Customer Reviews

HAROLD'S END

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

No, there's nothing remotely COOL or WONDERFUL about this kind of hoax. The issue isn't about a 40-year-old woman pretending to be a teenage boy, rather the issue is about a 40-year-old woman pretending to be a transgendered, HIV+, abused, drug addicted teenage boy--and then using that persona to gain access, success, and sympathy from others. Some might love that she fooled "the genius literary elite," but that speaks more about someone's own resentment toward those who've made honest names for themselves as writers, etc.

In truth, it speaks volumes about the writers, artists, publishers, editors, and others who went the extra mile to help a young man pull his life together and get his work published and read. There's nothing cynical about creative people doing that for a person (in fact, I'd argue it is admirable that they would go out of their to do so), but it is incredibly cynical and cruel to take advantage of those intentions. By doing so, Laura Albert has probably made it impossible for a real young person with real problems and real talent to be taken seriously by those who were duped. Her sins aren't in the books or the quality of the writing, but in her intentions to shortcut her success by co-opting the problems of others who rarely have a voice and by lying to those who would seek to help those people. And, of course, don't forget she then went to incredible lengths to discredit anyone or anything that sought to reveal the truth.
In other words, real abused children feel real pain, and stunts like this only serve to avert good intentions that should go to the right places.

So judge the books on the merit of the writing, if you want. But please remember the one unerring mark of a sociopath is, essentially, that they'll try to make you feel sorry for them even as they're screwing you over.

Okay, I always figured there was something suspect about Leroy's background. Now with the cat out of the bag, I have to confess that there's something about the writing that will perplex me for a while to come: When I believed SARAH, HAROLD'S END, and HEART were written by a young wunderkind with a heartbreaking past, I allowed myself to forgive much about the writing that seemed forced, over the top, and just downright questionable. Now that it's been revealed the writing comes from a 30-something woman who opted against the understandable use of a moniker and decided to pass Leroy off as real (ten points for the marketing coup, but minus fifty points for manipulating so many of us who felt real empathy for your invention), I just can't take this writing seriously anymore. Instead of coming off as the creative purging of a painful childhood, it now just reads like what it has become: the ramblings of someone who never was a child prostitute, never an addict, and never lived the life she is writing about and claiming to be real.

Perhaps J.T. is the product of a troubled woman with multiple personalities, and if that's the case there's at least a couple of more books she can write about along those lines.

Anyway, I'm very sorry to learn about Leroy being hoax. And, yes, it does make difference for how I feel about the writing.

By the way, I'm still giving HAROLD'S END three stars, but that's only because I really think the illustrations are beautiful.

After reading - and LOVING - "Sarah" and "The heart is..." I was really looking forward to this book. But, although it's half-way decent, it's very pedestrian by J.T:s standard and WAY too short. Half of the book consists of illustrations, and the pompously written afterword is pathetic. Unfortunately, I hear that the next full-size book is going to be illustrated as well...hopefully, it will include some text as well.

Thanks for dropping in, Laura, and singing your own praises. Otherwise, this book isn't very good at all, regardless of who wrote it. But if you do think it's amazing, you might be needing to read a few more books.

Laura Albert's latest scam for all the gullible fools. A middle-aged loser of a woman with a hard hustle who found an angle to work pretty much says it all. Buyers beware!

I always suspected this guy was a fake, and now it's all come out. Whoever wrote this book knows nothing about life on the streets. It's full of cliches and pure BS, and isn't interesting on any level. Steer clear of this fakery.

I enjoyed LeRoy's other book, Sarah, even after it was revealed that the whole thing is fake. However, this "book" was not worthy of being published. I've seen better short stories come in the form of English assignments from 5th graders. It was a waste of time. Thankfully, it was a SHORT waste of time.

Your own agent summed it up best: "To present yourself as a person who is dying of AIDS in a culture which has lost so many writers and voices of great meaning, to take advantage of that sympathy and empathy, is the most unfortunate part of all of this," Mr. Silverberg said. "A lot of people believed they were supporting not only a good and innovative and adventurous voice, but that we were supporting a person."

No matter what you do from this point forward, no matter how good or not, no one will take you seriously. By treating your fans like tools your creative power is now officially negated.

As readers we've been lied to again. He doesn't exist. He never existed. And those of us who believed in him have been betrayed. Thanks a lot, JT, for making us think someone else felt the way I did instead of using my emotions as a means to pad their pocket and exploit their own need for literary/hipster cool "credibility." You'll pay in hell!

What an extreme case of pee-pee envy, mixed up with a love of male genital mutilation. The woman who wrote this certainly has some serious issues, not the least of which deals with boundries and control.