The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things - by Jt Leroy (Paperback)

About the Book

A collection of short autobiographical stories explore the trials of a boy vying for his mother's attention as she searches for love, struggling for control, and living on the streets of San Francisco.

Book Synopsis

National Bestseller

With a new foreword by Jeff Feuerzeig

A timely reissue of the extraordinary stories by JT LeRoy/Laura Albert that won international acclaim, to be timed with the theatrical release of the documentary Author: The JT LeRoy Story.

"A startling achievement."--Publishers Weekly

This book of interconnected stories depicts the chaotic life of a young boy on the run with his teenage mother. When Sarah reclaims Jeremiah from his foster parents, he finds himself catapulted into her world of motels and truck stops, exposed to the abusive, exploitative men she encounters. As he learns to survive in this harrowing environment, Jeremiah also learns to love his mother, even as she descends into drug-fueled madness.

Told in spare, lyrical prose, rich with imagination and dark humor, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things transforms the savagery of Jeremiah's world into an indelible experience of compassion. This special edition includes an additional seven stories, previously uncollected, by JT LeRoy, the literary persona of Laura Albert.

From the Back Cover

This book of interconnected stories depicts the chaotic life of a young boy on the run with his teenage mother. When Sarah reclaims Jeremiah from his foster parents, he finds himself catapulted into her world of motels and truck stops, exposed to the abusive, exploitative men she encounters. As he learns to survive in this harrowing environment, Jeremiah also learns to love his mother, even as she descends into drug-fueled madness. Told in spare, lyrical prose, rich with imagination and dark humor, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things transforms the savagery of Jeremiah's world into an indelible experience of compassion. This special edition includes an additional seven stories, previously uncollected.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things and JT LeRoy:
"Strong, fierce, hard...astonishing." -- Kirkus Reviews

"An eyewitness's imagination burns in his language, which is not lyrical but as vivid as a match held close to the face." -- New York Times

"The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things [has] grit, tragedy, and power. The force of the story continues to exist, and I don't think it matters who is or isn't anymore. -- Lit Hub

"LeRoy's work is a startling achievement in his accelerating mastery of the literary form." -- Publishers Weekly

"LeRoy manages to write simply about the most tangled of emotions -- and to describe, without hatred or self-pity, the most monstrous of deeds." -- Newsweek