From the wondrous Beth Orton about the reading at Foyle's
This is one of the best letters I've ever gotten. She just says it all, ya know?
Beth's intro before she read from Sarah, page 49 - 50
"I have never read one of JT LeRoy’s books and so I should not be here really but I got sent this to read and the only way I know to describe his words is they are entirely edible (no pun intended). So at four pm today I decided to come along anyway and read."
And what she said afterward...
I am so glad I did come along. It was an inspiration to meet you all. I didn't know what to say after the film. I was in a state of heightened reality and it seemed surreal to be sitting around drinking champagne and eating canapes. Though, in retrospect, there is so much to celebrate every time someone gets to speak up and be seen and heard.
A friend who came to the reading but could not make the film asked me how JT seemed after the showing of the film. I thought for a second and then said I got a sense of relief from him. I wonder if that's true, or my own projection. I have just completed a batch of recordings where I finally found the words to articulate that which haunts and compels and drives me out of my fuckingmind and only then can I experience a sense of peace with the world and myself. Sometimes it feels like crude chips at a huge lump of rock but when I keep chipping away, the truth seems to become more refined/exact and resonate deeper. Children who never got heard find all sorts of ways to speak up, some not as positive as
others.
For me, Monday night was a perfect example of the healing power of art in all our lives...am I sounding like some evangelical new age tosser?...don't answer that one.....but especially here in Britain, where arts funding gets cut daily, where artistic endeavor is seen as some kind of indulgence...But JT LeRoy seems to me to be
the walking, talking, (if only a whisper at times) but, most importantly, the writing example of the happy ending art can bring to even the most seemingly damned existence.
Oh, I don’t know that I can express this all that clearly without it turning into cliche, but I do know that
the shame is less every time we strive to create beauty/art out of an ugly past. Proof that it is humanly possible to do so gives us back our power. I just wanted to say thanks really and I'm off out to buy your books.
Loads of love and best wishes
Beth
Beth's intro before she read from Sarah, page 49 - 50
"I have never read one of JT LeRoy’s books and so I should not be here really but I got sent this to read and the only way I know to describe his words is they are entirely edible (no pun intended). So at four pm today I decided to come along anyway and read."
And what she said afterward...
I am so glad I did come along. It was an inspiration to meet you all. I didn't know what to say after the film. I was in a state of heightened reality and it seemed surreal to be sitting around drinking champagne and eating canapes. Though, in retrospect, there is so much to celebrate every time someone gets to speak up and be seen and heard.
A friend who came to the reading but could not make the film asked me how JT seemed after the showing of the film. I thought for a second and then said I got a sense of relief from him. I wonder if that's true, or my own projection. I have just completed a batch of recordings where I finally found the words to articulate that which haunts and compels and drives me out of my fuckingmind and only then can I experience a sense of peace with the world and myself. Sometimes it feels like crude chips at a huge lump of rock but when I keep chipping away, the truth seems to become more refined/exact and resonate deeper. Children who never got heard find all sorts of ways to speak up, some not as positive as
others.
For me, Monday night was a perfect example of the healing power of art in all our lives...am I sounding like some evangelical new age tosser?...don't answer that one.....but especially here in Britain, where arts funding gets cut daily, where artistic endeavor is seen as some kind of indulgence...But JT LeRoy seems to me to be
the walking, talking, (if only a whisper at times) but, most importantly, the writing example of the happy ending art can bring to even the most seemingly damned existence.
Oh, I don’t know that I can express this all that clearly without it turning into cliche, but I do know that
the shame is less every time we strive to create beauty/art out of an ugly past. Proof that it is humanly possible to do so gives us back our power. I just wanted to say thanks really and I'm off out to buy your books.
Loads of love and best wishes
Beth
posted by JT LeRoy at 6:30 PM
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