James Frey is an internationally-renowned author. His first book, A Million Little Pieces, was selected yesterday by Oprah Winfrey, as Oprah's first Book Club selection of the year.

In 1993, James was sent to Minnesota to the Hazelden Foundation for the treatment of cocaine addiction and alcoholism. The characters in his first book changed the author's life ... for the better, he says.

Frey's journey toward healing is told in his memoir about addiction beginning at the age of ten.

Frey's memoir has been on The New York Times Best Seller list. First published in 2003, it is a #1 National Bestseller, an International Bestseller and Amazon's Best Book of 2003. Now, thanks to Oprah, one day after her announcement, it is Amazon's #1 seller.

James' mother, an Oprah Book Club fan, was in Oprah Winfrey's audience yesterday when her son's book was picked out of hundreds of thousands of choices. Mrs. Frey had no idea that Oprah had selected James' A Million Little Pieces. Nor did she have any idea that James, Oprah and Winfrey's producers had been scheming for weeks to get her to the show for Oprah's announcement.

I have not yet read her son's 400-page book. I had not even heard about it or him until today. However, after Oprah's recommendation, I certainly will read it and perhaps his latest bold work of art (published in June) called My Friend Leonard.

The thing I found most inspirational about Oprah's announcement was Mrs. Frey's fabulous reaction.

I also loved reading about James' justification for putting pen to paper and finally writing his deeply painful but cathartic memoir.

If you didn't tape Oprah's show yesterday but are intrigued, no worries.

Just click on this link to Oprah.com.

Read "About The Author" and then, to the left of James' text about his background is a link below INSIDE MEET THE AUTHOR called "Oprah Surprised James Frey's Mom.

This video clip is not as dramatic as watching the segment on a large television screen, but it may nonetheless make your day.

When you're done, if you're inspired as I was, click ""here" to purchase A Million Little Pieces.

Let's all find out together what kept Oprah up two nights in a row.

A Bold, Page Turner of A Selection

Before making her announcement, Oprah said to her audience:

This book kept me up for two nights straight.

Honest to goodness. I could not sleep. I could not sleep, people.

I was like reading, reading, reading, reading.

Two o'clock in the morning.

Comin' into the show, I said, "I'm reading that book. I was up because I couldn't put it down; it's that good."

It's a radical departure. It's not a classic. And it is also not fiction, but a bold choice that's taking us right to the edge.

It's a gut-wrenching memoir that is raw and it's so real.

It's a wild ride through addiction and rehab that has been called 'electrifying, intense, mesmerizing and even gruesome.

Our next book is ...

A Million Little Pieces.

With the camera on Mrs. Frey and a window on the tv open for us to watch and hear her reaction, the producers of the show couldn't have asked for a better response.

Mrs. Frey screamed. She screamed once. She screamed twice. Her reaction was priceless. And it had us all in tears. It had us all cheering for her. And for a guy I had never heard of two minutes before Oprah announced his name.

Now, thanks to the power of Oprah's persuasion, I will be losing two or three nights sleep!

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "putting back the pieces" living.

Here's to not only surviving to tell about it, but "paying back one's debt" and becoming a voice for all those still afflicted and/or in prison.

Here's to the group of novelists who wrote Winfrey a letter begging her to resume picking living authors.

And here's to Oprah for doing just that!

Winfrey told The New York Times she had returned to living authors because she enjoyed interviewing writers.

"It's kind of hard to do that when they're dead," she was quoted as saying.

Finally, here's to all the talented, living authors on the planet. Rugged Elegance looks forward to being inspired by Oprah's future "picks" and inspiring our community to "join the club"!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC