Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy

Savannah Knoop
Seven Stories Press (2008)
ISBN 9781583228517
Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views (4/09)


I found this to be an interesting read; not only for the story, but also for how celebrities operate and what they do enthrall us as a society.

The author describes her years as JT Leroy, a female-gone-male, in order to help her sister-in-law write her book. Being loyal to family she agrees to take on the character of JT Leroy for six years. Although at the time she doesn’t see anything wrong with what she is doing, she eventually finds that being honest with oneself is more important than the glory and money.

Under all the writing it shows us that we take people for face value in how they present themselves to us, real or perceived. Being a woman in a male world is no fun, so when you discover that being a male gives you more power, you take it to the hilt.

It is a story that shows how we as a society get caught up in our lives. Once we are in this realm, we cannot get out. Lies are part of everyone’s lives, but will everyone go as far as Savannah did. How many people did we deceive or hurt on the way?

Psychologically speaking, it is people like this that make a bad name for those who are homosexuals and trying to live a decent life. It is people like this that continue to deceive the public for their own gain.

I found reading “Girl Boy Girl” by Savannah Knoop gave me more information on the extremes people will go through to gain popularity while not even considering those they hurt along the way. How many more like this are out there?

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