Author: The JT LeRoy Story

Jeff Feuerzeig's 2016 documentary tells the story of JT LeRoy, a literary star of the late nineties who did not exist. LeRoy's harsh, seemingly autobiographical novels drew enormous attention; the person writing them was Laura Albert, in her forties, and someone else appeared as LeRoy at public events. The documentary rests almost entirely on Albert's account and on phone calls she recorded. Those recordings are its most striking material, with conversations involving well-known figures heard directly. But the same choice is its greatest limit: we hear the story from one side, and from the person at the centre of it. Albert defends what happened not as a fraud but as a necessary part of her practice as a writer. The documentary places no serious counter-voice against that defence; the view of those who felt deceived is kept brief. Who it's for: those curious about arguments over identity and authenticity in the literary world. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a balanced investigation; the film largely accepts its subject's account.