El Corazon Es Mentiroso (Literatura)
by J.T. LeRoy
published
April 30th 2004
by Grijalbo Mondadori Sa
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binding
Paperback, 224 pages
isbn
8439710364
(isbn13: 9788439710363)
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| The controversy of "J.T. LeRoy" | 5 | 19 | 10/12/2008 01:13PM |
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Read in August, 2008
(long)
the following biases are worth accounting for before i get into the review proper (which covers my response to both "sarah" and "the heart is deceitful"):
1) i read "sarah" and "the heart is deceitful" well after the whole leroy unveiling (which i followed with intense interest, so i knew a lot of the details beforehand), and in the context of working on a paper that read leroy into a broader history of literary deceptions/hoaxes/imposters, so...more
the following biases are worth accounting for before i get into the review proper (which covers my response to both "sarah" and "the heart is deceitful"):
1) i read "sarah" and "the heart is deceitful" well after the whole leroy unveiling (which i followed with intense interest, so i knew a lot of the details beforehand), and in the context of working on a paper that read leroy into a broader history of literary deceptions/hoaxes/imposters, so...more
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Know what? Fuck that. This is better because JT Leroy was a hoax. When you look at the way that honest, caring, media-appropriately-framed stories of trans people look in this society, you throw up.
Uh. *I* throw up. Maybe you are super into it.
I can't think of a trans author (okay, one who's not Jan Morris) who's writing fiction that really pokes me in the eye. Or memoir, actually. (I haven't read T Cooper yet though, so maybe T Cooper.)
I'd much rather read JT Leroy than Jennifer ...more
Uh. *I* throw up. Maybe you are super into it.
I can't think of a trans author (okay, one who's not Jan Morris) who's writing fiction that really pokes me in the eye. Or memoir, actually. (I haven't read T Cooper yet though, so maybe T Cooper.)
I'd much rather read JT Leroy than Jennifer ...more
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Read in September, 2007
Non-stop festival of abuse and horror. Lovely writing. The lyricism flies like a bloody crow out of the rape, genital burns, schizophrenia, and meth lab explosions. But the voice of the boy is merely quiet, which only conceals the fact that the mechanics of such a childhood are not understood; they are eclipsed by the endless travesty. Moments revealing greater insight, less dramatized and subtler moments, moments even if entirely fucked, of tenderness that delved into or revealed the internal l...more
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JT LEROY IS THE NEW BLACKFACE!
JT LEROY the author is a fake, pretending to have AIDS, pretending to be transgendered, pretending to being poor.
JT LEROY is actually a wealthy white woman raking in the big bucks at the expense and suffering of many many people, and doesn't even have the sense to apologize.
Being someone who had a boyfriend who died of AIDS and has suffered for many years growing up white trash and queer, I look forward to the day when I can SPIT in this fake's face!
...more
JT LEROY the author is a fake, pretending to have AIDS, pretending to be transgendered, pretending to being poor.
JT LEROY is actually a wealthy white woman raking in the big bucks at the expense and suffering of many many people, and doesn't even have the sense to apologize.
Being someone who had a boyfriend who died of AIDS and has suffered for many years growing up white trash and queer, I look forward to the day when I can SPIT in this fake's face!
...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
nobody
I actually didn't have any interest in JT Leroy prior to finding out that the whole thing was a fraud. From a surface level skim of his books, I was under the impression that it was relatively lowbrow from a literary standpoint. For something lowbrow to be worth reading for me, it needs to be exciting or interesting. 200 pages of "poor me, I was abused" didn't sound particularly hip. If I wanted to read that, I could go dig up notebooks of stuff that I wrote when I was 16.
Once I h...more
Once I h...more
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Read in February, 2008
I bought this book before all of the controversy of who the author really was came about. It took me a long time to get around to actually reading it.
I find the authorship controversy to be interesting. Is it impossible to let the stories stand alone for their value regardless of who wrote them? The particular edition of the book I have makes no claim that these are "true stories," just "stories." Regardless, I found the writing to be yes, disturbing, yet also human...more
I find the authorship controversy to be interesting. Is it impossible to let the stories stand alone for their value regardless of who wrote them? The particular edition of the book I have makes no claim that these are "true stories," just "stories." Regardless, I found the writing to be yes, disturbing, yet also human...more
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Read in May, 2003
recommends it for:
Fans of bleak fiction
This is like a novelization of the phrase, "Life sucks and then you die," but with none of the brevity or wit, and all the of the uncomfortable detail. See family go evil. See religion go evil. See beatings, torture, rape, abandonment, gender misidentification and perversion, fluffed out in sensationalist form to wow audiences with tastes that scare me. I don't understand how people can enjoy these sorts of things any more than I can understand how people enjoy torture movies, except t...more
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Read in April, 2003
recommended to Alexandra by:
an English PhD. candidate
As readers, we have a responsibility to see the red flag waving any time a book is "Based on True Events." Take "The Amityville Horror" or "A Million Little Pieces," for example. Anyone interested in true crime will tell you that Ronald DeFeo, the killer "Amity" is based on, made up all of the stories about hearing voices and being haunted in an attempt to use an insanity plea in court. And why should the fact that "Pieces" is fabricated change h...more
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Read in November, 2006
I found a copy of this book in a pile marked "please take me" in the laundry room of my apartment building. I did as the sign said because I like free stuff and almost immediately regretted my decision. I'm not really in the business of not liking books but the entire ridiculous controversy that went with this author and story intrigued me and disgusted me at the same time. So obviously, I read it. I'm kind of glad that it has come out that this didn't actually really happen to som...more
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Read in September, 2008
A literary hoax and a pedophiles beadtime reading all at the same time. The prose didn't offend me technically. Hell the subject matter didn't get to me either. I kept wondering why someone would try so hard to write something shocking while simultaneously not caring about adding a shred of originality. Hell, I love Palahniuk, I'm not whining about the shock value. I don't need completely gratuitous shock, I know being molested screws kids up, I know its a cycle of self worth issues, etc. ...more
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Read in June, 2008
While this book was much better than "Sarah" it remains a mish-mosh of the writing conceits of better authors. Denis Cooper, Mary Gaitskill... it's been done and done and done better than this.
THIDAAT has some truly heart wrenching moments. But it feels rather pointless and so sad. While it is beautifully written, it feels completely superficial. You are reading about people who don't give a damn about each other and aren't fleshed out enough to be truly interesting. Who are these...more
THIDAAT has some truly heart wrenching moments. But it feels rather pointless and so sad. While it is beautifully written, it feels completely superficial. You are reading about people who don't give a damn about each other and aren't fleshed out enough to be truly interesting. Who are these...more
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This 'novel' (rumored to be autobiographical but potentially debunked) is heartbreaking to read. The author was reported to be a male recluse and supposedly had famous actors/actresses read excerpts of his/her book at signings, etc. There is the story itself--full of beautiful prose clothing scenes of a child's disturbing vulnerability--and then the story behind the story--who is the actual author? male or female?what parts are real (if any) and what is fiction? I liked the book but cant say tha...more
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Read in February, 2008
LA Weekly's cover story this week is on Laura Albert, the woman behind the author JT Leroy. We hope you enjoy it.
http://www.laweekly.com/art+bo...
From Nancy Rommelmann's story:
"JT's stories made no sense. Sometimes he was Thor's father; sometimes Thor belonged to a woman named Emily, who was threatening to take the boy away. I read a Michael Musto colum...more
http://www.laweekly.com/art+bo...
From Nancy Rommelmann's story:
"JT's stories made no sense. Sometimes he was Thor's father; sometimes Thor belonged to a woman named Emily, who was threatening to take the boy away. I read a Michael Musto colum...more
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The JT LeRoy narrative is a depressing subject. It's one thing to write under another identity, but to actually pull people in via the "victim's mentality" is quite Tom Ripley like. There is no doubt in my mind that the author is disturbed, but what is worst is how she hoodwinked a whole community of people.
And I am not excluding myself from this world. I too am drawn to writers who seem to have interesting lives. So who can say what is real or not real. What is interesting is ...more
And I am not excluding myself from this world. I too am drawn to writers who seem to have interesting lives. So who can say what is real or not real. What is interesting is ...more
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i don't think anyone's a sucker for reading this book and liking it! it really doesn't matter who wrote it because it's a good book. do we ever really know the authors anyway? and what portion of their "true" story are they embellishing upon? plus, the whole JT LeRoy/Laura Albert scandal is weird and exciting!
this is a good story if you can handle the possibility of how hard life can be for some people. unfortunately, those who lead such lives hardly ever gain the skills to ex...more
this is a good story if you can handle the possibility of how hard life can be for some people. unfortunately, those who lead such lives hardly ever gain the skills to ex...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
recommends it for:
masochists
I read this after the hoax was exposed and found it pretty fascinating as a cultural artifact and nice enough as literature. The writing is good even without the backstory but it is not for the squeemish. The amount of hardship the narrator experiences is so extreme and painful it borders on unintentionally hilarious. Still, it's a pretty insightful look at what it must be like for a child to be stuck needing a seriously disfunctional parent. I really hope the author gets it together enough ...more
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A crazy, sad, and twisted story of abuse and mayhem and its affect on a young man.
I read this years ago before the scandal about the author- it's a crazy story! I initially read about this author in the News and Observer and read two of the books, this being one of them. Then, I was on an airplane and happened to read a story in Rolling Stone about how they busted this lady....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/sto... for m
I read this years ago before the scandal about the author- it's a crazy story! I initially read about this author in the News and Observer and read two of the books, this being one of them. Then, I was on an airplane and happened to read a story in Rolling Stone about how they busted this lady....
http://www.abc.net.au/news/sto... for m
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Read in August, 2008
as autobiographical, this stories would have simply NEEDED to be told. as penned by a middle aged female artist staging an elaborate hoax testing the boundaries of authorship in fiction, something about these stories just felt sad, sadistic, and not wholly necessary. despite a rich history of veiled authorship (in both fiction and non-fiction), at the end of the day, literary value IS relative, in my opinion. here i felt as if my empathy was just being played. glad i read it, however, so i c...more
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Well, despite all the hoopla about who the author really is, this is a really well-written book about a boy who is perceived as a girl, abused as a girl, and often identifies as a girl. It is written in nonlinear, stream-of-consciousness format which makes it very compelling. it kind of sucks you in. Personally, I don't care whether the author is transgendered or not. Personally, I don't care whether the author survived horrific abuse or not. The back of the cover lists this book as fiction. As...more
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Read in May, 2005
This book plus the movie Sin City conspired to ruin my sex life for week.
But that's neither here nor there. The question that this book raises for me is this: Do yu have to hate where you are from in order to change your life? If you are fine with the specific joys and sorrows of being poor and desperate, will you ever change your situation? And should you? And is there a certain amount of shame that is socially beneficial?
But that's neither here nor there. The question that this book raises for me is this: Do yu have to hate where you are from in order to change your life? If you are fine with the specific joys and sorrows of being poor and desperate, will you ever change your situation? And should you? And is there a certain amount of shame that is socially beneficial?
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