I'm JT Leroy
Ohh, I love a good hoax. Especially those jedi mind tricks played on the mass media and it's audience.
I just read that the author JT Leroy, does not exist. Wicked. According to different bios, Leroy was a young up and coming writer, and a good one at that. I read an article in NYLON magazine that made him out to be the new literary rockstar for this generation. I was intrigued, but never sought out any of his books, until one day at an entertainment liquidator (a place that "recieves" stock from business get shut down, and resells said stock on the cheap) I saw Leroy's acclaimed book SARAH on the shelves. I picked it up along with some other novels. (Hey, it was buy 3 for $10!)
I thought it was a good read. The story kept me interested and the language was smooth. I often thought about Leroy as a writer and his story. It sort of pissed me off, because it seemed that this dude was getting lots of attention, not because he wrote an adequate book, but because he lived that hard knock life that Jay-Z sings about. Leroy was adored not simply for his skills, but because his life itself seemed fit for a harrowing bio-pic starring Brad Pitt as the strung out streetwalking poet. It lead me to think of the cliche that in order to be a great writer, you must lead a great life. Because, of course, the best writer's write what they know.
Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the book, the success of Leroy pretty much dashed my hopes of becoming a great writer, as my life thus far does not easily translate into a cautionary tale of a tortured artist.
But now, it's been revealed that JT Leroy does not exist, and is allegedly a persona created by Laura Albert. I won't go into the details (see links below), but suffice it to say that my dreams of becoming a great writer with a boring life is still in tact.
(I still reccommend books by Leroy, at least the one I read, SARAH)
New York Metro article.
Salon article.
ADC
I just read that the author JT Leroy, does not exist. Wicked. According to different bios, Leroy was a young up and coming writer, and a good one at that. I read an article in NYLON magazine that made him out to be the new literary rockstar for this generation. I was intrigued, but never sought out any of his books, until one day at an entertainment liquidator (a place that "recieves" stock from business get shut down, and resells said stock on the cheap) I saw Leroy's acclaimed book SARAH on the shelves. I picked it up along with some other novels. (Hey, it was buy 3 for $10!)
I thought it was a good read. The story kept me interested and the language was smooth. I often thought about Leroy as a writer and his story. It sort of pissed me off, because it seemed that this dude was getting lots of attention, not because he wrote an adequate book, but because he lived that hard knock life that Jay-Z sings about. Leroy was adored not simply for his skills, but because his life itself seemed fit for a harrowing bio-pic starring Brad Pitt as the strung out streetwalking poet. It lead me to think of the cliche that in order to be a great writer, you must lead a great life. Because, of course, the best writer's write what they know.
Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the book, the success of Leroy pretty much dashed my hopes of becoming a great writer, as my life thus far does not easily translate into a cautionary tale of a tortured artist.
But now, it's been revealed that JT Leroy does not exist, and is allegedly a persona created by Laura Albert. I won't go into the details (see links below), but suffice it to say that my dreams of becoming a great writer with a boring life is still in tact.
(I still reccommend books by Leroy, at least the one I read, SARAH)
New York Metro article.
Salon article.
ADC
posted by ADC at 12:14 PM
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