Report from London
Hi folks,
I've just got a few mins online but I wanted to say that the reading
in London yesterday was really wonderful. Special props to the
fantastic, super-accomplished organiser, Carmelo - how he managed to
stay looking cool and gorgeous while managing such an event is
beyond me :) Well done, Carmie, it was much appreciated!
It was great to finally meet the lovely Vic from Termietown, and to
see Gigi, Marc, Alex & Carmie again. I'm sure they will write with
more news of the night's events, but in the meantime I just
scribbled this for Bemusing & Karbonkid's lj community, so I'll copy
& paste.
Jennie xx
It's the hungover morning after the drunken night before, and I am
needing my bed, but I thought I'd drop in to the Diner to say that
yesterday's JT Leroy reading in London went fantastically well.
It was organised by the lovely Carmelo of Foyles bookshop on Charing
Cross Road, and apparently he was swamped with media-types trying to
get tickets. Still, the atmosphere managed to avoid being too media-
wankery and there was a good, warm vibe in the room by the time the
first reader began (that might have been helped by the complimentary
wine and the little gift-set from Kiehls that was given to
everyone;p). Readers included Natalie Press, "Princess Julia" (a dj
I think), Julian Bond, the singer from The Crimea, Beth Orton, some
young blonde actor from X Men 2 (didn't catch his name), and the
wonderful Marianne Faithful. Marianne read from The Heart is
Deceitful.. and her growly voice just lit up the words for me all
over again.
When Marianne finished, JT took the podium to read from Harold's
End. He was in full blonde wig, shades & hat regalia, wearing a very
pretty lipstick, and was clearly petrified. He was literally shaking
and his voice was little more than a whisper, but he read the
excerpt where Larry first approaches the kids on the street, and got
through it. There were some questions and answers from the audience
then - about his collaboration with Asia on the film, and whether or
not he's going to write something non-autobiographical in the future
(Marianne Faithful from the audience: "He has already gone waaaaay
beyond autobiography!"). Afterwards there was a book-signing, I
mentioned I was on the Terminator list so JT signed my book "from
termie to termie...". Then it was off to the NFT for the premiere
of "The Heart..".
The screening was totally sold out, and was delayed slightly due to
Asia spraining her ankle just beforehand. She and JT introduced the
film. JT read from a sheet which had been printed as a hand-out for
the audience, where he had written about what the film means to him
and how important it was for him for people to be able to SEE his
story. Again, he seemed totally petrified and at times wasn't even
audible. The movie was a pleasant surprise to me, as I hadn't had my
hopes up too high. It is relentless, and painful to watch at times,
but not nearly as brash as some reviews have portrayed it. The boys
playing Jeremiah were absolutely incredible - there is no way Asia
would have got those performances out of them if she hadn't been
directing this movie with absolute honesty and integrity. After the
screening there were some Q&A's. JT was asked what his next project
was and said he was working on his new book, but it was coming on
slow. He said he had a few working titles for it but he wasn't going
to tell us any of them :) Asia said she is finally becoming more
distanced from the "Sarah" character, but admits that she still
can't help dressing like her!
After the screening there was a super-posh party at Sketch with lots
of meedja-types strutting their stuff and quaffing the free wine.
Asia dj-ed for a while, and I spotted Mr Leroy but I'm not sure if
he stayed around too long. Most of the readers from Foyles were
there, and I noticed Tracy Emin wandering about. It was all over by
1:30am, but I'm sure we'll be guaranteed some JT mentions in the
culture and style mags over the next few weeks!
I've just got a few mins online but I wanted to say that the reading
in London yesterday was really wonderful. Special props to the
fantastic, super-accomplished organiser, Carmelo - how he managed to
stay looking cool and gorgeous while managing such an event is
beyond me :) Well done, Carmie, it was much appreciated!
It was great to finally meet the lovely Vic from Termietown, and to
see Gigi, Marc, Alex & Carmie again. I'm sure they will write with
more news of the night's events, but in the meantime I just
scribbled this for Bemusing & Karbonkid's lj community, so I'll copy
& paste.
Jennie xx
It's the hungover morning after the drunken night before, and I am
needing my bed, but I thought I'd drop in to the Diner to say that
yesterday's JT Leroy reading in London went fantastically well.
It was organised by the lovely Carmelo of Foyles bookshop on Charing
Cross Road, and apparently he was swamped with media-types trying to
get tickets. Still, the atmosphere managed to avoid being too media-
wankery and there was a good, warm vibe in the room by the time the
first reader began (that might have been helped by the complimentary
wine and the little gift-set from Kiehls that was given to
everyone;p). Readers included Natalie Press, "Princess Julia" (a dj
I think), Julian Bond, the singer from The Crimea, Beth Orton, some
young blonde actor from X Men 2 (didn't catch his name), and the
wonderful Marianne Faithful. Marianne read from The Heart is
Deceitful.. and her growly voice just lit up the words for me all
over again.
When Marianne finished, JT took the podium to read from Harold's
End. He was in full blonde wig, shades & hat regalia, wearing a very
pretty lipstick, and was clearly petrified. He was literally shaking
and his voice was little more than a whisper, but he read the
excerpt where Larry first approaches the kids on the street, and got
through it. There were some questions and answers from the audience
then - about his collaboration with Asia on the film, and whether or
not he's going to write something non-autobiographical in the future
(Marianne Faithful from the audience: "He has already gone waaaaay
beyond autobiography!"). Afterwards there was a book-signing, I
mentioned I was on the Terminator list so JT signed my book "from
termie to termie...". Then it was off to the NFT for the premiere
of "The Heart..".
The screening was totally sold out, and was delayed slightly due to
Asia spraining her ankle just beforehand. She and JT introduced the
film. JT read from a sheet which had been printed as a hand-out for
the audience, where he had written about what the film means to him
and how important it was for him for people to be able to SEE his
story. Again, he seemed totally petrified and at times wasn't even
audible. The movie was a pleasant surprise to me, as I hadn't had my
hopes up too high. It is relentless, and painful to watch at times,
but not nearly as brash as some reviews have portrayed it. The boys
playing Jeremiah were absolutely incredible - there is no way Asia
would have got those performances out of them if she hadn't been
directing this movie with absolute honesty and integrity. After the
screening there were some Q&A's. JT was asked what his next project
was and said he was working on his new book, but it was coming on
slow. He said he had a few working titles for it but he wasn't going
to tell us any of them :) Asia said she is finally becoming more
distanced from the "Sarah" character, but admits that she still
can't help dressing like her!
After the screening there was a super-posh party at Sketch with lots
of meedja-types strutting their stuff and quaffing the free wine.
Asia dj-ed for a while, and I spotted Mr Leroy but I'm not sure if
he stayed around too long. Most of the readers from Foyles were
there, and I noticed Tracy Emin wandering about. It was all over by
1:30am, but I'm sure we'll be guaranteed some JT mentions in the
culture and style mags over the next few weeks!
posted by JT LeRoy at 6:19 AM
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