James Frey Swears His New Book About Very Rich, Poorly Behaved People Isn’t Based on Anyone Real

If James Frey’s street has been a rocky one, a minimum of the bumps had been diamonds. In the 20 years since he were given an Oprah dressing down when it became out he’d fabricated portions of his mega-best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces, he based and bought a booky content material farm, dabbled as CEO of an esports corporate, and collaborated with Lena Waithe at the Queen & Slim tale. Also in the ones years: the upward push of autofiction, the dying of fact, and a newly unslakable thirst for IP skewering (whilst type of celebrating) the ultrarich.

Enter: Next to Heaven (Authors Equity), Frey’s first new e-book in six years, a Connecticut intercourse romp–cum–homicide thriller with what he calls “big nods” to Jackie Collins, Danielle Steel, and Tom Wolfe. Accordingly, its characters would really feel at house within the White Lotus prolonged universe: a cash-poor WASP artwork broker, an aggro hedge funder, a Bitcoin-trading drug broker who idolizes Eric Trump and Kanye West. That their bodily descriptions learn like a central-casting name sheet (the ladies: “tall, thin” or “thin, petite,” with “deep blue eyes” or “bright hazel eyes” or “big brown eyes like mudpies”) doesn’t actually subject—and by way of the advent of a “tall, buff, black-haired blue-eyed steaming hunk of Connecticut beefcake,” they ascend to one thing like camp.

The e-book, to which Frey bought TV rights prior to the real manuscript, takes position in fictional New Bethlehem, which bears a putting resemblance to his present house of New Canaan. It has brought about one thing of a stir amongst participants of his social set. At a birthday party, he says, one unwitting attendee whispered to his female friend (a countess and equine therapist) that they’d heard the radical used to be “all real.” He swears the characters aren’t according to exact folks—even though, in their artwork collections, “I’ve been in enough houses of hedge fund billionaires to know what they tend to buy.” (For different main points he became to ChatGPT, on the lookout for “the most expensive scotch in the world, or most expensive silverware in the world.”)

The irony of readers sifting for info isn’t misplaced on Frey. “If I’m published as memoir or nonfiction, everybody goes through it and tries to figure out what’s not true,” he says. “If I publish it as fiction, everybody goes through it and tries to figure out what is. I sit in the middle and say, ‘I wrote a book. I hope you dig it.’ ”

Vanity Fair: What had been your number one influences going into this?

James Frey: During the pandemic,, I have been requested to learn Hollywood Wives by way of Jackie Collins and probably flip it right into a tv display. And I didn’t finally end up doing it, however I cherished the e-book. The studying revel in of it made me assume, You know what, guy, possibly you will have to simply write a a laugh e-book. Write your model of Jackie Collins. Write your model of Danielle Steel. If I used to be going to mention different books had a power on it, it will most likely be Tom Wolfe and, to a lesser extent, Bret Easton Ellis.

So you began writing it right through the pandemic?

No, I didn’t, if truth be told. I used to be writing every other e-book right through the pandemic that I known as 477. That used to be in regards to the ongoing cave in of the United States. And my agent learn it and he used to be like, “I love this, but if you publish it, you’ll probably have to leave the country.” And so remaining January, I wrote this e-book and I wrote it actually rapid. I wrote it in about two months.

Has there been any anxiousness in New Canaan main as much as newsletter?

I believe there may be some anxiousness within the the city. When I am going out now, it will get introduced up in all places I am going. “Oh, I heard a book’s coming out.” I very, very intentionally didn’t base a unmarried personality on anyone actual. I at all times assume it’s shitty when folks use books to settle rankings, and I don’t do it. That’s so much to place on any person, guy. Do some illustration of them in a unique with out them understanding about it.

But my female friend and I had been at a birthday party the opposite night time and he or she used to be speaking to any person they usually had been like, “Oh, that’s James Frey over there.” And she began guffawing and he or she used to be like, “Yeah, he’s friends with Martha.” Martha used to be the lady having the birthday party. And the lady used to be like, “I heard he just wrote this scandalous book that’s based on real people.” And my female friend used to be like, “No, no, it’s not based on anybody real.” And she used to be like, “No, I heard it’s all real.” And my girl used to be like, “No, I’m his girlfriend. I live with him. It’s not.”