Another Day in Paradise is a novel by Eddie Little

Eddie Little

Eddie Little was a writer most associated with the books Another Day in Paradise and Steel Toes, as well as various articles in the LA Weekly...

 first published in 1997. Set in the early 70s, it tells the story of the protagonist, a fourteen-year-old runaway named Bobbie, transforming from a meth addict and amateur thief to a heroin addict and accomplished safe-cracker, with the help of his mentor Mel.

Plot summary

At age 13, Bobbie leaves the violent, abusive home where he was raised, and this book details his following year. He has an older girlfriend, carries a gun, takes drugs, and is on an ever-tightening spiral to hell, his crimes escalating until they include murder. The plot, which highlights Bobbie's increasing dependence on the highs of violence, is not pointless but instead emphasizes a frightening reality. For Bobbie, read Little. He's been there, and his graphic story is written with an immediacy and realism that will make normal thinking people cringe and parents anxious to protect their children from the harshness in which some youth live.

Controversy

On January 27, 2006, in the Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

-based alternative newspaper the eXile

The eXile

The eXile was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting...

, essayist John Dolan

John Dolan (writer)

John Carrol Dolan is an American poet, author and essayist. He currently writes for and co-edits the eXile, an English-language paper founded and formerly based in Moscow, Russia, and now based online in California. He was recently laid off from the University of Victoria, British...

 leveled charges of plagiarism against James Frey

James Frey

James Christopher Frey is an American writer. His books A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard , as well as Bright Shiny Morning , were bestsellers...

, author of A Million Little Pieces

A Million Little Pieces

A Million Little Pieces is a semi-fictional memoir by James Frey. It tells the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and drug abuser and how he copes with rehabilitation in a Twelve steps-oriented treatment center...

, accusing him of lifting material from Another Day in Paradise and Steel Toes

Steel Toes

Steel Toes is a 2006 film directed by David Gow and Mark Adam, and starring Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn. It was filmed in Montréal, Canada, and was produced by Galafilm. The movie was based on writer/director David Gow's play Cherry Docs ....

, both written by the late drug-addict/author Eddie Little

Eddie Little

Eddie Little was a writer most associated with the books Another Day in Paradise and Steel Toes, as well as various articles in the LA Weekly...

.http://www.exile.ru/2006-January-27/freys_fall.html Neither Frey, nor his publisher Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

, have addressed the allegations of plagiarism.