About this title: The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author delivers his first novel. In a sweeping narrative that encompasses the history of Los Angeles, Frey focuses on a handful of lost souls, and spins the gripping narrative of their lives.
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Description: Fair. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0061573132 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Good. 0061573132 Former library item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned. Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. read more
Description: Like New. 2008-Hardcover-May contain minor shelf-wear. Otherwise, volume un-read and in "As-New" condition. -Used-Like New-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Fine. 0061573175 Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Edition: Unabridged
Binding: Audiobook CD
Publisher: HarperAudio
Date Published: 5/13/2008
ISBN-13:9780061575525ISBN:0061575526
Description: New. 0061575526 Brand New Book With Remainder Mark. May Have Slight Shelf Wear. In-Stock Now For Immediate Secure Packaging & Delivery wear on DJ. read more
Edition: First Edition ~1st P
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper
Date Published: 5/13/2008
ISBN-13:9780061573132ISBN:0061573132
Description: New. 0061573132 Brand New Book With Remainder Mark. May Have Slight Shelf Wear. In-Stock Now For Immediate Secure Packaging & Delivery. read more
Description: New. 0061573175 Brand New Book With Remainder Mark. May Have Slight Shelf Wear. In-Stock Now For Immediate Secure Packaging & Delivery. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Harper
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061573132ISBN:0061573132
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 501 p. Audience: General/trade. Very Gently Used. Stated fist edition. read more
Edition: Large type / large print.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Harperluxe
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061649448ISBN:0061649449
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Slight edgewear. No markings or spine creasing. Pages bright and tight. First printing of this edition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 771 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Bright Shiny Morning By James Frey Report by Adam Michaelis "It is estimated that 100,000 people a year move to Los Angeles to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. They come from all over America, all over the world. When they arrive, they join the 100,000 that came the year before they did, and they await the 100,000 that will arrive the year after, the year after, the year after, the year after" (pg.231).Through this book it tells a story of people's lives moving to Los Angeles to escape, to start fresh, or just because LA is a better place than where they came from. James Frey combines true facts of history of LA and how it started. In between the book he sandwiches the stories of the main characters and other stories of people struggling to have a better life. The four main characters he focuses on are a homeless man named Old Man Joe, a couple Maddie and Dylan, Amberton an international superstar, and finally a Latino teenager named Esperanza. Old man Joe has lived in LA County his whole life. He had an average life until he decided to become homeless. Every day he lurks up and down Venice beach finding food and begging for money to buy his favorite drink Chablis. Then he returns home to his bathroom behind a restaurant in an alley after watching the sun set. He watches the sunset thinking, sitting, trying to find a purpose in life but the sun sets too soon and he gives up. Dylan and Maddie are the two teens from Colorado desperately escaping the unadulterated anger of their families. Believing in love is the driving force that pushes these two to LA. They want to hit the reset button on their lives; trying to pursue the dream life, the dream job, the dream home, and the dream family. They believe Los Angeles can do this for them. They believe LA will change their lives, believe me it does. Amberton is an arrogant, good looking, makes millions, loved by all, international super star. He has made countless movies; he is a heartthrob around the world. He has made a name of himself being a celebrity. He has the dream home, dream family, and a trophy actress wife that blows all of the other women in the world out of the water. He is the man that makes other striving actors want to move to LA and hope they can make it big like him. He kind of reminds me of an actor in our Hollywood today, but I'll let you find out. He has a super secret though. It is a secret that could crush or destroy his career. His dirty little secret is he is gay. He not only has payed for sex with other girls and women but he is a total flamer on the other side. The only person that truly knows is his wife but she sees other men too. They are both having different affairs with people and they're ok with that. What gets me is that he has this huge crush on an aspiring actor and goes to any measure to get him. The final main character is a girl named Esperanza. When her mother was pregnant with her they decided to move to America. Having the baby in LA would make her and her mother have to become citizens of the country. They wanted a better life for her to give her something they didn't get in Mexico. A great education, a well paid job and a life that her parents will never have. They wanted the dream for her daughter. When she grew up she got straight A's throughout school but when she graduated she stopped the process and didn't proceed to college. She hit a little emotional speed bump along the way. Time went by and she needed a job so she went to one of her moms work friends and got a job cleaning mansions. One of her big customers was an old haggy lady who had a heart that was worse than a black hole sucking all the nice out of the world. She was mean to everyone. Esperanza being Mexican, she was ten times worse to her. Esperanza moved on though and got paid but she wasn't happy where she was going in life. Then she met the son of the old lady and was skeptical at first but soon fell in love.
All these characters are striving for one thing; to a get grab on something they didn't have before. It's not just them; it's so many more people. This really jumped in my face once I figured it out. There're people coming from around the world all over the place. James Frey illustrates this story beautifully. It made me laugh, cry, and it blew me away how real it is. I loved this book. I recommend it to teens and adults because there are some bad words, sexual situations, and lots of violence. All people want a better life to peruse their dreams and they think LA "The City of Angels" and vast possibilities is capable of doing this. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!!!
"I found it very hard to rate "Bright Shiny Morning", since it's really more of a collection of short stories, essays and character studies mixed in with history and travelogue than a cohesive narrative. Parts I loved, parts I hated, parts were interesting, some boring, some predictable, some self-indulgent. Come to think of it, that's how many could describe their feelings about Los Angeles, my adopted hometown, and the common thread throughout all the divergent pieces of the book.
I thought Frey was brilliant pre-Oprah debacle, and tried to enter into this work of fiction (which he loudly announces as fiction even before page 1) with open eyes, and I think I was ultimately successful. However, thinly-veiled descriptions of his own national humiliation, as well as including the origin of gossip blogger Perez Hilton, didn't quite ring true. I also felt that Frey was inserting bits of himself in each character he created, and at I found myself searching for these tidbits more than letting the characters stand on their own.
My friend Amy, a born-and-bred New Yorker, asked if she'd like the book if she didn't know anything about LA (she's never been), and I kept that question in mind as I read, and ultimately, I'm not sure. Living here certainly influences your perception of the book, but I'd be curious to hear a non-Angeleno's take on it."
"When I read "A Million Little Pieces" I thought, wow, this is some really vivid and engaging prose, as if it were a novel. (And of course, infamously, it turns out it was a novel) I felt the same thing reading this one; Frey writes very vividly, almost cinematically. He expertly sets a cool, gritty tone, and his staccato, almost free-associative style of writing works for me. I really liked the way he presented each vignette interspersed with the ever growing tidal wave of facts about Los Angeles (which for the most part were also very readable and interesting).
I read this enthusiastically, and would recommend it. I was interested in the characters he introduced and what happens to them. It is entertaining, has a brain and muscle. For me, the flaws were the two-dimensional characterizations like Amberton (a narcissistic movie star), and a few made-for-tv endings. My favorite story line was the runaway young couple from Ohio. Overall though a good read - he reminds me of the literary, less cartoonish version of Quentin Tarantino. I bet those two could get together and write a killer crime movie a la Reservoir Dogs.
In my mind, Frey is a capable, developing new author that I plan to continue reading. I do not begrudge him for what was essentailly bad advice by his publishers to publish MLP as a memoir, or really give a hoot about what Oprah thinks of him."
"Everyone remembers the controversy surrounding A Million Little Pieces, James Frey's first book. Published as a memoir, it was later revealed that much of the book was fabricated to protect those Frey wrote about.
In the end, however, the controversy doesn't matter. Frey's books A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard did what all good books should do: they evoked emotion, touched long forgotten places inside of us and inspired people to live better lives.
So despite the controversy, I was excited to get my hands on Bright Shiny Morning. I wanted the book to be wonderful, breath taking, as incredible as A Million Little Pieces. Thankfully, Bright Shiny Morning is so much more than that.
Bright Shiny Morning, Frey's first work of fiction, is a novel about people living their lives in the fast paced city of L.A. It's told in James Frey's typical breath taking, beautiful prose and pulls you right in.
The book isn't an ordinary novel as can be expected with Frey's writing. Instead of a linear narrative, we are presented with a few reoccurring characters:
Dylan and Maddie, two teenagers who are madly in love. They run away to be together and find out about the darker side of life and love too soon.
Esperanza, a Mexican American, who takes a job as a maid in the house of Ms. Campbell, a woman so mean and rude that she borders on being abusive.
Amberton Parker, famous award winning actor who hides a secret so incredible that it could ruin his career if it was released.
Joe, a homeless man, who befriends a fifteen year old girl who is new to the streets and addicted to meth.
Sprinkled through out their stories are vignettes of other people, other characters who fill the city streets. As well, we learn factoids about Los Angels, about the city that serves not only as a backdrop for this novel but is essentially the largest character in the book.
James Frey has penned no mere novel. Instead he has given us one of the most intense studies of human nature. In this book is pure emotion sprawled across the page for us to read and it almost seems unseemly, looking into the characters lives as we do.
What I love most about Frey's writing is that it's real, it evokes emotion, it haunts you after you've turned the last page and closed the book. This is the true power of the written word, the ability to stay with the reader after the book is finished.
Frey has this in spades.
In Bright Shiny Morning, Frey proves that he is not only the subject of controversy. He is a writer and a true wordsmith. Bright Shiny Morning is, hands down, one of the best novels I have ever read. Ever.
If you haven't read this yet, what are you waiting for? You have no idea what you're missing."
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