My Friend Leonard by James Frey see larger photo List Price: $24.95 Our Price: $16.47 Released June, 2005 Hardcover Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Customer Review
Another fantastic memoir by James Frey
5/5 Stars
"Wow" is what you'll be left saying after you finish this book. It's mesmerizing and consuming; the kind of book that you postpone a date and lock the dogs in the garage for (no? just me?). I read "Leonard" first and after doing so, picked up Frey's book debut "A Million Little Pieces." I rate this higher than "Pieces," but you should read them in order. Frey's addiction is still very much on display in his second memoir. "Pieces" is darker and grittier, though "Leonard" certainly has its moments.

Leonard is a magnetic, larger-than-life personality who saves Frey's life in and out of rehab more than once. We should all be so lucky to have a friend like Leonard, who, as the "West Coast director of a large Italian finance firm" is as fascinating as he is dangerous, and as generous as he is ruthless. The unconditional love and acceptance he shows Frey are, for lack of a better adjective, lovely. Leonard is part Tony Soprano and part Fred Rogers. It's hard to contain him in the pages; Leonard practically jumps out of the book and into the room with you, so real and vivid he is.

I'm guessing that much of the story is embellished, because it is so over-the-top, but that's not a complaint. "Leonard" reads like excellent fiction. If you've read "Pieces," you know from the epilogue how this ends; even if you haven't, it's not difficult to deduce. The ending is a surprise only because it's fairly corny, which is uncharacteristic of the author up till that point. Both books are, at some future point, being made into movies. Here's hoping they can hold a candle to the literature.

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