I try not to watch TV during the day. I don't want to end up being one of those moms whose life revolves around daytime TV and what retail establishments she visited that day. But I heard that this author was being accused of lying in his memoir and that Oprah had defended him on the Larry Sanders show. So when I flipped the remote to find him sitting on her studio couch with a terrified look on his face, I had to watch.

She was angry. Not hurt. Not embarrassed. But downright angry and determined to humiliate this guy the way she perceived he had humiliated her. She obviously wanted him to say these words: I am a liar. I lied to you and everyone else because I am a sick man. None of this was your fault. Please forgive me. But he didn't say that and it was killing her. Maybe he didn’t want to say it because his book didn’t feel like a lie to him. Maybe he was as shocked that Oprah thought these details made such a difference in the message of his story as I do.

I thought about this while I watched him squirm under her impossible questioning. I thought about books I've read over the years that really helped me out in rough times. Specifically, the memoir Dry by Augusten Burroughs came to mind. I read this book with the full expectation that parts of it are not true in the slightest but that Augusten told his story as he saw it. That is what telling your story is. YOUR perception of what an experience felt like.

Several people have told me over the years that I should write a book and believe me, I'd love to. But I can guarantee that when I do, some close friends and family will be surprised to hear how I view certain scenes of my life in which they were present. How many autobiographies have family members and friends disputed? Most. Most.

Take the film Ring of Fire for example. Roseanne Cash said this is not how she remembers those years - not how she remembers her father. But John Jr. says it's pretty accurate. They're both right, I'm sure.

The exception in James Frey's case is that he told BIG lies, apparently. I'll try to remember that if I ever meet Oprah. Small exaggerations are OK, but stretching a 3-day jail stay into 3 months is too BIG.

Frankly, I just thought Oprah and all these angry & hurt readers to be pretty naive and pretty stupid to place so much importance on specifics of this book. People embellish their stories all the time. I'm not saying it's OK to lie (I'm going to do my best to tell the truth as I have been doing in my writing for the last 21 years) but to think that someone's recollection of their drug addiction -made into a best selling book - is 100% fact is ridiculous. And, secondly, to be so devastated that it's not 100% accurate is pathetic.

In recent years we have also uncovered that the bible is a choppy version of text selected by a racist bigot king. For that, there should the reconstruction of the entire hierarchy of our government and churches. But I guess we're used to being lied to about important things. And besides, Oprah was not defending the New Testament on Larry King.

I felt sorry for James Frey. What a dumbass. He should've just said that some of his story was embellished to make a better book or to convey how the situation felt to him at the time. Shame on him for lying. But shame on Oprah too for mercilessly beating him when he was down on live TV. It was obvious the guy was sorry. He looked suicidal. Dragging it out for an hour because she couldn't stand that she made a mistake was cruel.

Funny, I don't feel any different about James Frey than I did the day I found out he lied.
But I sure feel different about Oprah.