JT LeRoy's story is now a movie

In 2000 readers around the world were charmed by Sarah, the first novel written by a teen prodigy named JT LeRoy. The solitary author introduced himself as the son of a heroin-addicted prostitute, Sarah, receiving a myriad of compliments from critics and collecting celebrity fans such as Winona Ryder, Courtney Love, Juergen Teller and Gus Van Sant. LeRoy also wrote the original screenplay for Gus Van Sant's movie Elephant and was listed as the movie's associate producer.

After six years and a collection of ten short stories titled The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, in January 2006 a shocking article appeared in The New York Times revealed that LeRoy was actually a pseudonym. It was not just a phony moniker, but a real hoax committed by writer Laura Albert. The clever woman had created an authentic character, involving her husband’s sister Savannah Knoop and using her as JT’s public image (platinum blond wig, a lover of concerts and fashion shows, celebs' friend).

The curious ''novel in the novel'' immediately attracted the media interest, so much that it became the subject of an interesting documentary called Author: The JT LeRoy story, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, whose release is scheduled for September 9th. While we wait for the movie to be out, you can watch the trailer here: