James Frey's New Novel Needs A Dude With A Sock Puppet

James Frey, the author who got an Oprah smackdown after it was revealed that his memoir A Million Little Pieces was more fiction than non, is back with what his publisher is calling his first novel. Maybe they should say second just to be safe. An activist reader group might sue.

Bright Shiny Morning (available May 13) is described as a “sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles.” It delves into the lives of a handful of lost souls who represent the many faces of the city: a struggling immigrant, a self-absorbed action-movie star, a young couple transplanted from a small town, a homeless alchoholic and a meth-addled teenager. He forgot stripper, wannabe rock star, the guy with the sock puppet who sits in front of the Hollywood Bowl singing opera, and my white trash neighbor who preferred sex outdoors, and who never once bought lemonade from my son’s stand, but sent her kids over to borrow cups and a pitcher when they decided to set up shop in their own driveway.