James Frey is the author of A Million Little Pieces. This was one of Oprah’s book club books, and was supposed to be a true life memoir. But, some of the facts in the book were in fact made up. For more info, read the follow up interview with Oprah here. The original “Smoking Gun” report is available here.

I haven’t read the book, and probably won’t. I also don’t care if someone makes up stuff to put in books, if they sell it as fiction (I realise that Frey passed it off as nonfiction, and that was a lie). My comment is not about the book or the author. What amazed me was reports that within days of the revelation of the lies, lawyers had filed the first of at least three lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages from allegedly defrauded consumers. The class action suits claim that customers were defrauded. But at least one goes further to request compensation for the time they spent reading the book (Read more info on the lawsuits here). Sure, he duped people. But he also entertained them, and that was the point, wasn’t it?

This is further proof of the bankruptcy of the American way. I suppose the people who sat in McDonald’s reading the book also joined the class action suit to sue the Golden Arches for making them fat. My memory brings to mind one series of Survivor where a competitor lied about a dying grandmother, and advanced in the game. The same happened in Big Brother in the UK. The people who did this were treated like criminals by the public and media. All they were doing was playing the game! “Reality” shows (and “reality” books, and shows “based on true life”) are symptoms of a voyeuristic society. And the lawsuits prove that people don’t like to be caught out in their voyeurism.

The line between reality and fantasy seems to be increasingly blurred. This can’t be a good thing.