're fully into week 2 of Fake Writer Day, it's time for all the weekly publications to play catch-up with their insights on Fake Writer James Frey. Time and Newsweek give us the expected recaps, just vanilla enough for red-state readers who have no idea what the hell is going on. Tom Scocca at the Observer however, has no qualms about flat-out calling James Frey a liar. Which, of course, he is.

Nevertheless, Frey's second "memoir," My Friend Leonard, still sits atop the nonfiction bestseller list. (Are we irritated because it's a bestseller? Or because it's classified as nonfiction?) Unlike Frey's first book, Leonard contains the standard disclaimer about changing of some names and details. Of the disclaimer, Scocca writes:

Fine. Then comes the opening sentence: On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray.

In other words: On my first day in jail*, a three hundred pound man** named Porterhouse*** hit me in the back of the head**** with a metal tray*****.

*The author never went to jail.
**Weight is an estimate; also the author, not being in jail, never met such a person.
***Not his real name; also the author never met such a person.
****Because the author s head was not present in jail, such a blow did not actually land.
***** The composition of the tray is a guess, because the author did not actually get hit by it, because the author was never in jail.

We'd kinda love to see A Million Little Pieces reprinted in asterisk format. Speaking of which, perhaps an asterik should be added to Frey's explanation that publisher Nan Talese would only accept his manuscript if he changed it from fiction to non-fiction: Talese says that, too, is another load of bullshit. Well, shovel 'er up and throw it on the pile.

The Awful Untruth [NYO]
Nan Talese Says James Frey Never Called Book Nonfiction [NYO]