Before Frey began his writing career, he held several jobs in the Chicago area while studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. Frey then moved to Los Angeles, California, and found work as a screenwriter, director, and producer. In the spring of 1996, Frey started writing A Million Little Pieces, a memoir of his experiences during his treatment for alcohol and drug addiction at a rehabilitation center in Minnesota.

Frey also wrote the screenplays to the films Kissing a Fool and Sugar: The Fall of the West. Both were produced in 1998, the latter of which he directed as well.

Doubleday published A Million Little Pieces in April 2003, and Amazon.com editors selected it as their favorite book of that year. The New Yorker praised the book as “A frenzied, electrifying description of the experience.” Barnes & Noble.com - Books: A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey, Paperback A Million Little Pieces became a bestseller, ultimately residing on the New York Times Best Seller List for 44 weeks, selling in excess of 4.5 million copies. In September, 2005, Oprah Winfrey chose A Million Little Pieces for her monthly book club.

In 2004, Frey wrote My Friend Leonard, which continued where A Million Little Pieces left off, and centered on the father-son relationship which Frey and his friend Leonard, from Hazelden, shared. My Friend Leonard was published in June 2005 by Riverhead, and became a bestseller. Amazon.com editors selected My Friend Leonard as their #5 favorite book of 2005.

In 2007, Frey wrote Bright Shiny Morning, which was published in May 2008 by HarperCollins.

Frey's books have been published in thirty-one languages worldwide.

Media skepticism

On January 8, 2006, The Smoking Gun website published an article: "A Million Little Lies: Exposing James Frey's Fiction Addiction" alleging that Frey fabricated large parts of his memoirs, including details about his criminal record. A Million Little Lies - January 8, 2006 One incident in the book that came under particular scrutiny was a 1986 train-automobile collision in St. Joseph Township, Michigan. A Million Little Lies - January 8, 2006

The website alleged that Frey had never been incarcerated and that he greatly exaggerated the circumstances of a key arrest detailed in the memoir: hitting a police officer with his car, while high on crack, which led to a violent melee with multiple officers and an 87-day jail sentence. In the police report that TSG uncovered, Frey was held at a police station for no more than five hours before posting a bond of a few hundred dollars for some minor offenses. The arresting officer, according to TSG, recalled Frey as having been polite and cooperative.

The book's hardcover (Doubleday) and paperback (Anchor Books) publishers initially stood by Frey. But examination of the evidence caused the publishers to alter their stances. They released a statement noting, "When the Smoking Gun report appeared, our first response, given that we were still learning the facts of the matter, was to support our author. Since then, we have questioned him about the allegations and have sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished." As a consequence, the publishers decided to include a publisher's note and an author's note from Frey as disclaimers to be included in future publications.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune had questioned Frey's claims as early as 2003. Frey responded by saying, "I've never denied I've altered small details." In a May 2003 interview, Frey claimed that his publisher had fact-checked his first book. He stated, "The only things I changed were aspects of people that might reveal their identity. Otherwise, it's all true." A Million Little Lies - January 8, 2006

On January 11, 2006, Frey appeared with his mother on Larry King Live on CNN. He defended his work while claiming that all memoirs alter minor details for literary effect. Frey consistently referred to the reality of his addiction, which he said was the principal point of his work. Oprah Winfrey called in at the end of the show defending the essence of Frey's book and the inspiration it provided to her viewers, but said she relied on the publisher to assess the book's authenticity.

On January 13, 2006, it was reported that all subsequent printings of A Million Little Pieces would include an author's note addressing concerns about the content.

Live confrontation with Oprah

As more accusations against the book continued to surface, Winfrey invited Frey on her show. She wanted to hear from him directly whether he had lied to her (and viewers) or "simply" embellished minor details, as he had told Larry King. Frey admitted to several of the allegations against him. He acknowledged that The Smoking Gun had been accurate when the website reported that Frey had only spent a few hours in jail rather than the 87 days Frey claimed in his memoirs.

Winfrey then brought out Frey's publisher Nan Talese to defend her decision to classify the book as a memoir. Talese admitted that she had done nothing to check the book's veracity, despite the fact that her representatives had assured Winfrey's staff that the book was indeed non-fiction and described it as "brutally honest" in a press release.

David Carr of the New York Times wrote, "Both Mr. Frey and Ms. Talese were snapped in two like dry winter twigs." "Oprah annihilate[d] Frey," proclaimed Larry King. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote, "It was a huge relief, after our long national slide into untruth and no consequences, into Swift boating and swift bucks, into W.'s delusion and denial, to see the Empress of Empathy icily hold someone accountable for lying," and the Washington Post's Richard Cohen was so impressed by the confrontation that he crowned Winfrey "Mensch of the Year."

Aftermath

On January 31, 2006, it was announced that Frey was dropped by his literary manager, Kassie Evashevski of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, over matters of trust. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, Evashevski said that she had "never personally seen a media frenzy like this regarding a book before." Though she will no longer be representing him, when asked to reflect on Frey's future as a writer, she said, "I still believe he's a very talented writer and suspect we haven't heard the last of James Frey."

On February 1, 2006, Random House published Frey's note to the reader which was subsequently included in later editions of the book. In the note, Frey apologized for fabricating portions of his book and for having made himself seem "tougher and more daring and more aggressive than in reality I was, or I am." He added, "People cope with adversity in many different ways, ways that are deeply personal. . . . My mistake . . . is writing about the person I created in my mind to help me cope, and not the person who went through the experience." Frey admitted that he had literary reasons for his fabrications, as well: "I wanted the stories in the book to ebb and flow, to have dramatic arcs, to have the tension that all great stories require." He also said memoirists had a right to draw upon their memories, in addition to documents, in creating their written works. James Frey Admits Memoir's Alterations

On February 24, 2006, Frey's publicist revealed that Penguin imprint Riverhead had dropped out of a two-book, seven-figure deal with Frey. Riverhead had previously published Frey's bestselling 2005 book, My Friend Leonard.

On September 12, 2006, Frey and publisher Random House, Inc. reached a tentative legal settlement, where readers who felt that they had been defrauded by Frey's A Million Little Pieces would be offered a refund. In order to receive the refund, customers had to submit a proof of purchase, pieces of the book itself (page 163 from the hardcover or the front cover from the paperback), and complete a sworn statement indicating that they purchased the book under the assumption that it was a memoir.

On July 28, 2007, at a literary convention in Texas, Nan Talese blasted Oprah Winfrey for being "mean and self-serving", having a "holier-than-thou" attitude as well as having "fiercely bad manners" during Winfrey's debate against Talese and James Frey on January 26, 2006. Talese said she and Frey were led to believe the show was going to be a panel discussion on "Truth in America". Just before air time, both Talese and Frey were told the topic of the show had been changed to "The James Frey Controversy". According to Talese, at the end of the show, Oprah pulled Frey aside and said "I know it was rough, but it's just business." Talese stated that Oprah needed to apologize for her behavior on the show. However Joyce Carol Oates said "This is an ethical issue which can be debated passionately and with convincing arguments on both sides. In the end, Oprah Winfrey had to defend her own ethical standards of truth on her television program, which was courageous of her". Talese was unapologetic about publishing Frey's A Million Little Pieces and commented that the book had great value for anyone who must deal with a loved one who is an addict.

In September 2007, HarperCollins announced a new Frey novel, Bright Shiny Morning, to be published in the summer of 2008.

In May 2009, Vanity Fair reported that Oprah Winfrey had called James Frey and made a formal apology for blasting him on her show for this scandal.

On November 2, 2007, the Associated Press published a story about a judgment in favor of readers who felt deceived by Frey's claims of A Million Little Pieces being a memoir. Although the publisher, Random House, had set aside $2.35 million for lawsuits, only 1,729 readers came forward to receive a refund for the book. The refund offer was extended to anyone who had purchased the book prior to Frey disclosing the falsehoods therein. With the claimants that received refunds, that total only came to $27,348. Approximately $1.3 million will be spent in legal fees, distribution of the legal notice, and charitable donations to three charities. The publisher also agreed to provide a disclosure at the beginning of the book, citing the somewhat fictitious nature of the text.

In late 2007, Frey signed a new three-book, seven figure deal with Harper Collins to release his novel, Bright Shiny Morning, which was published May 13, 2008. Bright Shiny Morning, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, and has received mixed reviews. The New York Times's Janet Maslin, who had previously been one of Frey's detractors, gave the book a positive review. Michelle Green of People magazine gave the novel a positive review, calling Frey a "wildly talented storyteller", commenting that the novel is "so powerful it makes one wonder why he ever detoured into nonfiction." In contrast, David L. Ulin of the Los Angeles Times called the novel "One of the worst I've ever read." The New Yorker review described the novel as "banal." On August 2, 2008, the Guardian UK says "Irvine Welsh is entranced by James Frey's tale of redemption - 'the literary comeback of the decade'. James Frey is probably one of the finest and most important writers to have emerged in recent years." The first epigraph states: "Nothing in this book should be considered accurate or reliable."

In December 2008, Frey said he is working on an outline for a new novel, which he would depict as "the last book of the Bible", titled Illumination. He would show Jesus resurrected in New York City, living among prostitutes and the flotsam of the city.

On August 19th 2010 the New York Post's Page Six reported that Frey has teamed up with executive producers Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson to write the pilot for a one hour drama for HBO that will focus on a behinds the scenes look into the porn industry in LA. Frey states the show as being "a sprawling epic about the porn business in LA. We're going to tell the type of stories no one else has told before, and go places no one has gone before."