Synopses & Reviews
Perhaps the most unconventional and literally breathtaking father-son story you'll ever read, My Friend Leonard pulls you immediately and deeply into a relationship as unusual as it is inspiring.
The father figure is Leonard, the high-living, recovering coke addict "West Coast Director of a large Italian-American finance firm" (read: mobster) who helped to keep James Frey clean in A Million Little Pieces. The son is, of course, James, damaged perhaps beyond repair by years of crack and alcohol addiction-and by more than a few cruel tricks of fate.
James embarks on his post-rehab existence in Chicago emotionally devastated, broke, and afraid to get close to other people. But then Leonard comes back into his life, and everything changes. Leonard offers his "son" lucrative—if illegal and slightly dangerous—employment. He teaches James to enjoy life, sober, for the first time. He instructs him in the art of "living boldly," pushes him to pursue his passion for writing, and provides a watchful and supportive veil of protection under which James can get his life together. Both Leonard's and James's careers flourish…but then Leonard vanishes. When the reasons behind his mysterious absence are revealed, the book opens up in unexpected emotional ways.
My Friend Leonard showcases a brilliant and energetic young writer rising to important new challenges—displaying surprising warmth, humor, and maturity—without losing his intensity. This book proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.
Review
"The book is a gruesome, unpretentious and utterly convincing tale of recovery....[W]hat matters in Frey's work is the truth of his condition and his struggle to tell that truth. When writing about the self-loathing and horror of addiction, he is the best I have read." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"In My Friend Leonard, James Frey describes adjusting to life without [a] protective blanket. The effect is vivid, splashy, mesmerizing. Indeed, he has put the Technicolor back into memoir." Minneapolis Star Tribune
Review
"Reading My Friend Leonard can feel a little like being cornered at a party, someone pouring their heart out to you, lifting up their shirt and showing you their scars, and all the time you're wondering: When can I escape and get a drink?" Newsday
Review
"While this memoir addresses serious issues that would ostensibly interest readers (love and loss, suicide, sexual orientation, AIDS, and criminal activity), Frey's writing style utterly fails to engage." Library Journal
Review
"[A] raw, often visceral, reading experience. With Frey's emotions so close to the surface, it's impossible not to care about Frey's struggles to reintegrate into society and prosper. Another powerful read from a talented, dynamic author." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Frey is at his best with dialogue; it is through these tart exchanges that he builds likeable, distinct characters. But too much of My Friend Leonard is dull, repetitive monologue. Frey's habit of stringing adjectives together...and his tendency to run two sentences into one...give his writing a sketchy, imprecise feel." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
Perhaps the most unconventional and literally breathtaking father-son story you'll ever read,
My Friend Leonard pulls you immediately and deeply into a relationship as unusual as it is inspiring.
The father figure is Leonard, the high-living, recovering coke addict "West Coast Director of a large Italian-American finance firm" (read: mobster) who helped to keep James Frey clean in A Million Little Pieces. The son is, of course, James, damaged perhaps beyond repair by years of crack and alcohol addiction-and by more than a few cruel tricks of fate.
James embarks on his post-rehab existence in Chicago emotionally devastated, broke, and afraid to get close to other people. But then Leonard comes back into his life, and everything changes. Leonard offers his "son" lucrative if illegal and slightly dangerous employment. He teaches James to enjoy life, sober, for the first time. He instructs him in the art of "living boldly," pushes him to pursue his passion for writing, and provides a watchful and supportive veil of protection under which James can get his life together. Both Leonard's and James's careers flourish... but then Leonard vanishes. When the reasons behind his mysterious absence are revealed, the book opens up in unexpected emotional ways.
My Friend Leonard showcases a brilliant and energetic young writer rising to important new challenges-displaying surprising warmth, humor, and maturity without losing his intensity. This book proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling follow-up to the #1
New York Times bestseller
A Million Little Pieces-the heartrending story of a friendship between a newly-sober James and the charismatic, high-living mobster he met in rehab, Leonard.
A Million Little Pieces was the first Oprah Book Club pick by a living author in over two years. It instantly became a #1 New York Times bestseller, a #1 USA Today bestseller, and a #1 Publishers Weekly bestseller, with over 1.7 million copies in print.
My Friend Leonard picks up right where Pieces leaves off. A New York Times bestseller in its own right before the Oprah pick, My Friend Leonard is James Frey's story of his friendship with Leonard, the larger-than-life mobster who "adopted" James as he left rehab. Leonard, who offers James lucrative-if illegal, mysterious, and slightly dangerous-employment when he needs it. Leonard, of the secret deals, of the surprising passions that belie his violent career choice, of fantastic generosity and ferocious loyalty. Leonard, who has been holding on to some remarkable secrets, and who has invested in their friendship more than James could ever imagine.
My Friend Leonard is, at its core, about the responsibility that comes with loving someone and going out on any number of limbs to care for them. And it is a book that proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.
About the Author
James Frey is the author of the memoir A Million Little Pieces.
Author photo by Annelore Van Herjiwen