Cheerful Ode to Sweetie
The New York Times published an article called "Cheerful Ode to Lemons of Literature."
In it, it said:
"Sweetie, another man partial to women's clothing, sauntered to the stage sporting a red-sequined dress and a blond bouffant that would easily put Marge Simpson's to shame. Sweetie had chosen to share bits from "Sarah," J. T. LeRoy's disturbing novel about a 12-year-old transvestite hooker who plies his trade at truck stops." (the full article is below).
I wrote to Sweetie:
Howdy Miss Sweetie,
I saw the pic of ya reading from my book Sarah and I was honored to be yer choice. I think it is perfect for camping and all, especially some sections.
I felt hurt tho to be included in the overwrought theme, I don't think the writing is like that at all in Sarah, and have heard very much the opposite from writers I very much respect. Doesn't mean I ain't past goin off on some strange metaphor or whatnot... but the campy over the top parts are meant to be that, consciously so.
My hope was that you read from my book, not to laugh at or mock my writing, but to rightfully so take joy in the roles allowed for folks of all different genders without it being a joke on them. I know there is very little written for transgender or drag queens, or whatever... folks that is respectful and makes them being first and foremost. That was something I am proud of in my books, and from all the folks of all different kindsa of identifications, that seems to have come through. I am looking forward to the film version of this book to further that along. The casting opportunities alone are very exciting.
Sincerely, JT
PS I appreciated what you wrote a couple of years ago on the motherboards bulletin board about Sarah, it really showed that you got it, what my writing is about. I guess that's another reason why I was confused and hurt by the "Cheerful Ode to Literary Lemons" article. Coz it always means so much to me when someone understands my work.
"I for one love his books. I compare him on some levels with Hubert Selby Jr, for his knack of depicting the lowest depths of humanity with some sort of beauty. Personally I have witnessed similar creatures growing up in the midwest with southern roots and alot of white trash on one side of my family. I am able to "smell" the carpeting in the motel rooms and feel the grimy toys he drags from new home to new home."
Sweetie wrote back:
JT,
My reading of SARAH was right from my heart and every splendid character you gifted me with was done with the utmost respect. The person who curated the reading had never read the book and had no idea what the storyline was. BUT They knew how passionate I was about SARAH and wanted to fit me in as soon as they could before I left for London. I was allotted 20 minutes and actually read for an hour and 10 minutes with the audience completely captivated by the rich picture you painted so beautifully. THANK YOU for SARAH. As a kid I visited Ben Creek West Virginia (not far from Mingo County) every summer until I was about 15. Although I consider myself as someone filled with light, I must admit I have always been drawn towards the dark. I think you know what I mean. Your characters are real, honest to goodness people whom I have seen at truck stops and service stations and carnivals and fairs. People who I have always made up lives for in my head. I have always been drawn to those people that others usually overt their eyes from. SARAH is my ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I had a long conversation about SARAH with Mike Potter a few weeks ago when he was doing my make up for a fashion shoot. He told me about SARAH being made into a film. I can't begin to tell you how excited that made me. I make the biggest part of my living as a drag queen but acting is what I love most. I do a lot of acting, but because most people recognize me in a dress, many people don't know it's "Sweetie" until I tell them. It blows my mind. I have imagined SARAH on the big screen a thousand times. The tranny characters are all so delicious, but I have to say, the troll that runs the chicken ranch where Sarah gets banished to is a character that I have dreamed of playing since I first read the book. At any rate, I can't tell you how happy it made me to hear from you. I have probably bought 20 copies of SARAH since I first read it. Its one of my favorite things to give as a gift. Thank you again for SARAH.
Sweetie
I wrote back:
Thanks for this. I LOVE Potter. It is a small family. :) Thanks for your support, I wanted to believe you weren't mocking me, holding up my work for ridicule like those other books were. Coz that would be just so painful. I think the writer was trying to say my book was one of the ones being mocked.
Argh.
Sweetie responded:
JT,
Hon I can ASSURE you, the NY Times reporter had NO CLUE. Her questions for me after the reading were "pedestrian" at best. I will tell you however that since the Times article came out, I have had many great conversations about SARAH with so many people who adore the book as much as myself. I spent time with Justin Bond while I was in London and he shared with me that he and Marianne Faithful (bowing down to the goddess) did a reading of your work in the UK. I would have LIVED to hear Ms Faithful read your stuff. Is the director of SARAH the same person who is doing the Diane Arbus bio with Nicole Kidman? I was brought in for that. I have been fascinated with Diane Arbus's take on people since I was a kid. I love the way so many of her subjects are not "lit" in the photo. The light has a way of surrounding them, thru window pains, overhead lighting or whatever. It's so brilliant. JT, I guess in some way I am an adoring fan, and I know that can sometimes be weird. I just really want to thank you again, for taking the time to get hold of me. I would have absolutely no problem if you published my response on your site. My site is being built at the moment. I have this insane idea for the first page that involves a lot of animation that is taking forever. I would totally do whatever I could to be considered for ANY role in SARAH. Thanks so much for looking out. When you get to New York again, please look me up. It would be great to meet with you face to face.
All the Best
Sweetie
More from me:
Thanks Sweetie for all ya sayin! Shainberg, yeah, same director. He is doin Arbus then after Sarah....! Have ya read my new book, Harold's End? I reckin ya would dig that. Can I post this? Without yer email less ya got one that ya wants to post...
I just got some bad brain, and can get pet nice 20 times and one person kick me and that is the person I wanna mind... OR I look for it even when it aint there... maybe someone's ring just caught on mah fur...
Anyways, thank you and you sure did look swell reading and I was still happy that it was my book got in that thare paper with you reading it!
But to be wrote bout with those trashy books, that broke my heart some... but I don't doubt you made the work sing! Maybe next readin we do you can do it right and proper!
Yours, JT
And what Sweetie said back:
post away and I have no problem with using this email address.
Sweetie
***********
That'll teach ya not to believe everything you read. :) JT
Cheerful Ode to Lemons of Literature
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE
Published: May 17, 2005
Celebrating clunky sentences and mixed metaphors, self-indulgent prose and just plain old bad writing, Lit Lite, a weekly literary series, invites performers to select and read from their favorite bad books. And so one evening last week at the Chelsea restaurant Elmo, Greg Walloch, a stand-up comic, chose to deliver passages from two novels by the actor Ethan Hawke, "The Hottest State" and "Ash Wednesday."
"Man, when I first met Christy - and this is no joke, a cliché but no joke - it was like my heart was literally stuck on my esophagus," Mr. Walloch read from "Ash Wednesday" as an audience of more than 40 groaned and giggled. It was soon revealed that Christy is a woman with a posterior so "dynamite," that, "if you looked at her from the back you'd swear she was a black chick." Mr. Walloch, who is white, deadpanned, "That happens to me all the time."
Since the series began in February, more than 40 books have been skewered. A $5 cover charge is imposed and, because of the subject matter, heavy drinking is encouraged. Each session tackles a different subject, from sex to self help. At one event the ballet dancer Robert La Fosse poked fun at his autobiography, "Nothing to Hide." Earlier this month, in keeping with the theme "Women's Problems," performers read excerpts from Rosie O'Donnell's free-verse poetry blog (onceadored.blogspot.com), "Yvonne: An Autobiography," by the actress Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily Munster in the television series "The Munsters," and Eve Ensler's "Good Body." Tonight, under the banner "Difficult People," Jodi Lennon, a comedy writer, will present "Hold My Gold," a hip-hop how-to guide for white girls.
Lit Lite is the brainchild of Kevin Malony and Grady Hendrix, both of whom stage productions for the Off Off Broadway theater company Tweed. Mr. Hendrix began the evening with a recitation from "Mission Compromised," Oliver North's military thriller.
"I am unfortunately one of those lonely sad people that reads a lot," said Mr. Hendrix in an interview, "and I've always been drawn to bad books." Asked why he prefers cringe-inducing texts to works from the literary canon Mr. Hendrix said, "Good literature is a little bit boring and precious." He pointed to Jonathan Franzen's "Corrections" and the works of David Foster Wallace to illustrate his point, saying he would rather curl up with "I Was a White Slave in Harlem," the autobiography of the drag queen Margo Howard-Howard. Speaking of slavery and drag queens. Originally, Flotilla DeBarge, a statuesque drag queen who bears more than a passing resemblance to the talk show host Star Jones, was to read that evening from "Swan," a novel by the model Naomi Campbell. Ms. DeBarge and Mr. Hendrix decided that while Ms. Campbell's book was awful, it was not gripping; instead they opted for Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Resplendent in a mud-cloth tunic, miniskirt and heavy makeup, Ms. DeBarge struggled through her opening. "Sorry you all," she said, "my eyelashes are giving me some trouble." She rallied and read passages about Topsy, the incorrigible slave child. But it was the maudlin chapter in which little Eva, in all her golden blond glory, dies of consumption that really had the crowd in stitches. "I want to give you something that, when you look at, you shall always remember me," Ms. DeBarge said, delivering lines in a syrupy voice reminiscent of Scarlet O'Hara: "I'm going to give all of you a curl of my hair; and when you look at it, think that I am in heaven and that I want to see you all there." Not to be outdone by Ms. DeBarge, Sweetie, another man partial to women's clothing, sauntered to the stage sporting a red-sequined dress and a blond bouffant that would easily put Marge Simpson's to shame. Sweetie had chosen to share bits from "Sarah," J. T. LeRoy's disturbing novel about a 12-year-old transvestite hooker who plies his trade at truck stops.
Reveling in the tale that features a toothless pimp, a pedophile and a call girl named Pooh ("not like the bear," Mr. LeRoy writes), Sweetie continued to gleefully flip through "Sarah" long past her allotted 20 minutes.
Florent Morellet, owner of the popular meatpacking district diner Florent laughed through much of the show. "You know we could be doing this for centuries," he said, "There are so many bad books - it's an endless gold mine."
Mr. Walloch said that his next reading will be from the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. "Everyone just looks at the clothes and the models, but have you read that thing?"
Mr. Hendrix, who helps choose many of the featured texts, said organizing the event has been harder than he expected. "To pick something that's bad and bad enough to be entertaining is really a lot of work."
A Lit Lite reading takes place tonight at the lounge at Elmo, 156 Seventh Avenue, between 19th and 20th Streets, Chelsea, (212) 337-8000.
In it, it said:
"Sweetie, another man partial to women's clothing, sauntered to the stage sporting a red-sequined dress and a blond bouffant that would easily put Marge Simpson's to shame. Sweetie had chosen to share bits from "Sarah," J. T. LeRoy's disturbing novel about a 12-year-old transvestite hooker who plies his trade at truck stops." (the full article is below).
I wrote to Sweetie:
Howdy Miss Sweetie,
I saw the pic of ya reading from my book Sarah and I was honored to be yer choice. I think it is perfect for camping and all, especially some sections.
I felt hurt tho to be included in the overwrought theme, I don't think the writing is like that at all in Sarah, and have heard very much the opposite from writers I very much respect. Doesn't mean I ain't past goin off on some strange metaphor or whatnot... but the campy over the top parts are meant to be that, consciously so.
My hope was that you read from my book, not to laugh at or mock my writing, but to rightfully so take joy in the roles allowed for folks of all different genders without it being a joke on them. I know there is very little written for transgender or drag queens, or whatever... folks that is respectful and makes them being first and foremost. That was something I am proud of in my books, and from all the folks of all different kindsa of identifications, that seems to have come through. I am looking forward to the film version of this book to further that along. The casting opportunities alone are very exciting.
Sincerely, JT
PS I appreciated what you wrote a couple of years ago on the motherboards bulletin board about Sarah, it really showed that you got it, what my writing is about. I guess that's another reason why I was confused and hurt by the "Cheerful Ode to Literary Lemons" article. Coz it always means so much to me when someone understands my work.
"I for one love his books. I compare him on some levels with Hubert Selby Jr, for his knack of depicting the lowest depths of humanity with some sort of beauty. Personally I have witnessed similar creatures growing up in the midwest with southern roots and alot of white trash on one side of my family. I am able to "smell" the carpeting in the motel rooms and feel the grimy toys he drags from new home to new home."
Sweetie wrote back:
JT,
My reading of SARAH was right from my heart and every splendid character you gifted me with was done with the utmost respect. The person who curated the reading had never read the book and had no idea what the storyline was. BUT They knew how passionate I was about SARAH and wanted to fit me in as soon as they could before I left for London. I was allotted 20 minutes and actually read for an hour and 10 minutes with the audience completely captivated by the rich picture you painted so beautifully. THANK YOU for SARAH. As a kid I visited Ben Creek West Virginia (not far from Mingo County) every summer until I was about 15. Although I consider myself as someone filled with light, I must admit I have always been drawn towards the dark. I think you know what I mean. Your characters are real, honest to goodness people whom I have seen at truck stops and service stations and carnivals and fairs. People who I have always made up lives for in my head. I have always been drawn to those people that others usually overt their eyes from. SARAH is my ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I had a long conversation about SARAH with Mike Potter a few weeks ago when he was doing my make up for a fashion shoot. He told me about SARAH being made into a film. I can't begin to tell you how excited that made me. I make the biggest part of my living as a drag queen but acting is what I love most. I do a lot of acting, but because most people recognize me in a dress, many people don't know it's "Sweetie" until I tell them. It blows my mind. I have imagined SARAH on the big screen a thousand times. The tranny characters are all so delicious, but I have to say, the troll that runs the chicken ranch where Sarah gets banished to is a character that I have dreamed of playing since I first read the book. At any rate, I can't tell you how happy it made me to hear from you. I have probably bought 20 copies of SARAH since I first read it. Its one of my favorite things to give as a gift. Thank you again for SARAH.
Sweetie
I wrote back:
Thanks for this. I LOVE Potter. It is a small family. :) Thanks for your support, I wanted to believe you weren't mocking me, holding up my work for ridicule like those other books were. Coz that would be just so painful. I think the writer was trying to say my book was one of the ones being mocked.
Argh.
Sweetie responded:
JT,
Hon I can ASSURE you, the NY Times reporter had NO CLUE. Her questions for me after the reading were "pedestrian" at best. I will tell you however that since the Times article came out, I have had many great conversations about SARAH with so many people who adore the book as much as myself. I spent time with Justin Bond while I was in London and he shared with me that he and Marianne Faithful (bowing down to the goddess) did a reading of your work in the UK. I would have LIVED to hear Ms Faithful read your stuff. Is the director of SARAH the same person who is doing the Diane Arbus bio with Nicole Kidman? I was brought in for that. I have been fascinated with Diane Arbus's take on people since I was a kid. I love the way so many of her subjects are not "lit" in the photo. The light has a way of surrounding them, thru window pains, overhead lighting or whatever. It's so brilliant. JT, I guess in some way I am an adoring fan, and I know that can sometimes be weird. I just really want to thank you again, for taking the time to get hold of me. I would have absolutely no problem if you published my response on your site. My site is being built at the moment. I have this insane idea for the first page that involves a lot of animation that is taking forever. I would totally do whatever I could to be considered for ANY role in SARAH. Thanks so much for looking out. When you get to New York again, please look me up. It would be great to meet with you face to face.
All the Best
Sweetie
More from me:
Thanks Sweetie for all ya sayin! Shainberg, yeah, same director. He is doin Arbus then after Sarah....! Have ya read my new book, Harold's End? I reckin ya would dig that. Can I post this? Without yer email less ya got one that ya wants to post...
I just got some bad brain, and can get pet nice 20 times and one person kick me and that is the person I wanna mind... OR I look for it even when it aint there... maybe someone's ring just caught on mah fur...
Anyways, thank you and you sure did look swell reading and I was still happy that it was my book got in that thare paper with you reading it!
But to be wrote bout with those trashy books, that broke my heart some... but I don't doubt you made the work sing! Maybe next readin we do you can do it right and proper!
Yours, JT
And what Sweetie said back:
post away and I have no problem with using this email address.
Sweetie
***********
That'll teach ya not to believe everything you read. :) JT
Cheerful Ode to Lemons of Literature
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE
Published: May 17, 2005
Celebrating clunky sentences and mixed metaphors, self-indulgent prose and just plain old bad writing, Lit Lite, a weekly literary series, invites performers to select and read from their favorite bad books. And so one evening last week at the Chelsea restaurant Elmo, Greg Walloch, a stand-up comic, chose to deliver passages from two novels by the actor Ethan Hawke, "The Hottest State" and "Ash Wednesday."
"Man, when I first met Christy - and this is no joke, a cliché but no joke - it was like my heart was literally stuck on my esophagus," Mr. Walloch read from "Ash Wednesday" as an audience of more than 40 groaned and giggled. It was soon revealed that Christy is a woman with a posterior so "dynamite," that, "if you looked at her from the back you'd swear she was a black chick." Mr. Walloch, who is white, deadpanned, "That happens to me all the time."
Since the series began in February, more than 40 books have been skewered. A $5 cover charge is imposed and, because of the subject matter, heavy drinking is encouraged. Each session tackles a different subject, from sex to self help. At one event the ballet dancer Robert La Fosse poked fun at his autobiography, "Nothing to Hide." Earlier this month, in keeping with the theme "Women's Problems," performers read excerpts from Rosie O'Donnell's free-verse poetry blog (onceadored.blogspot.com), "Yvonne: An Autobiography," by the actress Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily Munster in the television series "The Munsters," and Eve Ensler's "Good Body." Tonight, under the banner "Difficult People," Jodi Lennon, a comedy writer, will present "Hold My Gold," a hip-hop how-to guide for white girls.
Lit Lite is the brainchild of Kevin Malony and Grady Hendrix, both of whom stage productions for the Off Off Broadway theater company Tweed. Mr. Hendrix began the evening with a recitation from "Mission Compromised," Oliver North's military thriller.
"I am unfortunately one of those lonely sad people that reads a lot," said Mr. Hendrix in an interview, "and I've always been drawn to bad books." Asked why he prefers cringe-inducing texts to works from the literary canon Mr. Hendrix said, "Good literature is a little bit boring and precious." He pointed to Jonathan Franzen's "Corrections" and the works of David Foster Wallace to illustrate his point, saying he would rather curl up with "I Was a White Slave in Harlem," the autobiography of the drag queen Margo Howard-Howard. Speaking of slavery and drag queens. Originally, Flotilla DeBarge, a statuesque drag queen who bears more than a passing resemblance to the talk show host Star Jones, was to read that evening from "Swan," a novel by the model Naomi Campbell. Ms. DeBarge and Mr. Hendrix decided that while Ms. Campbell's book was awful, it was not gripping; instead they opted for Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Resplendent in a mud-cloth tunic, miniskirt and heavy makeup, Ms. DeBarge struggled through her opening. "Sorry you all," she said, "my eyelashes are giving me some trouble." She rallied and read passages about Topsy, the incorrigible slave child. But it was the maudlin chapter in which little Eva, in all her golden blond glory, dies of consumption that really had the crowd in stitches. "I want to give you something that, when you look at, you shall always remember me," Ms. DeBarge said, delivering lines in a syrupy voice reminiscent of Scarlet O'Hara: "I'm going to give all of you a curl of my hair; and when you look at it, think that I am in heaven and that I want to see you all there." Not to be outdone by Ms. DeBarge, Sweetie, another man partial to women's clothing, sauntered to the stage sporting a red-sequined dress and a blond bouffant that would easily put Marge Simpson's to shame. Sweetie had chosen to share bits from "Sarah," J. T. LeRoy's disturbing novel about a 12-year-old transvestite hooker who plies his trade at truck stops.
Reveling in the tale that features a toothless pimp, a pedophile and a call girl named Pooh ("not like the bear," Mr. LeRoy writes), Sweetie continued to gleefully flip through "Sarah" long past her allotted 20 minutes.
Florent Morellet, owner of the popular meatpacking district diner Florent laughed through much of the show. "You know we could be doing this for centuries," he said, "There are so many bad books - it's an endless gold mine."
Mr. Walloch said that his next reading will be from the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. "Everyone just looks at the clothes and the models, but have you read that thing?"
Mr. Hendrix, who helps choose many of the featured texts, said organizing the event has been harder than he expected. "To pick something that's bad and bad enough to be entertaining is really a lot of work."
A Lit Lite reading takes place tonight at the lounge at Elmo, 156 Seventh Avenue, between 19th and 20th Streets, Chelsea, (212) 337-8000.
posted by JT LeRoy at 11:39 AM
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