James Frey is notorious for having embellished parts of his 2003 memoir, A Million Little Pieces. Promoted as a true tale of his time at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic, the book became a New York Times bestseller. Frey published a second memoir, My Friend Leonard, in 2005. Born in 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio, he now lives in New York with his wife and daughter.

What book changed your life?
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. The first time I read it I couldn’t believe someone had written it. It’s offensive and pure and clear.