I read this book knowing about the scandal behind it. J.T. Leroy, the purported author, is not a real person, and when the book was
released, people thought it was autobiographical. For that reason, the book
gets a lot of criticism. It is, however, a fantastic book that loses none of
its value, in my mind, from the literary scandal surrounding its author.
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is a novel or series
of short stories that tell the story of the horrific childhood of a boy called
Jeremiah. Jeremiah is taken from his adoptive familiar at the age of four and
given to his birth mother – a mentally unstable, meth-addicted “lot lizard,” or
prostitute.
Throughout the book, Jeremiah suffers all kinds of physical and
mental abuse at the hands of his severely damaged mother and her
boyfriends/husbands/clients. The story, although famously not true, is a
depressingly accurate depiction of child abuse. The life of Jeremiah, who we
last see at fifteen years old, is beyond tragic, yet this is the plight of too
many children in this awful world.
Although it can be difficult to read due to the subject
matter, and though people are put off by the scandal surrounding its
authorship, this is a truly great piece of contemporary literature.
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