Laura Albert (right) published three books under the name JT LeRoy and employed others (such as the woman to the left) to adopt the invented persona of LeRoy, a male teen prodigy/prostitute/AIDS afflictee.
When the story broke in 2006 that the 40-ish Albert had invented the whole thing, she was sued by her publisher and shunned by LeRoy’s early supporters; they felt betrayed when what they’d been led to believe about the author had turned out to be a lie.
It turns out Albert had fashioned a lifetime of such behavior into a career.
Dave Eggers, interviewed for an excellent LA Weekly story about Albert, said, “I teach writing to high school students, and every year, I have a kid whose writing is great, and I ask myself, is it really great, or do I think it’s great because a 15-year-old wrote it? You can never separate it.”
Albert herself felt victimized by the ill will generated by her unmasking, but dismissed it as “sour grapes.”
Speaking of her entourage and former supporters, Albert told the LA Weekly that “We were really there (to spread) joy and love.”
Her work was judged the way it was because people believed she was someone else, rather than on the work itself.
What sort of allowances do you think consumers make when faced with the invented personae of porn?
Previously: “You’re not one of us“; Cultural learnings of the Abby Winters girls
See also: The lies and follies of Laura Albert, aka JT LeRoy (laweekly)
Laura Alpert is a sociopathic creep, but she sure did yank the new clothes off all those “transgressive” backpatters like Cooper, Silverberg, et al. Does Eon qualify cuz, like, he kept presenting himself as a skinny lil emo brat when he’s actually a mid-30s huckster? Is he as sociopathic &/or creepy as “Speedie”? I dunno. Go Ask Asia (Argento). When she’s ten feet tall.
This story – yours and the LA Weekly’s – made me shudder. Inappropriate behavior is tolerated so much better when there’s money involved. And people want to believe so much that they overlook the glaring inconsistencies (say, like the Joey Butafucco sex tape)