The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

The extraordinary stories that brought the author a cult following at the age of sixteen.

These are the stories of a young boy on the run, away from his past, hellbent towards an unknown future. Connected, they form a sometimes harrowing, sometimes bleakly funny, and often tender portrait of a complicated life. Like a modern-day Voltaire, LeRoy bounces his characters from adventure to adventure, each of them unyielding in the belief that the best of all possible worlds lies just around the next corner. Fresh, raw, and absolutely unforgettable, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things has further established the acclaimed author of Sarah as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary fiction.

doesn't mean it isnt worth reading.. people are like.. if its not real.. i dont wanna read it.. i guess they're just looking for a molesters eye view or something.. the story is makes you think.. what if he would have stayed with his foster parents.. how would he have ended up.. the same can be said if he lived with his conservative christian grandparents.. a person is a person.. and yes what happens to them.. helps shape their character.

How can I be the only person alive not to know that J T LeRoy is a fake? I just bought the movie and cried all the way to the end where, they even interview this poor soul. He wants to hide, he acts very weird like someone that's been totally abused in every way possible his whole life. All of Hollywood's A-listers love and Cherish him, They support him so lovingly! He's not real? He's a middle aged housewife in NY?

I really can't believe it took me this long to find out! I'm so disgusted with my self. Laura Albert, May you burn in hell! The disservice you've done to abused children everywhere makes me sick! You should be ashamed!

I still haven't finished reading this a year later.
since finding out the author made up most of it, or all of it.
she's some housewife in New Jersey, which takes my interest away.
If it were a true-life account of a kids life I'd have already read the whole book.

The movie was pretty good though.

really, i don't think it was supposed to be written as if jane austen had possessed jt leroy. it's supposed to reflect the view from an abused boy... therefore i don't care how it's written. i don't expect eloquence in this. it is pure emotion. that's all. i liked it because it wasn't trite, and it made me want to throw up and that's what i want, dammit!

This story follows the traumatized life of a young boy through to teenage years. Physically, sexually, emotionally abused by his mother,grandparents,step-fathers and boyfriends he develops a deep love the strap and pain. It seems this is his only love and perhaps the only validation of his existence.
His mother is mentally unbalanced and her tyrannical behaviour is impossible for the reader to predict or understand. Except that the writer cleverly takes us on a journey to her own strict and abusive upbringing.

I read this book in one night which was worth it to get to an incredible last chapter!

Shocking, vivid, rivetting.