Rating: 
Summary: To hell with the hype! This author is amazing!
Review: There is a whole world in Sarah. Sometimes it is topsy turvy, sometimes it is whimsical, sometimes it resonates with chords I never even knew I had. Characterization so strong that I would recognize Cherry Vanilla, LeLoup, Mother Shapiro or anyone else if they stepped off the page and into a crowded room. Since then, I've tried to read everything JT LeRoy has written, be it book or article or interview. He is a genius. His ability to paint word pictures, in both Sarah and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is astounding. I've never read anyone who can produce such clear images in my mind's eye as this author's writing can do. His analogies and descriptions are spot on and breath taking. His innate sense of timing gives the reader the perfect emotion (humor, poignancy, introspection) at the most opportune time so that the meaning sinks deepest. His writing can lull you into thinking that you know this situation, this scenario, this setting. Then, just as you're settling into complacency, he jerks the rug out from under you with a reality that can barely be imagined. He is a singular talent. I have no doubt at all that his writing will stand the test of time and he will be the Mark Twain of this generation.
Rating: 
Summary: Oliver Twist from Hell...
Review: 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 www.jtleroy.com 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.
Rating:
Summary: Oliver Twist from Hell...
Review: 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 www.jtleroy.com 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.
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