Bright Shiny Morning
by James Frey
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Book Reviews of Bright Shiny Morning
Book Review: unbelievable characters
Summary: 2 Stars
James Frey's first novel suffers from the same problem as his fictional memoirs, which is that his characters are not remotely believable.
Frey's problem writing believable characters began in A Million Little Pieces. His rehab girlfriend was the standard "whore with a heart of gold" often seen in books like The Razor's Edge and Leaving Las Vegas (both of which were made into films--maybe Frey was hoping that his book would be made into a film as well).
We also met Leonard, a gay mafioso who inexplicably took a liking to Frey. A cut-rate Al Pacino character, Leonard spouted ridiculous dialogue, always calling Frey "my son."
Characters got even less believable in Frey's second book, My Friend Leonard. First, Frey's fake girlfriend commited suicide, allegedly because Frey was still incarcerated (which he never was) when her grandmother died. He turned to Leonard, who made Frey his protege (umm, because Frey was such a stable, reliable guy?) and continued to address him overly fondly as "my son" until he died as well.
Dare I mention Frey's tough-talking cellmate, Porterhouse, from the same book?
Though openly writing fiction, Frey makes the same mistake in Bright Shiny Morning.
Some characters are simply cliched, like the big-thighed Hispanic maid, the gay film star, and the black football player.
The worst character, though, is the homeless alcoholic man who only drinks Chablis. How many homeless alcoholics eschew small, potent bottles of cheap liquor in favor of toting big, low-alcohol content bottles of wine all over the beach? Frey, as always, strains all credulity just to make the man colorful.
Frey is not a bad technical writer. His sentence structure is good and he turns a decent phrase.
His characters, however, are too fake even for fiction.
Book Review: Lighten Up People..It was a good book!
Summary: 4 Stars
I am shocked at some of the negative reviews written about this book. While it was not a literary masterpiece, I truly enjoyed the book and had a hard time putting it down at the end.
The characters were memorable. Esperanza the underdog. Old Man Joe who reminded me of my grandfather. Amberton who made me angry and sympathetic at the same time. Dylan and Maddie fighting for a better life. Cliches? Yes, but isn't life just a big cliche? Haven't many of us shared the same dreams and setbacks as the characters in Bright Shiny Morning?? Unlike some of the other reviewers, I enjoyed the facts about California regardless of how "Wikipedia-like" they were. I am from Michigan and had no idea that California had so much rich history.
The only thing that mildly irritated me were the breaks in the story. I had to skim a couple of times to pick up on the main characters again. Sometimes Frey talked too much about scenery and facts, and I thought he could have developed the main characters a little more.
Other reviewers often complain about Frey's lack of punctuation, grammar, and sentence stucture. Just because his style of writing is different, please don't assume he can't write a complete sentence and doesn't know how to punctuate. After all, James Joyce's "Ulysses" is taught in schools around the world and is written in what is he called a "stream of consciousness" style that closely resembles Frey's style. Frey's style of writing is exactly how our brains work, which, for me, makes it more believable. Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" was written in a style that represented the time and place of which she was writing. Not for one minute did I think that Ms. Walker was ignorant because of the way the novel was written. It made the characters more real.
Please give this novel a chance. It will not disappoint!
Book Review: Maybe the best I have ever read
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was 19, I took a class in undergraduate about Los Angeles based fiction. It was an interesting class, I only wish this book had been around during that time so that it could have been part of the required reading.
I come from a family of voracious readers, I started with Jurassic Park when I was only ten years old, and haven't stopped reading since. I have read Hemingway, Joyce, Emmerson, Kerouac, all wonderful storytellers in their own way. But I can honestly say that I cannot remember a novel in recent years that moved me quite as much as "Bright shiny morning". I was literally reduced to tears (I can't remember the last time this happened!!) by the end. I'm not sure if I cried because I felt so strongly for these characters, or because I was sad that the book had come to an end. All I know is I want more, more, more!
The word "cliche" has been used an awful lot in reviews of this book, and fairly so. The bum with the heart of gold, the hispanic maid, the shallow actor who adds very little (nothing?) of value to society and yet is worshiped as a God. These are all stories that have been told before. It is the WAY in which Frey tells them that is so powerful, so moving, so thought provoking and emotional. It is a story that manages to entertain and simultaneously cause you to question your own priorities in life, causes you to think about what is really important, at least thats what it did for me.
Saying this book is no good because it uses cliches is like missing the forest for the trees. Frey's writing here is exceptional, emotional, and beautiful. Do yourself a favor, suspend any prior opinions about the author you may have, and try to read the book with an open mind. I think you'll find, as I did, a literary treasure that rises miles above what is traditionally put out there these days.
Book Review: A Dull Pennysworth of Cliches
Summary: 1 Stars
Frey is yet another easterner--Cleveland born, NYC resident--who finds the need to tell us Angelinos what we're about. Only he's brought nothing new to the party. Some reviewers have already pointed out the most egregious cliches. But the worst of them are not only cliched, but essentially false. E.g., a transplanted New Yorker brought west to run an art gallery is run over crossing the street by an MTA bus because the driver "wasn't used to seeing pedestrians". When we lived in Hollywood, my wife worked in the North Valley and had to use our only car. I walked. All over. I even used public trans(!). Never got run over. Not even close. One of the first things drivers in Cali are taught is that pedestrians *always* have the right of way, crosswalk or no.
I've lived for the past 15 years in NYC. Here I've come a lot, lot closer to getting run down, both as pedestrian and bicyclist (in fact I got hit twice while bicycling). Pedestrians have a far, far more problematic relationship with motorists than in LA.
Another point of contention is that hoariest of assertions: "It calls. It calls. It calls!"
Really?
How 'bout NYC? It calls (I run into a tankload of Angelinos and other Californians here). So does Chicago. So does any major metropolitan center. Frey is just showing off his regionalism here.
Other points that may seem niggling demonstrate disrespect for basic facts: e.g. according to Frey you can buy a handgun one day and pick it up the next in LA. That's not true. There's been a 14 day waiting period for handgun purchases in California since shortly after RFK's murder.
Frey's style is interesting, but he has yet to master the minimalist punctuation the way Cormac McCarthy has. In Morning it's more of a nuisance than a means of improving flow.
Andy
Book Review: A Million Bright Shiny Jokes
Summary: 1 Stars
The beginning of James Frey's latest book, 'Bright Shiny Morning' carries the disclaimer: 'Nothing in this book should be considered accurate or reliable'. That is only half the disclaimer that this book should contain. The rest should read: 'Nor should anything in this book be considered good literature or even competent sentence construction. Further under no circumstances should you feel conflicted about recognizing this for what it is yet more crap packaged to be something substantial. In reality it is yet another example of our Orwellian times."
The deep visceral sense that we are all being hustled by some incredibly large and powerful dark force is the defining characteristic of the current age. In this case the vast hustler is our major institutions. When we were sold that an incompetent is legitimately the leader of the most powerful democracy on the planet then it's to be expected that Paris Hilton is considered a talent, inorganic chemical are considered food, reality television is considered entertainment, a preemptive war run on credit and no plan is a cause to rally behind, using one's house as an ATM will have no lasting consequence, health care is not, fair and balanced is exactly not, the No-spin Zone is nothing but spin, consumption is sound economic policy, The Clear Skies Initiative is a receipt for polluted skies, No Child Left Behind means no child moves forward and James Frey, a sub-mental, is considered a legitimate author.
So was the whole Oprah-feeling-oh-so-betrayed just another cynical corporate stunt using a stooge that wouldn't know any better to dupe a scam-weary audience? I'd bet an million shrinking dollars on it.