Oprah Winfrey, who had made James Frey's lying memoir of addiction and recovery, A Million Little Pieces, a best-seller, hauled him on television to confront him with his deceptions and apologize to her fans.

* Oprah Winfrey, who had made James Frey's lying memoir of addiction and recovery, A Million Little Pieces, a best-seller, hauled him on television to confront him with his deceptions and apologize to her fans. Winfrey initially stuck by Frey after his story unraveled; in so doing, she said, "I left the impression that the truth does not matter. And I am deeply sorry about that, because that is not what I believe." Frey stammered, and slunk off with his ill-gotten millions. Oprah flayed Frey's publishers for not checking his work, but surely she herself could look askance at some of the self-help sagas she promotes. Still, she is a force for mass literacy, and one of the few public figures with the clout to deliver a rebuke and the gumption to issue an apology.