Have you read the Smoking Gun’s exposé of lying liar James Frey, the drug addict/alcoholic/rage-filled author of the mega-best-selling “non-fiction” memoir “A Million Little Piece?” It’s devastating.

Just one more reason to despise the victim lit genre.

Lesson: When it sounds too bad to be true, Oprah, dry your eyes and check the facts.

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USA Today follows up on TSG’s investigation. An excerpt:

TheSmokingGun.com says in a lengthy article that a six-week examination of police and court records, as well as interviews with law enforcement personnel, show that Frey fabricated or embellished details of his law-breaking days.

A Million Little Pieces, published in 2003, is Frey’s account of his criminal past and rampant drug and alcohol abuse. It became a hit after Oprah Winfrey in October anointed it one of her book club picks. It has sold more than 3.5 million copies and now is No. 1 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.

Frey, 36, could not be reached Monday.

Responding to Smoking Gun, Frey posted a communication on his website, www.bigjim industries.com, that said: “This is the latest investigation into my past, and the latest attempt to discredit me. So let the haters hate, let the doubters doubt, I stand by my book, and my life.”

Smoking Gun, which is popular for postings of celebrity mug shots, criminal complaints and unsavory peccadilloes of the rich and famous, said it began its inquiry after trying to obtain a mug shot of Frey based on one of the arrests he claims in his book.

But William Bastone, the site’s editor, says he and associates could find few legal documents confirming most of Frey’s accounts of his criminal past.

USA TODAY was able to independently confirm one claim by Smoking Gun.

Frey contends to have struck a cop with his car while drunk in Granville, Ohio, as a Denison University student. He says his actions in the 1992 incident resulted in a melee.

But the arresting officer, Granville Police Sgt. Dave Dudgeon, told USA TODAY that Frey was polite, cooperative and quickly posted bond. Granville police and Licking County, Ohio, prosecutor Robert Becker confirmed the authenticity of legal documents posted on the website. “When you look at the trail of legal documents, the retellings of the criminal stuff are hard to believe,” Bastone says.

Winfrey’s website, oprah .com, lauds Frey’s book as a “mesmerizing story.” The site includes an interview in which Frey talks about drinking alcohol at age 10 and smoking marijuana in his teens. Winfrey’s production company did not return calls Monday…

Paging Oprah…

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By the way, Oprah’s website bills James Frey as the “Man who kept Oprah awake at night.”

For two nights this man kept Oprah awake! Now, she wants you to meet him. Why this mesmerizing story hits home for so many of you!

Wonder how Oprah is sleeping now?

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