The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things J T LeRoy Bloomsbury, 247pp, £6.99 ISBN 0747554234
J T LeRoy, still a very young man, has already lived many remarkable lives, but none as unlikely as his current guise of the acclaimed author. His second novel draws, as did his well-received debut, Sarah, on his harrowing childhood experiences (he was a rent boy and a drug addict). Jeremiah, the young narrator of this novel, tells of the effects of both sexual and chemical abuse in a world where the sinned against soon becomes the sinner.
The physical and mental pain that Jeremiah describes is heightened by the innocence of his voice. He loves his mother, and craves her company however much pain she causes him.
The success of the novel lies in the narrator's acceptance of his hopeless situation. Treated like a "baby doll", he aspires to an inanimate existence, to become nothing. "I know I won't cry. I just know it isn't possible," Jeremiah laments. I know how he feels.
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