In his aimless youth, the author James Frey yearned to be the Sex Pistols of literature. Then he learned to be careful what you wish for. His memoir, A Million Little Pieces, shot to the top of bestseller lists, thanks in part to Oprah's endorsement. Then fact-checkers unmasked its fabrications, and James found himself being more of an outcast than he’d planned for. Nearly 20 years later, when the line between fact and fiction is more blurred than ever, Frey may seem like more of a pioneer than a pariah. Together, we reflect on what it was like to face and overcome this public pain, and the inspiration behind his new novel Next to Heaven, a provocative murder mystery skewering the wealthy New England town he calls home.

Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode here.

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In his aimless youth, the author James Frey yearned to be the Sex Pistols of literature. Then he learned to be careful what you wish for. His memoir, A Million Little Pieces, shot to the top of bestseller lists, thanks in part to Oprah's endorsement. Then fact-checkers unmasked its fabrications, and James found himself being more of an outcast than he&rsquo;d planned for. Nearly 20 years later, when the line between fact and fiction is more blurred than ever, Frey may seem like more of a pioneer than a pariah. Together, we reflect on what it was like to face and overcome this public pain, and the inspiration behind his new novel Next to Heaven, a provocative murder mystery skewering the wealthy New England town he calls home.
Fail Better is now on YouTube! Watch this episode <a href="https://youtu.be/VLZAAZQa4Tc">here</a>.
Follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/davidduchovny/">Instagram</a> at @davidduchovny. Find more video podcasts on our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@FailBetterwithDavidDuchovny">YouTube channel</a>. Stay up to date with Lemonada on <a href="https://twitter.com/LemonadaMedia">X</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lemonadamedia/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lemonadamedia/">Instagram</a> at @LemonadaMedia.
Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on <a href="http://bit.ly/lemonadapremium">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://lemonada.supportingcast.fm/">Spotify</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts.
For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors">lemonadamedia.com/sponsors</a>.

To be human is to fail – period. And not just to fail once, but to fail a lot. As the author Samuel Beckett said: “Fail again. Fail better.” This saying means a lot to me and my family – so much so that my daughter got a tattoo of it. Why are we, and so many others, so deeply concerned by failure? And if it’s something we all do so often, why are we so afraid of it – especially those of us here in win-at-all-costs America? In this podcast, I sit down with successful, thoughtful people like Ben Stiller, Bette Midler, Sean Penn and more to talk about failure – or what they labeled “failure,” but what was really an unparalleled opportunity for growth and revelation. I even want to delve into my own hardest moments, when I wrestled with setbacks, shame, and fear. We’ll still fail again. And again. But maybe if we fail better, we’ll feel better -- and maybe if we can all laugh together in failure, that's a start.

To be human is to fail – period. And not just to fail once, but to fail a lot. As the author Samuel Beckett said: “Fail again. Fail better.” This saying means a lot to me and my family – so much so that my daughter got a tattoo of it. Why are we, and so many others, so deeply concerned by failure? And if it’s something we all do so often, why are we so afraid of it – especially those of us here in win-at-all-costs America? In this podcast, I sit down with successful, thoughtful people like Ben Stiller, Bette Midler, Sean Penn and more to talk about failure – or what they labeled “failure,” but what was really an unparalleled opportunity for growth and revelation. I even want to delve into my own hardest moments, when I wrestled with setbacks, shame, and fear. We’ll still fail again. And again. But maybe if we fail better, we’ll feel better -- and maybe if we can all laugh together in failure, that's a start.

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