Sarah

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Summary: THE BEST BOOK I READ THIS CENTURY!
Review: Kidding aside, "SARAH" is a treasure. I read a LOT, some junk, but a lot of classics and recommended stuff, and I owe a BIG HUG to the buddy who put me on to SARAH. After I read the first chapter, there was no holding me back. This story about a sweet-natured young boy who's just on the brink of teen-age could be about any of my own younger brothers - except that they didn't dress up in their mother's clothing or have the same desire to please men sexually. Yet, he's just a good kid and I kept cheering for him to survive the tough adventure he chose to prove his manhood...Yep, that's how he's like my kid brothers, who were always doing dangerous stunts to prove they were real guys. What a fabulous book!

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Summary: We Demand a Sequel!
Review: This is the most extraordinary and lucid book I've read in a long time. JT Leroy tells his adventurous mind-blowing tale in a way that makes you laugh, cry and really understand the thinking and heart of an abused kid, without asking for pity. I couldn't put it down and came away enchanted by his Sarah's approach to life, the way the language captures another world, all the details that create a gorgeously fascinating place, terrifyingly real, yet so magical. How did he do it? I want more POOH! I miss her, cant stop thinking of her and that world. I think a sequel is owed!

Rating:
Summary: Sarah
Review: More than a book. Sarah effects you more than a book is supposed to. JT Leroy is the type of writer you discover when you are young and keep with you until the day you die. With this remarkable story, he joins the exclusive club of writers that actually mean something in a business clogged with hacks and half-wits.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Buy
Review: When I heard about JT Leroy's age in the press, I've got to admit I wasn't expecting much. What I got was so much more. It blew me away. I read the whole thing in a day. His dedication to the craft, his push towards excellence, is visible in the text. Not only is the story an amazing mix of fairytale innocence with adult reality, the prose is right on, skillfully and carefully crafted. A new classic.

Rating:
Summary: .......a transgender fairytale
Review: Once in a while you read a book that makes you feel like you are involved. "Sarah" is definelty this kind of book.....to say the least. From the bizzare yet touching relationship that Sarah has with his/her mother, to Sarah going on her first trick....this book is something that everyone I know should read...at least twice.

Rating:
Summary: Fist Kisses
Review: It's rare to enter into a world that is so complete and so foreign and so gorgeous as the one laid out in JT LeRoy's SARAH. Each sentence is full of beauty and heartbreak. When you enter the world of SARAH, you don't want to leave. You want to hold the characters close and listen to their words on the world for hours. The last book that broke my heart AND gave me hope for people in this scary world was Carolyn Chute's BEANS OF EGYPT MAINE. Not to say that SARAH is a sad book. It's full of wonder for the world and innocence not lost, but changed. I promise you, you won't ever read anything like it ever again.

Rating:
Summary: JUST GO BUY A COPY AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!
Review: Once I started, I could not put down my copy of a new book called "Sarah," written by someone even younger than I am. Certainly, the book is captivating and full of descriptions that make the West Virginia locale real and alive. The young author has a good ear for speech; he captures the tone, expressions, and rhythms of the people who live there. The story is partly autobiographical - but wholly wonderful. I cared so much for the androgynous boy who calls himself Sarah, possibly because he's so open and uncomplaining, trying so hard to please and just be loved. He never has a moment's self-pity, or thinks of himself as abused. Thus, he remains pure innocence, and that is the tender heart of this story. In drama, they say it is not for the character to weep, but for the character to make the audience weep. With his courage and unsoiled ability to love, that's just what Sarah did to me.

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Summary: Is it a boy? Is it a girl? No, it's 'Sarah'!
Review: I want to buy and give a copy to every gay and every straight person I know. Well, I guess that's about everybody. Anyone who thinks s/he knows about sexual identity will marvel at the subtle underlying premise of 'Sarah.' In his desire to get a bigger raccoon penis bone, he is a competitive male, off on an adventure. He is Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer, bold and brave. This is a work of amazing genius.

Rating:
Summary: Innocence -- A Broad!
Review: I realized that the young author, J.T.Leroy, had totally hooked me into caring about his young hero when the boy in this story decided to leave the safety and security of the only home he'd ever known -- working as a truck stop prostitute for a genuinely caring pimp -- and wander out into the world to get his idea of a symbol of achievement, a bigger raccoon penis bone. This adventure novel grips the reader with a good story. His descriptions and dialogues are so real, it's like watching a movie. Every character is interesting and unique. With a few bold and incisive strokes, LeRoy gives us the essence of each human being. "Sarah" is a sad/funny and beautiful novel that has "Classic" on every page.

Rating:
Summary: A truly original book
Review: It's one of those books that draw you in and won't let you go. The story is intriguing yet not so complex that it loses its touch with reality. The surreal atmosphere only adds to its shabby grace. This book is stunning and sad and beautiful.