Update: Oprah Rips Frey a New One

2/3/06 - Updating the update: This article was chosen as an Editor's Pick of the Week at Blogcritics.

I've tried to avoid the popular blogging style of just listing a bunch of links to other sites, but I was researching responses to Oprah's shredding of James Frey and basically everyone has said everything there is to say. I'm sure there's a lot more out there, but I'm only including a handful. Let's see:

Slate thinks that Oprah was really just redeeming herself rather than focusing on Frey.

The New York Times noticed an undercurrent of Oprah's usual women-violated-by-lying-cheating-macho-men theme.

TV Goddess questions whether any memoir is ever 100% factually accurate.

The Huffington Post compares Oprah's apology with President Bush's lack thereof.

The Millions asks the question that Oprah oddly ignored: Did he or did he not originally try to shop this book around as a novel? And, if so, did his publisher know this and tell him to label it as a memoir?

Gawker gives a play-by-play recap of the episode in two formats: A live blog and then a hilarious blog with pictures.

Finally, the strangest one has to be Rosie O'Donnell rambling about Frey in her bizarre, child-like blog.

I have to admit I was cynical about the whole situation. I assumed that Oprah was merely reacting to national criticism that she let Frey off easy and was therefore trying to save face. But as I watched the episode I do think she truly feels that she made a mistake in originally supporting Frey during the controversy and really is upset about it. I also think Frey was a bit stunned to have to admit to lying (well, he barely admitted it. He said he "probably" lied).

As he sat there either stuttering or looking completely dumbstruck, I wasn't quite sure why he agreed to be on the show. My cynical side says that any attention will help sell books (as of today, A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard are still hovering around the top of Amazon's best-seller list). But maybe he really did want to apologize and set the record straight. Maybe what he really wanted to do was explain how you can change some details and still call it a memoir, but Oprah wasn't having any of that, either from Frey or his publisher, Nan Talese, who appeared on the show as well.

The multitude of commentators didn't really add a lot to the show, although it was funny hearing Maureen Down say that Oprah should kick Frey's "bony, lying, non-fiction butt out of the kingdom of Oprah".

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if this really does change anything in the publishing world and, if so, if it will only be a temporary reaction or a long-term one. As critics turn their attention to other memoirs like Oprah's newest Book Club choice, Night by Elie Wiesel, and the best-selling Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, will more and more authors include notes in their books regarding the accuracy of the contents?

If Oprah has her way, and she usually does, the answer seems to be "yes."