JT LeRoy review – a less surprising hoax the second time around

The fake author who fooled the publishing world is brought back to life in a diverting tale that treads familiar ground“Sometimes, a lie’s more truth than the truth,” drawls author JT Leroy, speaking down a crackling telephone line. This straightforward dramatisation of Savannah Knoop’s 2008 memoir Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy details the scandalous, six-year-long ruse created by Knoop (Kristen Stewart) and author Laura Albert (Laura Dern) in the early noughties. Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy wasn’t just Albert’s pseudonym; he was a full-blown literary persona with a salacious backstory of poverty and child abuse that made the teenager’s acclaimed semi-autobiographical novels appear more authentic.When Albert meets her boyfriend’s shy, androgynous sister Savannah, she sees an opportunity to realise the reclusive LeRoy (the hunched, shuffling Stewart is perfect casting) and turn him into a celebrity phenomenon. Albert styles herself as LeRoy’s mad British manager Speedie; magazine covers and multimillion dollar film adaptations follow. For those familiar with the story, this version of LeRoy’s rise and fall won’t offer new revelations. Still, Dern brings a hungry, manic energy to Albert, a sad and troubled woman who used LeRoy as a vehicle to process her own childhood trauma, while Stewart’s performance is typically interiorised and exacting. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-18 07:00:10 UTC ]
News tagged with: #magazine covers #childhood trauma #memoir #publishing world

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Book Review: ‘The Taking of Jemima Boone,’ by Matthew Pearl

“The Taking of Jemima Boone,” the first nonfiction book by the novelist Matthew Pearl, recounts a legendary abduction case that complicates our view of relations between settlers and Native Americans during westward expansion. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-05 16:57:40 UTC ]
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It’s Time To Slow Down Your Audiobook Speed

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[ Book Riot | 2021-10-04 10:39:00 UTC ]
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Media startup Ozy shuts down after New York Times report raises concerns

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[ The Guardian | 2021-10-01 23:52:05 UTC ]
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Incest story by Pinocchio author published in English for the first time

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[ The Guardian | 2021-10-01 13:46:15 UTC ]
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Canada’s Guest of Honour time finally comes

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-30 21:51:47 UTC ]
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Engadget Podcast: Everything Microsoft Surface + iPhone 13, iPad Mini reviews

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[ Engadget | 2021-09-24 12:30:45 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land,’ by Anthony Doerr

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[ The New York Times | 2021-09-24 09:00:04 UTC ]
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News Review: Illustration spotlight

The Association of Illustrators (AOI) is hosting “a friendly, honest conversation” about working with disabled illustrators next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-23 20:18:06 UTC ]
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Holly Smale | 'Change happens one story at a time, reminding the world what autism is from the inside'

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-23 18:27:19 UTC ]
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Baschir wins White Review Short Story Prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-23 04:15:19 UTC ]
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T.C. Boyle captures the intersection of folly and progress. This time, it’s the ill-fated Project Nim.

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[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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What is the role of art in times of turmoil? ‘A Play for the End of the World’ offers no easy answers.

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[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-14 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Caldwell shortlisted for BBC National Short Story Award for third time

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-10 09:37:40 UTC ]
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W H Allen to publish New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project

W H Allen will publish The 1619 Project: A New American Origin Story, created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-09 11:16:58 UTC ]
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Books in the Media: Whitehead shuffles into this week's reviews

Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle (Fleet) danced across the review pages this week, picking up mentions in The Bookseller, the Guardian, the Times and the New York Times, consistently being labelled as "one to watch this autumn". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-06 14:54:44 UTC ]
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David Rooney explores how ideas about time have shaped cultures and consciousness. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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An App Called Libby and the Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-Books

Increasingly, books are something that libraries do not own but borrow from the corporations that do. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-09-02 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Time to decolonize and diversify the writer’s retreat?

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[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-02 05:17:10 UTC ]
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