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A review by maralyons
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things: Stories by J.T. LeRoy
4.0
Overall, a fascinating set of interconnected short stories about Jeremiah’s youth and young adulthood. Jeremiah is presumably the same Jeremiah in LeRoy’s novel Sarah. The first third I found particularly difficult to get through as graphic sexual and verbal abuse is so vile. I’m not sure what to make of these. Is it torture porn and exploitative or are the incidents realistically portrayed? It’s hard to mention LeRoy’s writing without referencing the hoax that Laura Albert pretended to be JT LeRoy writing semi-autobiographically. This was taken much further by Albert’s sister-in-law portrayed LeRoy at events and hobnobbed with Gen X celebrities. Albert has said she wrote as JT LeRoy as a way to distance herself from and process the abuse she faced as a child.
Jeremiah, who is taken from his foster parents at a young age, reclaimed by his young, neglectful verbally and physically abusive mother. Reclaimed not because of her love for him, but to prove a point that no one else can take what’s hers. They travel a lot together, he grows up quickly, and has difficulty seeking out healthy relationships. Some of the stories are utterly heartbreaking. His emotions are rewired and associates love with the abusive attention he receives. Some of the stories seemed disjointed and the timeline skips, so it takes a few minutes to reacclimate to each new story. Some of the final stories are redemptive and even hopeful. These were my favorite stories. I listened to the audiobook version. It was an interesting choice to have a different narrator for each story. This didn’t always work for me as it took me out of Jeremiah’s life a little bit, but the narrators did a fantastic job on each story.
Thank you Blackstone Audiobooks and NetGalley for providing an audiobook ARC.
Jeremiah, who is taken from his foster parents at a young age, reclaimed by his young, neglectful verbally and physically abusive mother. Reclaimed not because of her love for him, but to prove a point that no one else can take what’s hers. They travel a lot together, he grows up quickly, and has difficulty seeking out healthy relationships. Some of the stories are utterly heartbreaking. His emotions are rewired and associates love with the abusive attention he receives. Some of the stories seemed disjointed and the timeline skips, so it takes a few minutes to reacclimate to each new story. Some of the final stories are redemptive and even hopeful. These were my favorite stories. I listened to the audiobook version. It was an interesting choice to have a different narrator for each story. This didn’t always work for me as it took me out of Jeremiah’s life a little bit, but the narrators did a fantastic job on each story.
Thank you Blackstone Audiobooks and NetGalley for providing an audiobook ARC.