Comments for JT Leroy

Comment on Can Laura Albert Be Forgiven? by Booksonfiction

Booksonfiction — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:38:35 +0000

fiction remains fiction great post

Comment on Can Laura Albert Be Forgiven? by Florentine

Florentine — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:09:03 +0000

I have no pity for Laura Albert, a narcissistic con artist who is pissy because she got caught (talk about sore losers). As for those who are defending the brilliance of Albert’s scheme, I suspect they really just want to save face, and would rather sound savvy and worldy wise than like outraged dupes. And the James Frey comparison made by the poster above is nothing but a very dubious red herring. I don’t know of anyone who is using the “boys will be boys” excuse to defend Frey.

Comment on Can Laura Albert Be Forgiven? by Elliott

Elliott — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:57:17 +0000

People are such sore losers. So you got conned. Big deal. It is senseless to deem someone unforgivable over a lie. Everyone has lied at some point in their lives, hers was just more widespread. I think the the publics reaction to the J.T. controversy verses the James Frey one speaks volumes about our culture. Forgive the man because ‘boys will be boys’ but stone the woman because she’s a lying whore. That makes us look worse.

Why not just accept defeat and marvel in the brilliance of it. I actually think hers greatly surpasses the hoax by James Frey. Hers was epic! How is that NOT amusing?

Comment on by Jane

Jane — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:59:14 +0000

While we are quite aware of the demographic and socio-political motivations for many autogynephilic transsexuals to lie about being us, our web site addresses this dynamic in great detail, we are quite saddened to have our colonization demographic expanded to include 40 year old white female writers pretending to be us. We think that the upward expansion of our exploitation value as a cultural resource into the arts is indicative of our increasing social vulnerability. What is next? Perhaps fake films written by fake transkids, informed by transsexuals pretending to be us, all serving to even more completely eradicate any meaningfull social understanding which would help end the circumstances surrounding the exoticization of our lives. Our lives are not exotic at all.

Just so you know, as we expected, your book did not convince us at all. Clue: the very fact that it claimed to be written by one of our number is the major tell. We tend not to relish making public the circumstances of our abuse and devaluation, nor do we see any value in it. One of our members was asked to review Laura, but her review was not published, perhaps because it was too brief. “It’s a fake”. If you would like to see what real transkids write, some of whom were discarded onto the street as teens, look right here. We don’t want to be socially and artistically understood, to become the next hip subculture to elicit compassion and empathy from middle class white people. We want to end our subculture.

We request that you donate the proceedings of your profits from harmfully misrepresenting us to a suitable street trans-youth outreach organization so that people who are working to actually help our population rather than profit by it may have a little more means to do so. We can suggest several. It’s what a real JT would do.

signed,

transkids.us writers

Comment on Can Laura Albert Be Forgiven? by Jane

Jane — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:50:47 +0000

No, she cannot be forgiven.

Comment on The Importance Of Being JT LeRoy by margotblacksheep

margotblacksheep — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:15:11 +0000

I can’t help thinking, an maybe someone has made more of this suspician than I will here, that some of this has something to do with the fact that JT Leroy turned out to be a woman- and not a man. I suspect that this isn’t about trickery and deception per se. I somehow think that if JT Leroy turned out to be Jonathan Thomas something or other, there would not be so much vitriol directed his way. Does anyone have the same sneaking, slithering thought? I know the James Frey thing is comparable- but it differs greatly in that Frey wrote a ‘memoir’(for the record, I also think Frey is inappropriately vilified) and JT wrote fiction. What sayeth?

Comment on The Importance Of Being JT LeRoy by Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:00:14 +0000

This is exactly what I was thinking. Thank God someone said something.

Comment on The Importance Of Being JT LeRoy by Elena Romanescu

Elena Romanescu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:44:40 +0000

Thanks very much for such a beautiful and thought-provoking piece. Will share with family and friends and my literary blog.

Comment on Of Hoaxes and Fraud by Elena Romanescu

Elena Romanescu — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:37:14 +0000

I completely agree! To me one of the primary purposes of art and the entertainment industry is to celebrate the imagination – and J.T. LeRoy’s books did a fabulous job of treating harsh realities in a creatively imaginative manner and showing how love and creativity can transcend life’s ugliness. And that still stands, no matter who wrote the books! Literary fiction was never meant to have to be literally authentic in the manner of a newspaper or biography or reality show – but to illuminate aspects of the human condition in ways that are often more effectively accomplished through symbolic means.

Watching Laura Albert get sued this year was like watching the wrong people win the legal case in Miracle on 34th Street. Or like having someone try to remove Shakespeare from the curriculum of high schools and declaring all of his truths invalid since some believe Christopher Marlowe may have penned some of the sonnets instead.

Just plain stupid and one of the many reasons I fantasize now and then about moving to Europe!

Comment on Judgment Day by Holly LaRue

Holly LaRue — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:49:09 +0000

I think what Albert has accomplished is brilliant. I have not read the books, but have ordered them and am anxiously awaiting there arrival. Nicely Done!