Customer Reviews

Jeremiah

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Does it really matter who wrote it? It's a great piece of work. Whoever wrote it should be getting whatever credit they're getting. I have not felt as satisfied in reading a work such as this in a long time. The way the words are strung together are so very original and stylish that it makes those words seem over used in other lesser, laughable books.

It's as if you're getting wrapped up in a musicians personal life and not even listening to the music.

Just saying J.T. exists doesn't make it so, especially since it isn't true. I know the person and people perpetuating this hoax, and there isn't a single real J.T. Leroy in the bunch. No amount of wishing or saying otherwise will change that. By this time next year the debate and speculation will be mostly over, and J.T. will be no more than a sad idea that did itself in by a miscalculated desire to continue fooling people in the face of an unwinding and undeniable truth.

I have yet to read this book but after reading all the negative reviews I am buying the whole series.

I think that fact that she was able not only to write books of literature but also make an entire persona up just tells me that she must be a very talented person. Some said the books are good if they were written by a 19 year old but since they are written by a middle age woman they are horrid. I believe the opposite. I think it is intriguing that she could also write as though she was her made up person.

You people who left such negative reviews about this book based solely on the news channels and papers about her should be ashamed. You should start to read books to enjoy them not because of who they are written by. In other words get a life and stick to the picture books that way you will never be disappointed when life doesn't go your way!!!

The writing here isn't bad, but the books aren't half as good as the "JT Leroy" cult, if you can call it that, would want us to believe. And, no, it isn't about playing with gender idenity, rather it's about trying to use such an excuse as a lame-ass attempt to cover the tracks of a fraud, albeit a fraud with some talent for fiction.

However, with Warren St. John's excellent article in yesterday's New York Times redeeming those of us who have always known "Leroy" wasn't being forthright or honest to anyone but Laura Albert's bank account, I think only time will accurately judge the merits of these books. And please keep in mind that a writing using a different name to protect his or her privacy is NOT the same thing as creating a fake persona in order to fool, manipulate, and, ultimately, take advantage of people. This scam will no doubt do great harm to the real abused children who might someday seek affirmation for their attempts to chronicle there real lives.

Moreover, I think Leroy's own agent said it best in St. John's article: "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."

J.T. Leroy does not exist. Forty year old failed rocker and phone sex worker Laura Albert has by lying made many famous friends who have verified the existence not of "J.T." but of her sister-in-law who has played the role of J.T. Leroy in public. The money you pay for Jeremiah and all the fraudulent Leroy books goes into accounts controlled by Albert and her mother. The basis of this book is a lie. The writing is terrible. Don't be deceived.

Actually, I find the argument that these books should be judged simply on their own terms to be absurd, especially since the fabrication of JT Leroy was used to lure readers to the books in the first place. In other words, the books are fiction but the marketing device to get us to read them was a lie, pure and simple. So that's how these writings by Laura Albert should be understood--not as stand-alone works of fiction but as a marketing tool to fool the public into buying them. If the hoax of JT Leroy shouldn't matter in regard to the books than why, I wonder, was it used in the first place?

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!

Read about it tomorrow, because the game is now officially over. There is no Leroy, and there never was...as Warren St. John of The New York Times has now made perfectly clear. And for those who argue it should be about the books and not the writer, let me remind you that "JT Leroy" was created for the sole purpose to exploit and fool the reading public. This was by no means a pseudonym used to protect a writer, but, rather, a hoax and a fraud intended to sell books and, yes, to sell lies put forward as not-so-thinly veiled non-fiction.

I, for one, won't say whether this or the other books are worthy or not, because it will take time before the proper context will show the writing for what it really is. And, too, so much of why the books were created were to further the myth of Leroy's existance. Although, I will say the work was much more interesting and heartbreaking when I believed Leroy was a real person.

I think Leroy's own agent has summed it up best. When at least confronted with the truth that he, too, had been fooled by Laura Albert, he stated to Warren St. John: "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."

After learning more about the back-story of the JT Leroy scam, I went out and dig through more garage sales and found "his" other work. My conclusion is; the writing is anything BUT amazing or profound. I realized what made these JT Leroy books barely digestible is that Laura Albert actually managed to con these established writers into helping her edit her books. I think by now, all is in agreement that this Laura Albert person is a sociopath after the New York Times outing. The truth indeed is stranger than fiction. Someone should write about how Laura con the publishing industry, it would make a best seller.

JT LeRoy exists. He has many, many famous friends who have verified his existence. No amount of lazy journalism can erase someone's identity and existence. Go read his books. They are wonderful. Don't believe the lies.