There's a fascinating piece this week in New York magazine about J.T. LeRoy, the reclusive, gender-bending, "gay lit It Boy." Purportedly a former teenage male prostitute who later turned his/her suffering into a literary career, LeRoy has for the last few years staged literary readings in which major celebrities read LeRoy's work- although the author has rarely shown up, except for in the guise of a costumed character called "Wigs and Sunglasses."
The New York piece argues, rather, that LeRoy is a hoax, the brainchild of the woman LeRoy claims is a friend/bandmate. It's a fascinating theory that sounds accurate- but didn't LeRoy use to be a staff writer for New York Press? And didn't John Strausbaugh, in his book "Rock 'Til You Drop," discuss at length the musical tastes of several of his in-house staffers, including LeRoy?
Posted by Stephen Silver at October 10, 2005 12:49 PMI'm sure the creator of this JT LeRoy learned much from George Will and Sidd Finch ... especially knowing that the target audiences for the two characters would largely never overlap.
Posted by: LilB at October 12, 2005 02:31 PM