Grifter: True Crime

#5 Literary Hustler


Listen Later

A young boy is thrown into a troubled life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah. He becomes addicted to heroin and gets infected with H.I.V. He suffers physical and sexual abuse and seeks violent relationships because of that abuse. Thankfully, with the help of a social worker and a psychiatrist, he gets his life back on track and becomes a published author. But the boy, always donning a blonde wig, fedora hat and dark sunglasses, is shrouded in mystery. It soon becomes apparent that the boy is not the person he's led the literary world to believe. 

In a twisted and painful tale littered with deception, erotica and suffering, the reality of JT LeRoy comes to surface in what would eventually become known as one of the greatest "literary hoaxes" of our time.  


Sources: 

1) Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2006/04/jtleroy200604 

2) The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jul/20/jt-leroy-story-modern-literary-hoax-

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Grifter: True CrimeBy Sonali Verghese

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

10 ratings


More shows like Grifter: True Crime

View all
20/20 by ABC News

20/20

11,344 Listeners

American Grift by American Grift

American Grift

38 Listeners

Dateline NBC by NBC News

Dateline NBC

47,947 Listeners

Scamfluencers by Wondery

Scamfluencers

6,970 Listeners