Laura Albert was abused as a child. As an adult, she started to write: fiction, but intensely personal fiction, informed by her past. Her voice, as a writer, was that of a young (gender-uncertain) man. But far from this voice being an intellectual creation, her character was almost an alternative personality, a being through whom she channelled a part of her self that she couldn't reach any other way. One could Laura had a gift for a form of role-play that had very little to do with play (J.T. Leroy was not the only persona who she could adopt more or less at will but with an almost uncontrollable conviction). When she published, she did so under the J.T. Leroy name. And she used that character's biography as a lever to attract interest in the stories he was telling. It's odd, fiction is fiction, but as the audience we like it if we feel it is based on personal experience. And J.T. was the author who just might have written Albert's novels, although the irony is that the books were still deeply personal, albeit less obviously than if J.T. had actually existed and written them himself.
Then the story gets really weird. The books are a hit; the media wants to see J.T.; Laura persuades a (female) relative to act as J.T. in public, while she herself adopts another guise as J.T.'s manager. J.T. becomes famous, a friend to countless celebrities. Then eventually, the truth gets out and in the end, Albert is sued for fraud.
It's an amazing story, relayed in this film. Less interesting than the "is it fraud?" aspect is Albert's amazing ability to sustain multiple identities, and what's sad is the story of personal trauma that might have caused this to be. It's also interesting to see the way that our culture needs to make events out of things, that instead of simply judging what only ever claimed to be fiction on its merits, it's the media's obsession with the character of the author that makes Albert's deceptions a public phenomenon (although, to be fair, this is also what enables Albert to sell so many books and to meet so many famous people). The film definitely is Albert's telling of her story, and her self-evident skill in manipulating reality means one has to watch it with a measure of caution; but for the most part it rings true, a fascinating yet in places disturbing tale of life and art intermingling.
