Wednesday, January 11, 2006

This is JT LeRoy. Take a Good Look. How Did Anyone Ever Think This Chick Was a Dude? I mean, seriously. (Also, more James Frey Stuff)

Not to keep harping on this James Frey and JT Leroy business, (ok, I'm harping on it), but I thought I'd throw some links up from around the web as the fallout from these two literary shitstorms continue to rain down. On Salon, Ayelet Waldman, wife of Michael Chabon and recent guest on Oprah Winfrey's show (she came on to defend an essay in which she wrote her husband was more important to her than her children were -- lots of folks in the Oprah audience did NOT like that sentiment, and let her know it -- good episode), wrote an essay about how she felt about being fooled by JT LeRoy. She's not that bothered as it turns out. (You'll have to watch a brief ad to read the article). I didn't realize Ayelet (what kind of name is Ayelet, by the way? Anyone know?) was Chabon's husband just by her name, so I didn't get all the references to JT LeRoy's interest in Waldman's unnamed writer husband. Apparently, Chabon couldn't stand talking to the person pretending to be LeRoy, which makes me like Chabon a bit more. When's his novel about Alaska coming out? Anyone know?

As for Frey. He's going to be on Larry King tonight at 9PM EST. Larry's show is stop #1 for people who want to tell their side on national television but don't want to have to bother with any tough questions. It's like the exact opposite of Meet the Press. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to watch it, and there can be even more James Frey material for tomorrow's post. Yayy!! (Don't ask about the mugshot. Found it on Google search and I thought it was pretty funny. Larry King doesn't seem much like the criminal type, you know?)

And finally, as a result of the Smoking Gun's expose, A Million Little Pieces publisher, Random House, is offering a refund to anyone who bought their copy directly from the publisher. I don't know how many copies this amounts to. Never heard of anyone buying a book directly from the publisher if it's widely available in any bookstore, library, grocery store, or online, but maybe it amounts to some dough after all. I don't know if this move is because Random House thinks they were misled by Frey and are doing this a vote of no confidence in their author, or if they're just doing it simply to avoid any reader antipathy being directed at their company. Maybe they still support Frey. Oprah hasn't weighed in yet, and neither has Frey's legion of fans. Maybe they're all waiting to hear what Frey has to say tonight.

3 comments:

Seeking Completion said...

Hey bro, still planning on comeing over tomorrow and i am going to bring GUITAR HERO... if you don't have this game GET IT... its friggin hilarious... i don't know who any of these people are but... keep rocking the blog brohiem

Anonymous said...

I want to point out that not only did Crane say he watched Oprah but that it was good.

I didn't want anyone to skim over that.

BOC

blankfist said...

I've just translated that to mean Shawn has a crush on the Hot Love Reggie Machine! "Come here Shaaaaawn, lay with me... ain't no one gonna see."

Isn't the exclusivity of inside jokes just great?