Cannonball Read III: Book #26/52
Published: 1999
Pages: 250 (11,385 total so far)
Genre: Fake memoir?
First of all, apparently they was a bunch of controversy over the author of this book back when it came out. It was branded as being a true story about a young boy, but then it was found out to have actually been written by a middle aged woman who was going so far as to actually have another woman pose as "JT LeRoy" (he's suggested to be transgendered) at book signings. Anyways, I knew all this before I read the book so I read it solely as a work of fiction.
The book is more or less a collection of short stories from different points in the life of a young boy named Jeremiah. He was in foster care when he was a baby after he was born to his fourteen-year-old mother, Sarah. Sarah takes him back when he is around four years old and drags him around while she bounces between various boyfriends and her job as a truck stop prostitute.
The whole book is very sad and I can only imagine how much more horrifying it must have been when it was initially released as a memoir. It's all just story after story of horrific child abuse and neglect. I'm pretty sure I bought this book back when I was in my Google-disturbing-books-and-read-whatever-comes-up phase in college. It's sat on my bookshelf for several years and I'm glad I can finally mark it off my list, but I probably won't be keeping it around for a re-read.
