It's common knowledge that lies lead to trouble. Apparently this fact was not one that author James Frey believed in or followed too closely.

Last week, Frey admitted he had made up details about every character in his book, A Million Little Pieces.

Frey's book was marketed as a memoir, and after being chosen as a part of Oprah's Book Club, it topped best-seller lists and sold more than 1.77 million copies last year.

Later, it was revealed that some of the facts in the book might not have been based on Frey's actual experiences. When the public, and Oprah Winfrey, found out, things heated up. Some Penn State students who read the book voiced opinions about Frey, as did the rest of the country.

Amanda Volz (freshman-public relations) read the book and was appalled to find out that parts of it were not true.

"My initial reaction to the accusations was anger that Frey felt that embellishing his stories was actually necessary," Volz said. Originally, only parts of the book were being questioned. The Smoking Gun Web site, (www.thesmokinggun.com) raised questions about parts of the book's truthfulness for more than three months, and The New York Times reported that even before Frey initially appeared on Oprah's show, there were warnings that the memoir was not entirely accurate.

Frey later appeared on CNN's Larry King Live, where Winfrey phoned in to support Frey. She said the book has an "underlying message of redemption that resonated with her," which was more important than a few facts Frey might not have remembered clearly.

The first wave of scandal had only a few things in question like the author's length of time in jail and behavior at a treatment facility. Like Winfrey, some felt this shouldn't even be an issue -- the real message of the book was not affected.

"When I first found out about the controversy, I was appalled. I couldn't believe that people were whittling this amazing book down to mere details," Lauren Wenner (senior-sociology and public relations) said. Wenner said she initially felt that those who decided to focus on such small details were missing the overall message of the book.

"It's a story about life and holding on to it even in the worst moments. It's a story of triumph against all odds and about love as a saving grace," she said. The real issue being grappled with is the point at which nonfiction, a memoir, crosses over into the genre of fiction. How many details can be changed before the book is considered fiction? Everyone seems to have his or her own opinion on that, too.

Memoirist and English and American Studies lecturer Paul Kellermann said no one expects a memoir to be 100 percent accurate -- memoirs draw on memory, and memory is fallible.

Kellerman said that in his own writing and teaching, he applies the question, "Am I being true to my memory?" He said this is not the only opinion, though.

"Other memoirists feel differently," Kellermann said. "They consider it legitimate to enhance the narrative by tweaking the facts. But we already have a genre for autobiographical prose that contains invented facts; it's called fiction."

Then, last week, Winfrey had Frey on her show again. During this appearance, Frey admitted to altering details throughout the entire book. Winfrey apologized to her viewers for the Larry King call and said Frey had betrayed millions of viewers. Frey said he had been instructed to publish the book as a nonfiction work.

After the second appearance, some opinions changed slightly.

"While there is no excuse for not coming forward sooner with the real information as the book got bigger and bigger, the overall message of hope and holding on still reigns true," Wenner said.

Kellerman said that often, the way a book is labeled could play a large role in the way it is received by the public.

"If Mr. Frey invented facts to serve his narrative, the book shouldn't be considered memoir. Genre seems more relevant to marketing than to aesthetics," he said. After Frey's most recent appearance on Winfrey's show, Volz said that labeling the book as memoir created many problems. She agreed with Winfrey that Frey presented a false person.

"Frey could have easily avoided this whole debacle if it was published in another genre," she said.