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A little Fake Writer Day nostalgia for you this morning, courtesy of Laura Albert, the woman formerly known as cult novelist and utter hoax J.T. Leroy, who gives an interview in the fall issue of the Paris Review:

She went on to tell the magazine that she felt little shame about misleading people. "I'm sad I was so injured," she maintained. "All I can say is I am sorry if people are disappointed or offended. If knowing that I'm 15 years older than J.T. devalues the work, then I'm sorry they feel that way."

It's not the age difference that devalues the work. It's knowing that Albert is 15 years older, not a boy, not transgendered, not a recovering heroin addict, not a former teen prostitute, not a heroin addict, not an abused child and not HIV positive that devalues the work. But you can't really explain that to a lobotomy candidate.

And in related bullshit stories that the hungry media readily swallows, Keith Kelly reports in the same column that in order to prevent a leak of the Suri Cruise pictures, Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter hired security guards at "printing plants and distribution points." Which would explain why those guys from Nation of Islam Security were outside Gem Spa on Tuesday night.

Author Who Fooled Times Says She's Misunderstood [NYP]
Earlier: Gawker's Coverage of J.T. Leroy