Chronicle chimes in on J.T. LeRoy hoax
Nine weeks after San Francisco novelist Stephen Beachy blew the lid off the J.T. LeRoy hoax -- demonstrating that the author of LeRoy's books was not a 20-something ambisexual former truck stop prostitute-turned-novelist, but a 40-something San Francisco woman (who herself has several aliases including Laura Albert and Emily Frasier) and/or her friends -- the SF Chronicle has chimed in with a is-he-or-isn't-she article that does much more to keep the ambivalence alive than to settle anything.
The Chronicle article references the New York piece but gives it equal weight with others -- most of whom, like LeRoy's new publisher, have a vested interest in continuing the hoax -- who claim LeRoy is real. The only new contribution made by the Chronicle article is the specious suggestion that belief in the LeRoy story is somehow linked to an appreciation of high art. Greil Marcus is quoted:
"What it all signifies to me is a deepening mistrust of the imagination, or the driving out of fiction by nonfiction," Marcus wrote in an e-mail this week. "People will read fiction about a gender-confused teenage or preteen parking-lot hustler -- but only if they can believe that what they are reading is true. Then they can celebrate the person as an artist while avoiding having to actually engage with art."
You know what this reminds me of? The Fox News hoax about the "war on Christmas." The reasoning goes like this: If you don't believe in Santa Claus, or Jesus, or J.T. LeRoy, you're somehow depraved. You don't have a true appreciation of seasonal joy/spirituality/art. You are unwilling, or unable, to confront the deep truths enshrined by these belief systems.
Well, I saw through Santa Claus a long time ago. I still believe in Jesus. But J.T. LeRoy -- I guess my problem is that I don't need there to be a white trash, self-educated former prostitute-turned-novelist. I just don't have any investment in that story.
Previously:
Reality comes crashing down on "J.T. LeRoy"
Doubts lead to cancellation of LeRoy gigs
1 comment:
You are right that Heidi Benson isn't trying herself to figure out who J. T. LeRoy really is. She's just trying to bring Chronicle readers up to date and have others speculate about whether it matters if a fiction writer fabricates his or her identity.
After reading the New York magazine piece I am convinced LeRoy is not a real person. I am also convinced that it doesn't really matter for his readers and it's an intriging mystery. But I think it will all come crashing down soon around the real writer, with some bad repercussions.
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