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Disgraced author James Frey gives readers their money back
7-Sep-2006
Written by: Antoinette Wood
Frey and Random House come to terms over lawsuits filed by “defrauded“ readers.
Generally, when opening a book, whether it is labeled as fiction or otherwise, readers should be aware that everything in the book is probably not true. Real life is hardly as sensational as those spun tales and may require some padding. In Frey’s case, the padding was excessively overdone for readers of his best seller, “A Million Little Pieces.” They’d been duped and they didn’t like it, so now they are taking action.
Frey and Random House, which published the “memoir” have agreed to settle lawsuits from 12 plaintiffs claiming they were defrauded by the author and publisher who sold “A Million Little Pieces” as a memoir—which recounts true events of a person’s life—when it should have been sold as fiction—which recounts fabricated events of fake people’s lives.
The New York Times reported Thursday that readers will receive full refunds for the book but must provide a receipt and the cover or a page from the book or packaging from audio books to serve as proof of purchase. Readers will also have to submit a sworn statement saying they only bought the book because they thought it was a memoir. Only readers who purchased the book before the rug was publicly ripped from under Frey (Jan. 26) will receive refunds.
Derek Meyer, Frey’s lawyer, told the New York Times "the desire to move on became a powerful incentive to resolve what are otherwise very weak cases.”
The terms of the settlement call for the publisher and the author to pay out the sum of $2.35 million to cover consumer refunds, lawyer fees for defendants and plaintiffs and a donation made to an unnamed charity.
Thomas Pekenas, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, Pilar More, said his client was pleased with the terms of the settlement.
Wouldn’t you be if you filed a bogus lawsuit and won?
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