Controversial author James Frey is set to ignite another firestorm with his new book, "The Final Testament of the Holy Bible," in which the second coming of Christ takes place in The Bronx projects -- but the Messiah turns out to be a former alcoholic who impregnates a prostitute.
Frey -- who was famously ripped apart on TV by Oprah Winfrey and ostracized by the literary community over his partly fabricated memoir, "A Million Little Pieces" -- has sidestepped traditional publishers and teamed up with gallery owner Larry Gagosian, who will publish just 11,000 copies in the US while Frey will self-publish online.
His Messiah, Ben Jones, starts off as a lonely alcoholic bachelor living in a filthy apartment. He survives a horrific work accident, but strange things then happen that lead to him being recognized as the Messiah. Ben also smokes pot, has sex with a prostitute and makes out with men.
Ben tells followers that the Bible is "antiquated," saying, "The Bible was written 2,000 years ago. The world is a different place now. Stories that had meaning then are meaningless now . . . those books are dead."
Of religion, he says, "Faith is what you use to oppress, to justify, to judge in the name of God . . . a means to rationalize more evil in this world than anything in history. If there were a devil, faith would be his greatest invention." The novel will be released for maximum impact in the US on Good Friday.
Frey told us the book is "a theoretical third volume of the Bible -- there was the Old, there was the New, and this is the Final." He said, "I'm sure the religious right will go crazy because the story of Ben . . . is hardly the Messiah they have in mind. But I don't really care. I just did what I always do -- tried to write the best book I could."
Frey said he doesn't care that he won't win friends in publishing by circumventing traditional bookselling: "I tried to write a radical book. I'm releasing it in a radical way. Never again will somebody release my work in a way that doesn't make me comfortable."
When we asked Frey what he thinks Oprah would think of it, he laughed. "No idea. Don't even know if she'll read it."
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/novel_faces_unholy_uproar_JAKEr6qPuRRw714ukIuByL#ixzz1GgytkmcI
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