Letters to the Editor
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Nothing is as disarming...
"But you are right that my last post has some disingenuousness in it. I was trying to be clever and I was dishonest about the context of ignorant as a result. And I'm sorry about that that lapse into rhetorical stupidity."
Well, nothing is as disarming to one's opponent in a debate as admitting a fault honestly. Now I remember why I so often agree with you rather than disagree :)
ronron
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Hey, cosmicmojo
The funny thing is it's those folks who were also taken in by the JT Leroy lie who have been forced into b*tching about our smugness at not having been taken in--let alone not having wasted time in the same circles of self-congratulatory flagellists populating narrow sections of NYC and SF, exclusively.
Yes, we're proud that we haven't heard of and/or been taken in by these scam artists. Call us ignorant (and pretend it wasn't meant as an insult). Call us what you will, it's OK. We didn't fall for that crap. So I don't subscribe to "New York" magazine, I'm not one of the so-far-left-I'm-a-parody-of-myself Berkeley crowd, and I don't watch Oprah nor read what she tells me to. Yeah, I can afford to be a bit smug about those credentials. And thank goodness I'm not the navel-gazing star-f*cker-wannabe Mrs. Chabon, almost-freind-of-Madonna-because-we-spoke-to-the-same-'guy'-on-the-phone. Yeah, I'm smug. I have every right to be.
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Idiots.................
Why do some of you persist in calling this sham, this shill a "he" when intelligent people were not duped. Wanna be starf*ckers were duped and wanted to be duped. Narcisstic, self-indulgent morons were taken in. Practical, pragmatic, intelligent people were not. This "JT Leroy" is a fabrication that was embraced by idiots and who created a web of fabricated lies that was believed only by morons. Leroy is not even a writer as the work is being ghosted by someone else. The written work is mediocre at best. Try reading Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men" a real Pulizter Prize winning Novel. Don't give this utter loser any more than their her 15 minutes of fame, she doesn't deserve or merit it. The writer of this article should listen and be directed by her husband, an obviously more intelligent and reasonable person.
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I'm enjoying this
A recurring theme in many of the essays and commentaries on Salon is the assumption that the majority of the American public are dupes, and if only they were more intelligent, more insightful, or more aware of the world then they would certainly agree with the author.
It's a useful stance as it doesn't require that the auther demonstrate a thorough understanding of whatever issue is being discussed, and it strokes the egos of those who agree with the author.
One downside, though, is that the author has made their intelligence and resistance to being duped a cornerstone of their argument.
Now it turns out that many of these same authors were pretty easily duped, by people who lied to them numerous times. So it's fun to watch them scramble to explain all this away.
AJ
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JT Leroy was very important to Middle and High School kids.
What the Waldman article did not explain, and that many of the letter writers do not seem to realize, is that JT Leroy was very important to, and heavily influenced many young people. Maybe you have not heard of Leroy, but there is a good chance that if you have kids between the ages of 13 and 20 either they or their friends have.
I worked as a substitute teacher a few years ago, and remember that at every Middle School and High school that I went to there would be a group of kids who had devoured these books, and absolutely believed every word. The band Garbage even wrote a song about him (Cherry Lips), and said that everyone in America should be required to read his books. I don’t doubt that many of their fans did.
These kids were often troubled, and all of them were naïve. Their lack of experience with the real world led them to take everything that happened at face value. I have no doubt that these kids really did believe that there are child prostitution rings at truck stops in West Virginia. Some of the kids who had grown up in bad situation did find inspiration in Leroy’s story, how he was able to overcome his past (if he could overcome being a transvestite prostitute, I can overcome my lecherous step father, etc.), and I have no idea what effect these new revelations will have on them. I just hope that by now they have out grown their hero worship phase.
JT Leroy did not just deceive the coastal literary elite, he influenced a swath of impressionable youth, and that, more than whether Waldman was dubed or not, should be the real story.
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You really must be joking................
The books were works of fiction, from a woman who tried lamely to look as if she was dressing in drag and attempted to pass the writing off as some story of her life, as a man mind you. Only fools were taken in by this. Do you fall into this category? I can excuse the naivety of youth, but I can't excuse the complete self-absorption and stupidity of a sane adult making the mistakes of youth. You really need to grow up. Children should not look to a less than profound liar and manipulator for guidance or direction in an otherwise troubled world merely because "JT Leroy" wanted to make a lot of money. My hats of to the lady who is JT and her co-conspirators for duping so many morons to pay good money for this crap. You can do same thing, and probably do, when you watch TBN and give your money to Jimmy Lee Swaggart, Pat Robertson or other similar shills selling their brand of snake oil. As a substitute teach try being a good role model yourself rather than encouraging them to read works which are needlessly stupid and trite.
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A good article on Leroy
Can be found here:
http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2006/01/slashfraud_the_.html
Well written by someone who actually knows alternate america, coherent and *not* up its own anus.
She makes one very interesting suggestion - that Emily Albert (the real Leroy) is actually writing slash, i.e. gay male fan fiction written by straight women. Fascinating stuff.