Chicagoist: Oprah: Blaine, Cruise, Frey

kleinstadt

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:58:53 -0600

@magilla- He set the record for the longest pure oxygen breath hold, a different category from a room air breath hold. Article in the NYT on Tuesday about this attempt and some of the physiology behind it. Fascinating reading even for Blaine haters.

AlbanyParkist

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:47:12 -0600

If you are relying on Oprah for anything even resembling "truth" I'm sure that being cheated on a memoir is the least of your problems. This is the woman who inflicted Phil on us. I will not call that fraud a doctor, even in passing.

magilla gorilla

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:16:56 -0600

i think they filled blaine's lungs with oxygen before this stunt. if that's the case, this record is a total sham

tc3

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:32:29 -0600

More people need to call Oprah on her shit, and Talese should have done it a long time ago. Keep in mind that when the story broke, Frey went on Larry King, and Oprah called in to defend him for the sole purpose of publicly executing him on her own show.

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:48:08 -0600

The one great thing about the Oprah/Frey situation is that it resulted in one of the best episodes of South Park I have seen in a long time. If Oprah would have paid attention to her "minge" a little more often, none of this would have happened.

Spav1

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:30:43 -0600

Maybe Oprah should have better vetted that novel before slapping her ubiquitous name all over it.

ednamode

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:15:39 -0600

When signing on with Oprah, you can't tell me it didn't occur to Frey and Talese that rule #1 is "Don't fuck Oprah." And now she's whining in public about being held accountable? Enough. Go away. It's spun.

Spav1

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:07:03 -0600

The rest of this story talks about how Frey shopped his book as a novel; and his editors presssured him to make rewrites and then published as a memoir. Oprah had a real opportunity to talk about the state of the novel in the current publishing environment and why the public's hunger for redemption stories can sometimes incent authors to lie (J.T. LeRoy, Burroughs). Instead she went on a witch hunt because someone had sullied her book club. I freaking hate Oprah.

Ward Up

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:55:02 -0600

Nan Talese's reputation is still in the toilet and it is her own fault. And she is still a crybaby about it. Frey was a phony and Talese either knew it all along or intentionally did not fact-check. I am no Oprah-fan, but it was very good to read about her ripping into James Frey.