The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things
by J. T. Leroy

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $3.10
You Save: $11.85 (79%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: J. T. Leroy
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-06-01
ISBN: 1582342113
Number of pages: 250
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Book Reviews of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

Book Review: Shame that a lie overshadowed a horrific but very realistic novel
Summary: 5 Stars

As someone who works in child protection (in the UK not the US) I can honestly say that this book, more so than the more surreal Sarah, is VERY realistic. The way the innocent child's view of the world and their own self worth is skewed and how the child becomes conditioned to the abuse and thinks it normal. This is the reason those abused sometimes go on to abuse others. It is gripping (if you can stomach it but) not a pleasant read and as such it without the Leroy charade it probably wouldn't have become such a big hit but it is certainly a realistic and harrowing account of child abuse. To me this book is scarier and harder to read than the goriest horror novel.

It is a pity that Albert chose to lie like this as I suspect these books would have become cult classics (and may still). Unfortunately there is not much appetite amongst mainstream readers for books that decribe this sort of abuse unless they contain the true life "I got out" ending.

I have lost count of the poorly written autobiographies by genuine survivors of abuse. They appear on Oprah etc and the book sells a few more copies and I guess having been through what they have no one can grudge them that. However, often those books feel like reading a TV movie where the worse of it is only hinted at but mostly glossed over and maybe understandly but the postitives are highlighted (I found god and he got me through it etc). This book does not do that. True or not it is an accurate account of how children are being exploited in the US, UK and almost everywhere else in the world. This book should be used to highlight the plight of the forgotten children of the underclass of society not slated because it didn't happen. Alas for every one child that is rescued or gets out some other way there are 10 that don't.

I would like to take a positive note that at least the acts described did not actually happen, but sadly that is not true these types of acts happen all the time. This is NOT sensationalist nonsense it is the saddest book I have ever read.

Summary of The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things

The extraordinary stories that brought the author a cult following at the age of sixteen.

These are the stories of a young boy on the run, away from his past, hellbent towards an unknown future. Connected, they form a sometimes harrowing, sometimes bleakly funny, and often tender portrait of a complicated life. Like a modern-day Voltaire, LeRoy bounces his characters from adventure to adventure, each of them unyielding in the belief that the best of all possible worlds lies just around the next corner. Fresh, raw, and absolutely unforgettable, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things has further established the acclaimed author of Sarah as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary fiction.

Short Stories Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Short Stories Books
The Roald Dahl Treasury ImageThe Roald Dahl Treasury
by Roald Dahl
Jonathan Cape; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
The Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics) ImageThe Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics)
by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $12.00
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain ImageA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
by Robert Olen Butler
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.15
Price in other shops: $12.95
Guys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon ImageGuys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon
by Damon Runyon
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $43.26
How We Are Hungry ImageHow We Are Hungry
by Dave Eggers
PENGUIN; Published: 2006-02-23; Paperback; Book
Dressing Up for the Carnival ImageDressing Up for the Carnival
by Carol Shields
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.76
Price in other shops: $15.00
East, West ImageEast, West
by Salman Rushdie
Vintage Books; Published: 2006-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $10.50
Local Girls ImageLocal Girls
by Alice Hoffman
Vintage/Ebury (a Division of Random; Published: 2000-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: $17.75
Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories ImageSomeone to Watch Over Me: Stories
by Richard Bausch
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops: $13.00
Faithless: Tales of Transgression ImageFaithless: Tales of Transgression
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco; Published: 2001-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $15.90
Similar Books and other products
Everyday Psychokillers: A History for Girls, A Novel ImageEveryday Psychokillers: A History for Girls, A Novel
by Lucy Corin
Fiction Collective 2; Published: 2004-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.81
Price in other shops: $19.95
Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) ImageFrisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis)
by Dennis Cooper
Grove Press; Published: 1993-11-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops: $12.00
Blood and Guts in High School: A Novel (Acker, Kathy) ImageBlood and Guts in High School: A Novel (Acker, Kathy)
by Kathy Acker
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops: $14.00
Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy ImageGirl Boy Girl: How I Became JT Leroy
by Savannah Knoop
Seven Stories Press; Published: 2008-10-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $17.95
Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings ImageJustine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings
by Marquis De Sade
Grove Press; Published: 1990-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $18.95
The Secret History ImageThe Secret History
by Donna Tartt
Vintage; Published: 2004-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.90
Price in other shops: $16.00
Harold's End ImageHarold's End
by J. T. Leroy
Last Gasp of San Francisco; Published: 2005-01-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops: $19.95
Sarah: A Novel ImageSarah: A Novel
by J. T. LeRoy
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2001-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.78
Price in other shops: $13.95
Sarah: A Novel ImageSarah: A Novel
by J.T. LeRoy
Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2001-06-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things ImageThe Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
Uni; Release date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $15.20
Price in other shops: $24.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories