Author: The JT LeRoy Story
Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 2.0
Novelist Laura Albert 'explains' her reasoning behind one of the great literary hoaxes of all time (and yes, it was a hoax), 'creating' "JT LeRoy" - the supposed product of a prostitute mother who has intimate knowledge of what goes on at truck stops - and using her sister-in-law Savannah to 'play' LeRoy in public appearances (and dupe celebrities). There's no denying Albert has actual literary talent (I confess to having read - and liked - both Sarah and The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things) but to hear her play the victim, like Amanda Knox did in a documentary released by Netflix this same year, is a step too far: when Albert says things like "JT, in my body, spoke to him" (him being Billy Corgan), she's either schizophrenic or playing bizarre mental games (she's a most unreliable narrator). I certainly feel no pity for the famous people Albert conned with the scheme - and I definitely feel no sympathy for the literary world, all too eager to cash in on stories with pedophilia-related content - but for her to act like this was the result of her own tormented childhood (filled with sexual abuse and shame over her weight) is just a lot of backpedaling. As Nick Currie once said, "Every writer is a traitor" ... they're also professional liars.
