Author: The JT LeRoy Story

The case of JT LeRoy constitutes one of the greatest literary hoaxes of recent times. The author—supposedly an androgynous, HIV-positive teen who was abandoned in California by his mother, a West Virginia truck-stop prostitute—was embraced by publishers, critics, and celebrities alike, but he was actually the invention of Laura Albert, a San Francisco woman who wrote everything published under Leroy's name. Albert spoke in his voice in telephone interviews while orchestrating public appearances in which he was impersonated by the heavily-disguised half-sister of her boyfriend. Albert was unmasked through news reports in 2006 and eventually convicted of fraud for signing contracts in Leroy's name. One might expect Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary to offer an objective account of this curious episode, but it does not, instead telling the story entirely from Albert's point of view. Author thus serves as an odd apologia in which Albert unrepentantly portrays her imposture not as a deliberate attempt to deceive but as a therapeutic exorcism of her own inner demons, while also characterizing those who outed her as traitors, and happily providing tapes of celebrities she duped to underscore her success (dissenting voices are conspicuously absent here). But while not even remotely balanced, the documentary does present a treasure trove of fascinating archival material (coupled with some effective animation) and is consistently engrossing even as it sidesteps the issue of culpability. One might also argue that by giving Albert free rein to justify herself, the film is more effective in eroding her credibility than a direct critical attack would have been. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)