The Observer‘s Leon Neyfakyh told us in September:
If A Million Little Pieces taught us anything, it’s that readers love a good tale of redemption, and now that Mr. [James] Frey is back with a new novel, the people who have agreed to help him sell it are going all out to convince the world that New York has forgiven Mr. Frey his sins.
Well his former publisher, Random House is truly paying for his sins, to the tune of just $27,348 to refund about 1,700 disgruntled readers who came forward for the lawsuit. Although, another $783,000 will be paid out in legal fees along with $432,000 in costs associated with publicizing and carrying out the settlement, according to Yahoo.
About 1,700 people asked to be reimbursed for buying James Frey‘s largely fabricated best-selling memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," a lawyer said Friday as a judge approved a settlement with disgruntled readers.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell said the settlement was "most fair, adequate and reasonable." It offered a refund to anyone who bought the book before Frey’s falsehoods were acknowledged.
Although the book was a best seller that exploded in sales after Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club, only 1,729 readers came forward to benefit from the settlement, said Larry D. Drury, a Chicago lawyer for the plaintiffs.
