(Untitled)

[trickymartin]

Whoa.
JT Leroy revealed.
Thanks for posting, starofpersia.

Comments

[talentshow]

Not quite a full reveal. We still don't know who the real writer is.

Bizarre stuff. I've been following speculations via Gawker. I'd never read JT Leroy before all this so, whoever JT is is getting some great publicity right now.

[superblue]

i've been totally following this and i did think before that it really doesn't matter if albert wrote his novels or if someone was posing as him, etc. however, i had no idea that whoever is behind this scam claimed that jt is/was dying of AIDS. that's pretty fucked up and shady.

besides the AIDS thing though, who really care who the "real" jt is? if people like and respond to his writing, what does it matter in the end?

[talentshow]

That's pretty much how I feel. I'm massively creeped out by someone exploiting peoples' good will towards victims of AIDS, and how this can blow up in the faces of people/artists who ARE living with AIDS, and to a somewhat lesser degree creeped out at the prospect of someone appropriating the "street cred" of working poor Southern sex workers. But who knows? I still don't know who wrote the stuff, so maybe the writer IS a working poor Southern sex worker. If it's some old, rich white guy? Much less okay.

[superblue]

when i first started reading that jt might not be who he presented himself as, and especially that ny magazine article, i was definitely not cool with the appropriation of certain identities in order to advance your art. but hopefully, the writing and the importance of the subject(s) can be the best things to come out of this scam. i mean, maybe we will start reading more stories that address (in a respectful and thoughtful manner) issues that face the people that jt writes about that don't have much of a presence in literature. i hope so anyway.

[talentshow]

There were just so many people who lived and died and wrote about the stuff Leroy is writing about who were authentic. Why not focus on THEM?

Republish the works of David Wojnarowicz and Cookie Mueller, and fuck bougie appropriators.

[a_comet_by_far]

"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."

that pretty much sums it up to me. i think half the reaction i've had to jt leroy's writing has come from a place of empathy, from a place of belief that these stories were somewhat autobiographical, a place in my heart that breaks for other survivors, other poor kids, other addicts, other freaks, you know? i hope that whoever has used this named as a ghostwriter or whatever isn't exploiting these emotions from folks with fake stories about this terrible crazy life he's supposedly survived.

[cold_in_august]

hey, shannon, it's good to see you around. i hope you're doing well. i've been thinking of you.

xo,
ami

[tracijean]

oh shit! this is all so fascinating. i've been reading jt leroy since way back when he was (supposedly) a little tiny thing, posting on nerve.com. i just recently caught up on the new york magazine article and all that, and now this. man! i don't know what i think yet.

[starofpersia]

The whole thing always seemed shady to me. I liked this quote from another article because it sums up my feelings pretty well: "But what if America isn’t really the sort of place where a street urchin can charm his way to the top, through diligence and talent; what if instead it’s the sort of place where heartwarming stories of abused children who triumph through adversity are made up and marketed?"

[trickymartin]

That's fucking chilling.
Reality Tv/perverse American dream bullshit.
American society eats up hard luck stories with a spoon as evidenced by shit like extreme makeover. It's just taking it a step further.
Did you know "JT" thru diaryland as well, Bianca? We established a pretty good email relationship back then so this blows my dome on many levels.
I had been following the speculation/investigative reporting but had been leaning towards the witch-hunt against JTL theories.

[starofpersia]

I didn't even know he had a diaryland...It's amazing that this thing has reached such mammoth proportions...It almost seems like it would have had to have been engineered as such. I think the fact that there was a lack of a concrete human behind the persona might have contributed to the hype/longevity- everybody loves a mystery...

[talentshow]

What article was that? I'd *really* be interested in reading it in its entirety.