The media called JT Leroy a hoax, a federal court called JT Leroy a fraud, but Laura Albert, who wrote the fictions published under JT Leroy's name, doesn't use those words. They're not the right words, she says. She uses "avatar." She uses "gender variant." She calls the unmasking of her identity as the writer of JT Leroy's books "the reveal." But in a culture where packaging is sold as content, where publishers aren't selling books so much as they're selling writers, where art is thinly thought of as commerce, and where Laura Albert has refused to apologize, she is probably bound to be forever mislabeled. After all, she broke the rules. On the other hand, whose rules? And also: Isn't art supposed to break the rules?

Tomorrow night at Hugo House, I'm interviewing her, and there is so much to talk about. Where did JT Leroy come from? Does JT Leroy still exist? What's the difference between JT Leroy as the narrator of the novel Sarah and JT Leroy as the celebrated author of Sarah? Why is the name of the author of Sarah different from the name of the person who wrote it? Why did Laura Albert work so hard to disappear? If JT wasn't "real," whose stories was JT telling? What was the alchemy of experience and imagination that formed JT's fiction? What about JT's relationship with those older gay writers, some of whom JT had phone sex with—was that "real"? What about JT's relationships with Mary Gaitskill, Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, and Madonna? What did they make of him, and what did they make of her?

You could argue that the only thing more interesting than JT's story is the story of the person who brought JT to life. If you know anything about JT, you know that Laura doesn't read JT's stuff in public—never has. For tomorrow night, Hugo House has enlisted Rebecca Brown, Sean Beaudoin, Nicole Hardy, and Garth Stein to read excerpts of Sarah. Plus, Laura will be reading a new piece of memoir about the time she and JT met Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Plus all my questions and all your questions. And let's face it, you probably have questions. Bring 'em on, she says.