<![CDATA[My Friend Leonard]]>

false <![CDATA[My Friend Leonard]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165603536m/6520.jpg 6520 19 In the bold and heartbreaking My Friend Leonard, James Frey picks up the story of his extraordinary life pretty much where things left off in his breakout bestseller and Amazon.com Best Book of 2003, A Million Little Pieces, the fierce, in-your-face memoir about Frey's kamikaze run of self-destruction and his days in rehab. Fresh from a stint in jail from pre-rehab-related charges ("On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray."), clean-living Frey returns to Chicago and gets sucker-punched with a cruel blow that will leave readers ducking for cover in anticipation of the blinding bender that's sure to come. But then the titular Leonard, the larger-than-life Vegas mobster ("West Coast Director of a large Italian finance firm") whom James befriended in rehab, steps into the story and serves equal parts unlikely life coach, guardian angel, and father figure for the grief-stricken author, adopting him as his "son" and schooling him in the fine art of "living boldly": <blockquote>Be not bold, be f-cking BOLD. Every time you meet someone, make a f-cking impression. Make them think you're the hottest shit in the world. Make them think they're gonna lose their job if they don't give you one. Look 'em in the eye, and never look away. Be confident and calm, be f-cking bold.</blockquote> Hurricane Leonard storms into James's life, showering his young charge with multi-course feasts at steakhouses and Italian restaurants, courtside seats at Bulls' games, Cuban cigars, and an elaborate Super Bowl party in Los Angeles, all the while doling out wisdom on life and love and motivating James to stick to his burgeoning writing career. James even has a brief stint as an employee of Leonard's, though occupational hazards--like having a nine millimeter shoved in his face--prove too much for the novice bag man (though he does make enough to invest his earnings in a Picasso drawing). When Leonard drops out of sight for an extended period, his absence leaves readers aching to hear the familiar refrain of "My Son!" just one more time. Frey sticks to the taut, staccato style that shot through A Million Little Pieces with such raw electricity. Surprisingly, the tone feels equally at home with this book's focus on friendship and extreme loyalty, and works to intensify the always-looming, adrenaline-rush threat of violence and the lure of the Fury that courses like a riptide throughout the book. Ultimately, it's a sense of hope, and humor even, that prevails and makes My Friend Leonard a stand-alone success. Despite his shady pedigree, you'll long to have a friend like Leonard just a phone call away. --Brad Thomas Parsons <hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1"> <div class="bucket"> James Frey's List of Books You Should Read <table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" cellspacing="4"> <tr class="tiny" align="center" valign="top"> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0811200078.01.SWATCHZZ.jpg" border="0"> Paris Spleen</td> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0802131786.01.SWATCHZZ.jpg" border="0"> Tropic of Cancer</td> <td> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0553381555.01.SWATCHZZ.jpg" border="0"> The Great Santini</td> </tr> </table> See more recommendations from James Frey <hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1"> <div class="bucket"> <img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/books/banners/substores/sig7-90-alt4.gif" border="0" align="left"> Amazon.com's Significant Seven James Frey graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author: the Amazon.com Significant Seven. Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life? A: Tao te Ching by Lao Tsu. Completely changed how I think, behave, live my life. Nothing else comes close. Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they? A: The book would be the Tao te Ching, the CD would be some compilation of love songs from the 70's and 80's, and the DVD would be highlights from the history of the Cleveland Browns. Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told? A: No way I can answer that. Q: Describe the perfect writing environment. A: I've been working at the same desk since I started writing. It's old and beaten-up and black. The rest of my workroom is empty, except for some crazy sh-- on the wall in front of me: pictures of people I admire, reproductions of artwork I dig, sayings that motivate me, things like--bare your soul, be bold, page a day motherfu--er page a day. I listen to music while I work, have a pile of nicotine gum and a couple cans of diet coke. My dogs are usually a couple feet away from me. I've always worked this way, probably always will. Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? A: "Loved, lost, laughed, left." Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with? A: Winston Churchill Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be? A: Immortality. <hr /="/" noshade="noshade" class="bucketDivider" size="1"> <div class="bucket"> 471326 2004 My Friend Leonard total:6177|5:1491|4:2237|3:1818|2:494|1:137| 6177 22982 7717 805 3 4 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Jan 06 12:43:56 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 12:44:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Aug 17 12:09:18 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 17 12:15:33 -0700 2007 A Million Little Pieces and this one in the course of two ...more...]]> 2 2 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Jun 30 20:07:46 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 30 20:21:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 22 05:34:15 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 31 07:48:01 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Dec 22 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Sep 23 22:20:02 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 22:25:43 -0700 2008
My Friend Leonard pr...more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 08:24:27 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 20:42:29 -0700 2008 I love Leonard...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 19 08:01:31 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 26 18:08:35 -0700 2007 A Million Little Pieces. It was just a good book. James reminds me a lot of someone I know and in some ways, of myself and some of my family members. His friendship with Leonard, albeit ridiculous, was ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Oct 23 22:55:16 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 09:50:02 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 02 13:33:27 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 13:34:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 06:31:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 06:31:10 -0700 2009
In this book he has been released from rehab and it starts with his jail term. Apparently the time in jail and the peop...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 12:18:44 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 12:33:40 -0700 2009 A sequel that is a must-read, and I recommend this book, but not nearly as much as Little Pieces.

*SPOILERs in this review.*

The reader of this audiobook was really outstanding. One of the best I've heard and I've heard a lot.
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