Although Grey Owl lied about being a full-blooded Indian and James Frey lied about his criminal career, jail terms, and drug abuse, I think that by far, James Fret is a bigger liar than Grey Owl. James Frey is in fact a bigger liar because his entire book “A Million Little Pieces” was based on fictional and fabricated information and details of his untrue criminal career, jail terms, drug abuse, and his overall status as an outlaw. In other words, James Frey obtained popularity, fame, and millions of dollars by selling a lie, and if it weren’t for these lies, he wouldn’t be the man he was today, or would have the things he has/owns today. He also broke the cardinal rule of nonfiction memoirs, which states, “You do not make stuff up”.
As for Grey Owl, also known as Archie Stansfeld Belaney, he may have lied about being a full-blooded Indian and even being a half-breed, but this was minor in comparison to what he accomplished. Despite is false background/heritage, Grey Owl became one with the wilderness and its creatures. He obtained the perfect symbol of the vanishing wilderness –The Symbol of Canada- The Beaver. He also portrayed all the characteristics of a true Indian, and he his nature writings still stand as classics of the Canadian wilderness, both in for and message.
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I believe Sherwin makes some very legitiment points about James Frey. The only reason he is who he is, is due to the fact that he lied to everyone about himself and about the occurances in his life. Like Sherwin said he broke the number one rule of writing memoirs and I believe that this is unfair for all the readers that bought these writings because he provoked them in believing something that was not true.
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