A Million Little Pieces VS Three Cups of Tea
Verdict DROP IT DROP IT
The Reality On January 8, 2006, investigative outlet The Smoking Gun published an exposé documenting numerous fabrications in Frey's account, including his claimed criminal record: reporters found he had actually spent about 3 hours in jail, not the 87 days described in the book. On January 26, 2006, Oprah Winfrey confronted Frey live on her show, saying she felt 'duped,' and Frey admitted to fabricating elements of the memoir. The book had already topped bestseller lists on the strength of Oprah's endorsement before the fabrications were exposed. In April 2011, '60 Minutes' and author Jon Krakauer published parallel investigations finding significant fabrications in the book's central story. A companion from Mortenson's actual 1993 K2 attempt disputed that villagers in Korphe nursed him back to health, and two porters who accompanied him told '60 Minutes' Mortenson did not stumble into Korphe lost and alone -- he didn't visit Korphe at all until nearly a year later, on a separate trip. A photo used to support a claimed Taliban kidnapping in Mortenson's second book was also found to be staged, showing people who were not Taliban. The investigations further alleged Mortenson used his charity's funds to enrich himself and promote his books without sharing proceeds, prompting an investigation by the Montana attorney general's office.
SHORT ANSWER
A Million Little Pieces: James Frey admitted on live television in January 2006 to fabricating significant elements of A Million Little Pieces after The Smoking Gun's investigation found discrepancies including a claimed 87-day jail stay that was actually about 3 hours.
Three Cups of Tea: 60 Minutes and journalist Jon Krakauer both independently found Mortenson's central Korphe rescue story was fabricated -- he didn't actually visit the village until nearly a year after the claimed events -- and a photo supporting a separate Taliban-kidnapping claim was staged.