by Telemachus Gaffiganiakis
March 13, 2006
Author James Frey, whose "memoir" A Million Little Pieces, has caused mass hysteria in the literary community is now causing quite the controversy in other ways. While the title of his book may reflect what Oprah turned Frey's heart into, the few representatives that are still close to the author have said that he has more issues to reveal.
While Frey may look prepared to have a placard with his name, number, and jail information in front of him in the picture above, it is being reported that he has other shocking information to reveal. While the information in his book has proven to be lies from the the time in jail that he spent to the nature of his friend's suicide, there is speculation that Frey intends to come out and admit even bigger lies. But, no lie may be bigger than this one: that James Frey is not James Frey, but rather is this man:
Fitness celebrity and guru John Basedow. According to people in the Frey camp, Frey made up the persona of James Frey, and then fabricated information about drug use and rehabbing. "Mr. Frey researched endlessly in rehab programs across the country to write his book," says Sheila McKinney, the only spokesperson left for Frey. "But, he was hiding a major secret. James Frey was not James Frey at all, but, rather, fitness specialist John Basedow, whose Fitness Made Simple videos have made fat people across the country think they can actually get washboard abs."
How did Frey/Basedow do it? According to McKinney, Basedow hired a man named James Frey to act as James Frey and be the "fall guy" (like Lee Majors!) if any such fiasco were to occur revolving around the relevance of criminal information surrounding the book. In the process, Basedow researched on the lives of drug addicts and their difficulties rehabbing. He made up the character of James Frey and his experiences, and supplanted them on the real Frey, for whom he paid a 3% commission to on the profits of the book. With the combination of both the book sales and fitness video sales, Basedow may even be overshadowing the estate of John Lennon financially.
But, the story has its fair share of skeptics. Cillian Barnaby, a freelance book critic in New York, says that this tale of Frey being Basedow is just another scheme to sell more books. "Frey is already a hot topic thanks to his Oprah fiasco. His book is selling like beans and toast at an ole' bar in upper Manchester! This is merely another opportunity for him to sell more books: he is just saying that he is lying about everything, and then to pinpoint him with the semi-popular, semi-joke, John Basedow is just too much."
While Basedow could not be reached for comment, a representative in his camp released a statement stating, "There is no connection between Mr. Basedow and Mr. Frey. Mr. Basedow has never lied, whereas Mr. Frey has. Mr. Basedow tells the truth, and with his simple and proven techniques and easy-to-use nutrition plan, you, yes, you, can get the beach body that you've always wanted!"
"However, it is very odd," Barnaby concluded. "Of all the people to pick from to continue your lie, why John Basedow? In the words of Jake Jarmell, he is soooooooooo 2004. It really makes very little sense. Does it make so little sense that it could be true? Frankly, I think not. I think it's about as true as Oscar Wilde being a true-blooded heterosexual!"