Sarah: A Provocative American Novel of Trans Identity, Gender, and Survival

Ever look out the car window while passing through the Blue Ridge Mountains and imagine an alternative life? SARAH paints a strange nightmarish dreamscape far beyond what most could imagine. It has spontaneity, deep empathy, and characters that you can smell, feel, pinch – as well as a subject matter that balances between refreshingly original and disturbingly taboo. This book has powers, too. It can turn your judgment, a system that's been curated for an entire life, upside down, transforming "All pimps are evil" to "good pimp, bad pimp". I want to snuggle into its sentences. They make the story flow like a river, smooth at points, tumultuous at others. The prose is simple where it needs to be, careful not to call attention to itself, but rather used in the mission of telling a great American tale. I am floored by some of the 1 star reviews that claim the characters are one-dimensional. The narrator – aka Cherry Vanilla aka Sarah aka She-rah aka Saint Sarah aka Sam – evolved before the first page was even written. Ancillary people are lightly sketched, but the ones closer in are so real, silky, bristly, damp, odoriferous, creepy. I re-read SARAH after coming across the documentary "Author: The JT LeRoy Story". I had read it many years before, and like so many people was intrigued by this gender-fluid it-lit boy. When the NY Times story broke that the author was probably a much older woman, I was exuberant. Not knowing the backstory, I empathized with…

I havent read a book in a long time. In fact, haven't heard of author Laura Albert until recently viewing the film adaptation of The Heart Is Decietful Above All Things. Then decided to check out this JT Leroy fella (who really isn't a fella which caused a huge uproar from fans). Downloaded the kindle version of Sarah which I surprisingly finished. That's probably the biggest compliment, because I could never stick a book. It was that appealing to me. Miss Albert deserves a lot of credit. She delves into a world that most are either unaware of or choose to ignore. She's just the person you'd want to represent that, being a victim of child abuse (physically, sexually, and emotionally). It's my belief that people tend to overlook those things because of how depressing they are. They don't want to know. From my understanding, Sarah is an easier book to digest than The Heart because it's more humorous. In fact, alot of the characters are more likeable. Even had quite a few laughs. That's not to say there aren't any disturbing moments. It kind of comes with the territory. The second half of the novel is where it gets darker. Its a quick read (166 pages), but doesnt feel rushed. The content is whats really important. If the content is good and story written well, sometimes you wont even realize. All the little details have charm and even put a smile on my face. This dark world can surprisingly feel welcoming. The book talks alot about the diner Cherry Vanilla goes to back home…