the heart is deceitful above all things

released in hardcover: june 2001
published by bloomsbury usa
distributed by st. martin's press

The film version of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things Kicks off the San Francisco IndieFest. Read all about it!

The extraordinary stories that brought the author a cult following at the age of sixteen. Circulated copies of LeRoy's handwritten notebook pages brought early attention to the then unpublished author. Collected in print for the first time, these loosely connected autobiographical stories describe the harrowing experiences of a young boy's life on the run. From the heartbreaking "Meteors," where he struggles for the attention of his wandering mother, to the paranoia of "Coal," to living on the streets of San Francisco in "Natoma Street," J.T. LeRoy's voice is as lyrical and nuanced as the readers of his acclaimed debut novel Sarah have come to expect. Fresh, raw, and absolutely unforgettable, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is sure to establish LeRoy as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary fiction.

"JT LeRoy's writing is savagely authentic and appallingly beautiful."
-John Waters

"It is a fascinating book, a book that instantly stirs the emotions and involves the readers in the lives of the people. It did not take long for the judgments to come fast and furious. That?s what can be so deceitful about this book: you get so caught up in the circumstances and lives of the people you can easily overlook the quality of the writing, which is exceptional. One of the reasons this book is so powerful and effective is because it is beautifully structured and written. JT LeRoy should have a most remarkable future as a writer." -Hubert Selby, Jr.

"[LeRoy's] world is one of terrifying, preternatural maturity...Strong, fierce, hard, and frankly astonishing." - Kirkus Reviews

"[JT LeRoy] is the brilliant, gifted, and profound fly on the wall." -Vanity Fair