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JT LeRoy

SARAH Paperback – August 4, 2016

by Jt Leroy (Author)

4.2 563 ratings

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National Bestseller

Featuring a foreword by Billy Corgan

“JT LeRoy’s masterful imagination, command of story, and easy sense of the mythological are a rare combination that demands attention.” — Toronto Star

Sarah never admits that she’s his mother, but the beautiful boy has watched her survive as a “lot lizard”: a prostitute working the West Virginia truck stops. Desperate to win her love, he decides to surpass her as the best and most famous lot lizard ever. With his own leather mini-skirt and a makeup bag that closes with Velcro, the young “Cherry Vanilla” embarks on a journey through the Appalachian wilds, dining on transcendental cuisine, supplicating to the mystical Jackalope, encountering the most terrifying of pimps, walking on water, being venerated as an innocent girl saint—and then being denounced as the devil.

By turns exhilarating and shocking, magical and realistic, Sarah brings urgency, wit, and imagination to an unknown and unforgettable world.

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Perennial
Publication date

August 4, 2016
Dimensions

5.31 x 0.4 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

9780062641250
ISBN-13

978-0062641250
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Edgy but thoroughly...larger than life...comically Dickensian.” — San Francisco Chronicle

“Genuinely moving.” — Publishers Weekly

“Quick, lively, and fascinating.” — BookForum

“Wildly imagined, but described with a quiet sureness Sarah’s considerable originality testify to LeRoy’s wonderful ability to make up beautiful things.” — Village Voice

“JT LeRoy’s masterful imagination, command of story, and easy sense of the mythological are a rare combination that demands attention.” — Toronto Star

From the Back Cover

Sarah never admits that she’s his mother, but the beautiful boy has watched her survive as a “lot lizard”: a prostitute working the West Virginia truck stops. Desperate to win her love, he decides to surpass her as the best and most famous lot lizard ever. With his own leather mini-skirt and a makeup bag that closes with Velcro, the young “Cherry Vanilla” embarks on a journey through the Appalachian wilds, dining on transcendental cuisine, supplicating to the mystical Jackalope, encountering the most terrifying of pimps, walking on water, being venerated as an innocent girl saint—and then being denounced as the devil. By turns exhilarating and shocking, magical and realistic, Sarah brings urgency, wit, and imagination to an unknown and unforgettable world.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0062641255
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Perennial; Reprint edition (August 4, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780062641250
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062641250
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.4 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #451,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #319 in LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction (Books)
- #4,088 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #18,544 in Literary Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 563 ratings

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JT LeRoy

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LAURA ALBERT (lauraalbert.org -- photo by Albert Sanchez) won international acclaim for her best-selling novels "Sarah," "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things," and "Harold's End," written as JT LeRoy. She is the subject of the acclaimed documentary feature "Author: The JT LeRoy Story" by Jeff Feuerzeig. Her speaking engagements include NPR's story-telling series The Moth, Radiolab, Foyles in London, and Brazil's international Book Bienal, where Laura and Alice Walker were the 2012 U.S. representatives. Laura was a writer for the HBO series "Deadwood" and wrote the original screenplay of Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," winner of the 2003 Palme d'Or at Cannes. She was also Associate Producer of both "Elephant" and Asia Argento's film of "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things." Laura has served as a juror for the Brasilia, Sapporo, and A SHADED VIEW ON FASHION FILM festivals. Writer of the films "We Vault" and "Dreams of Levitation" for Nowness, Laura has also written for The New York Times, the London Times, Spin, Film Comment, Filmmaker, Interview, and Vogue, and was a contributing editor to Black Book, I-D, SOMA, and 7x7. She is currently an editorial director for ContentMode, an editor for Diane Pernet's www.asvof.com, and a contributor to 429 magazine; she has also been an invited speaker at the annual conferences of dot429, the world's largest LGBTA professional network. Her breakthrough interview given to Nathaniel Rich was the cover feature of the Fall 2006 issue of The Paris Review. She also gave an extensive interview to Adam Langer for the August 2013 issue of Interview Magazine. Laura and JT have become the subjects of the hit Brazilian rock musical "JT, Um Conto de Fadas Punk" (JT, A Punk Fairy Tale).

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4.2 out of 5

563 global ratings

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Colin Carr

Sarah (by JT LeRoy)

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2014

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I havent read a book in a long time. In fact, haven't heard of author Laura Albert until recently viewing the film adaptation of The Heart Is Decietful Above All Things. Then decided to check out this JT Leroy fella (who really isn't a fella which caused a huge uproar from fans). Downloaded the kindle version of Sarah which I surprisingly finished. That's probably the biggest compliment, because I could never stick a book. It was that appealing to me.

Miss Albert deserves a lot of credit. She delves into a world that most are either unaware of or choose to ignore. She's just the person you'd want to represent that, being a victim of child abuse (physically, sexually, and emotionally). It's my belief that people tend to overlook those things because of how depressing they are. They don't want to know. From my understanding, Sarah is an easier book to digest than The Heart because it's more humorous. In fact, alot of the characters are more likeable. Even had quite a few laughs.

That's not to say there aren't any disturbing moments. It kind of comes with the territory. The second half of the novel is where it gets darker.

Its a quick read (166 pages), but doesnt feel rushed. The content is whats really important. If the content is good and story written well, sometimes you wont even realize. All the little details have charm and even put a smile on my face. This dark world can surprisingly feel welcoming. The book talks alot about the diner Cherry Vanilla goes to back home (even mentions the kind of meals served).

There are alot of similarities with The Heart. Jeremiah's relationship with Sarah mirrors Cherry Vanilla's relationship with Sarah. The scene where Jeremiah seduces his mother's boyfriend is another example. It seems to me Laura Albert has a thing for identity, and how it can be taken from you.

I really enjoyed Sarah, and despite its disturbing side can be quite fun. It's definitly not for kids, though I'd say could be fine for someone over sixteen. The Heart Is Decietful Above All Things is probably a different story.

5 people found this helpful

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JR Pinto

Oliver Twist from Hell...

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2004

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This is a very disturbing book. It is difficult to separate the novel from the myth of LeRoy himself. It is autobiographical fiction, but I'm not exactly sure where the autobiography ends and the fiction begins. LeRoy was a fourteen year old street-hustler whose therapist recommended he turn to writing in order to deal with his issues. He was put in touch with figures in the literary community, such as his hero, Dennis Cooper. He was first published at 16 and at 19 he wrote the novel Sarah.
The book reveals a world I never knew existed (and now that I know, I'd like to forget). Apparently, there is quite a trade in child prostitution for truck drivers in West Virginia. The narrator is just one of those characters. Pre-pubescent, his mother Sarah is a prostitute and soon he (known as Cherry Vanilla) is indoctrinated as well. (This is nothing new to him as his mother's Johns have been molesting him as well.) The wrinkle is that he has to dress up to look like a girl. The story does bare a resemblance to Oliver Twist - instead of child pickpockets, they are child prostitutes. However, the drama of this story merely entails the escape from the "bad" pimp to the "good" pimp.
Don't expect an overly happy ending for the book, but at least we know LeRoy's own life is turning out better. If you are interested I highly recommend viewing his homepage at [...] to get a better understanding of him (there is some speculation as to the veracity of his claims). LeRoy is now friends with many people in the entertainment industry and both his books are being made into movies.
I was troubled with some of the cavalier blurbs on the book, as if it were a lighthearted romp. True there are funny moments but the world described is hell. I had trouble sleeping at night considering the implications of Sarah. Anyone who's seen Mystic River knows that victims of child abuse never really escape. If the author of this book really went through something like this, then the powers of human healing are truly miraculous indeed.

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Leven1

Dark Surreal Southern Gothic Tale - Try to ignore the good and bad hype

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2010

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Personally I came to this book having missed (being in the UK) all the hype and subsequent backlash. So I treated the book as a work of fiction. I thought it was very very good. To me it was in the traditional of many southern writers (I know Albert is not genuinely southern but who cares) with a dark gothic but also comedic surrealness that made it more than a story of a child prostitute. The use of religious imagary, weird strange characters, backwood setting, good vs evil only add to this feel. Similar themes to what you would find in books by writers I love like Harry Crews, Larry Brown or William Gay.
The book, although dealing with a very disturbing subject, avoids being too graphic early on and the humour helps to dilute the nastiness of the situation Cherry/Sarah/Sam is in. The story is fairly simplistic - a naive child frustrated by being held back by those trying to look out for her (relatively speaking) inadvertantly wanders into a much more dangerous situation. There then follows a battle of sorts between good (again relatively speaking) and evil. The story then takes on elements of religeous fanaticism and charlatanisem before it becomes nastier in feel as Charry/Sarah/Sam's situation really worsens.
I feel the author has shot herself in the foot by not just admitting it was a work of fiction. Had she admitted it was fiction it is possible that this book would have become a cult classic over time. I think the problem with her claims that JT Leroy was real and the subsequent charade that ensued left people feeling cheated and foolish and no one likes to feel like that (look at the tags in on the US Amazon site - scam, faker, lame, dishonest). I also think the publicity brought many people to this book who would not have normally read a book like this with such a subject matter. Many people cannot read books about uncomfortable subject matters unless they feel it is true and the victim has managed to survive and rebuild their life. As soon as it was discovered JT was not real a lot of sympathy for the character disappeared. It was seen as exploitative and the matter of fact way acts most of us would consider unthinkable are described or mentioned only worsens this. However, I consider this a fairly realistic portrayal of how an abused child may think (the story itself is not that realistic but neither do I think it is meant to be). Many child victims of abuse become conditioned to it so it is not unusual to them and they would not think to complain about their lot in life as it is all they and the people around them know. Although not as good a book and certainly a more graphic book The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things describes the sort of lifestyle and experiences that shape an abused child's development and thinking and it is sort of a prequel to this book.

This is not a book for everyone and no matter what would probably have been controversial (how many other books deal with child prostitution without them being over the top "real life" exposes with a life affirming ending where the victim finds god and all is well such as A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown). Be aware everybody in this book who is not a child but including some children are either abusing, exploiting or assisting in the exploitation of children. That said while the book does not openly condemn what is going on (the "good" guy is a pimp of children) it does not attempt to glorify child exploitation. It is merely written from the point of view of an adult remembering a part of their life as a child. Dark, funny, bizarre, unsettling and very sad but a very good book all the same.

11 people found this helpful

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Unique and enlightening and moving - WOW!

Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2021

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The characters were heartbreakingly beautiful and I will carry them with me forever. It was a unique voice rarely explored and streetwise poetic storytelling. WOW . I read the book then listened to the Audio book with Winsome Brown narrating (super star) Then read the book while I listened to Winsome's Brown bring the characters to life WOW. Run and read/listen to this story!

Angharad Stephens

Controversial topic, but a great read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2018

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I was presented this book as part of a reading list for one of my modules that I am taking. Our lecturer allowed us to continue with it after reading the extract she gave us, if we do wished to due to the topic of the book.

I am so happy I did. The story manages to envoke so many different emotion throughout reading, whilst still engaging the audience with the wonderfully written characters! It is a real page turner, and I did not realise how the time flew whilst reading it, as I got so engrossed with the narrative and characters!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who was to branch out into a different style and genre of reading. Although Sarah is shocking at times, it is well worth a read!

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

The reader will then be rewarded with a book which reads like a modern western

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

It’s fair to say that a subject matter of rent boys, pimps, parking lots and racoon penis bones SHOULD sit uncomfortably with the reader, but that should be your weakest reason for not giving this book a try.

I’m not going to give a run through of the characters or aspects of the story, as approaching this novel with a clear mind is perhaps more beneficial. The reader will then be rewarded with a book which reads like a modern western, as the characters are deep and broken, the locations dirty and unforgiving and the dialogue is honest and brief. People only say what needs to be said.

The moral I took from this book, is that regardless of how low a fellow human’s life appears to be, or actually is, the desire to prove ourselves or achieve something lies within us all.

Amazon Customer

Underwhelming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2018

Verified Purchase

Pretty underwhelming. How anyone believed this was based on a true story I don’t know. I could accept it as a fantasy written by someone who had some similar experiences, but it lacks any kind of depth. It is not all bad, this lack of depth does lend itself to the idea of a teenage novice writer and there are moments where the writer appears to relate at least to the emotions of the circumstances. However i feel if it were a teenage novice writer who had written this it would have a rawer rougher more authentic feel. It would most likely be good. This is not good, the writer is not skilled enough (in my opinion) to take on this character and convey them with anything other than superficial voyeuristic engagement. It reads like something that is neither experienced Nor more importantly researched by the author.

One person found this helpful

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