Sarah

released in hardcover: april 2000
published by bloomsbury usa
distributed by st. martin's press

Sarah is the story of the prodigal son recast in the carnivalesque world of the highway truck stop and its environs. The narrator, an androgynous twelve year old boy, idolizes his mother Sarah, a "lot lizard," or truckstop whore. He leaves the safety of the lot - a perversely idyllic kingdom ruled by Glading Grateful ETC., a benevolent pimp who sent one of his boys to chef's school to cook gourmet meals at the truckstop diner - on a quest to become as famous as his mother. Adopting her name and sex, "Sarah" stumbles into dangerous and fantastic worlds pocketed away in the West Virginian wilds. He hitches a ride to the famous luck restoring Jackalope, is mistaken for a saint and must prove himself by walking on water. When he is captured by LeLoup, Glad's violent rival, "Sarah's" life is all but over. Will he perish at the hands of LeLoup, or will "Sarah" find his way home? JT LeRoy has created a hauntingly memorable world, strangely reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. Heartwarming as it is bizarre, beautiful and stunningly original, Sarah heralds the debut of an impressive talent.