A Friend of Dorothy's

by Richard Willett

"We have all the time in the world, my sweet beautiful man."



It was the ending that scared off even gay editors back in the day. The last chapter of playwright Richard Willett's controversial lost novel of the eighties is an intimate victory dance of overt gay male sexuality at a time when not just silence = death, but for many sex = death. Now, perhaps, readers will be more open to celebrating it.



It's 1986 in New York City and 27-year-old Eric Summerfield knows that "yuppies" are supposed to be obnoxious, easily dismissed, but he envies the clarity of their delusions, their seeming ability to keep mortality at bay. He yearns, in fact, to be one of them. The He's no Wall Street insider, but instead the underpaid employee of a Canadian chain bookstore in Midtown Manhattan, a Canuck himself, and gay, and AIDS suddenly seems to be everywhere, including in the body of his flamboyant friend and coworker Dale, who inexplicably singles out a reluctant Eric to be his chief caregiver. It's an experience that will change both of them.



Moving back and forth across time and place from youth in the 1960s and '70s-Eric's in Vancouver, Dale's on a farm in Kansas-to the pressure cooker of New York in the gay eighties, A Friend of Dorothy's is also a timeless, universal coming of age novel, in which the crucible of illness compels one young man to reach for something greater.



PR A I S E FOR A Friend of Dorothy's"Nothing can have prepared you for the wit and insight, the eccentricity and inspiring optimism with which this consistently surprising young writer depicts a year at the heart of his generation's greatest calamity." -- Joseph Pintauro, author of Cold Hands and Raft of the Medusa



"There is a knowingness, a sense of timing, a compassion and forgiveness under all the action, character to character. What Richard Willett has-in abundance-is love for the people he is chronicling and, by recording, saving." -- Allan Gurganus, author of The Practical Heart, Plays Well with Others, and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All

"The writing is poignant, realistic and fine; the reader is pierced and instantly seduced by the characters' appeal and immediacy." -- Harlan Greene, author of The German Officer's Boy, What the Dead Remember, and Why We Never Danced the Charleston



Richard Willett's short stories have been published in Christopher Street, Hawaii Review, American Writing, Karamu, and Oxalis, among others, as well as short-listed for New American Library's Men on Best New Gay Fiction, edited by David Bergman. His short play about AIDS Boys Will Be Boys was included in the anthology Art & Literature from the First Twenty Years of A&U, and he is also the author of the plays Triptych, Random Harvest, The Flid Show, Tiny Bubbles, 9/10, A Terminal Event, and Grief at High Tide, presented off-off-Broadway and at theaters across the country. Honors include an Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellowship and a Tennessee Williams Scholarship, designation as a finalist for the Dramatists Guild National Fellows Program and the Sundance Labs, and listing twice in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Nicholl Top 50. He lives in West Hollywood, California.



Visit richardwillettwriter.com.

248 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2025

Reviews

[Sreeja Mitra]

The blood beneath the bones of some stories have dried up. They are no longer relavant to the human condition. As for others, it is the job of the reviewer to identify the ebb and flow of the life force that oxygenates a lasting story, bringing it to sublime consequences. A Friend of Dorothy's by Richard Willet is one such novel.

It traces Eric, the protagonist's life as he navigates the effulgence of the Counter Culture in the 1970s and the spirit of free love, only to be thrust into the consequences of sexual liberation a decade later. This story is about the AIDS epidemic in 1980s America from the perspective of a gay man who has spent almost his entire life in self isolation.

It is Eric's search for and fear of connection and belonging that propells the plot. The intensity of his queer ache is further enhanced, for it is self inflicted. Eric is referred as A Friend of Dorothy's quite early in the novel. This is an euphemism for a gay person, but an alienating one. His experience of the sexual exuberance in mid century-America is wrapped in barbed wires, while for other's, it seems to be wrapped in velvet. Then his friend Dale is diagnosed with AIDS and taking care of him as he inevitably deteriorates triggers Eric's transformation arch.

This is a character driven novel. Each character is fleshed out to perfection, their depth and shades of both darkness and light enmeshed to provide a riveting and realistic portrayal of human complexities. For example, Dale, though ravaged by the illness, still displays his cruelty in progressively petty and eventually pathetic acts.

Eric is haunted by a pervasive sense of not living an authentic life. This feeling is so insidious that it forces the reader to reflect upon their own insincerities and masks. The language that Willet uses to convey this sense of helpless alienation is a sonorous litany of pathos. Eric's inner world is riddled with preoccupation of spaces of belonging and alienation, and spaces that rob people of individuality. Like hospitals. These themes radiate throughout the novel. Through his eyes, we see the ugly underbelly of the Counter Culture. Although it is hard to decipher whether in this regard Eric is an entirely reliable narrator.


The tug-of-war between Eric's resistence and desires create a dissonance in the reader that does lead to a kind of resolution. The resolution itself is so organically areived at that the limitations of this book pale in comparison.This novel has the potential to teach more about the layers and subtleties of queer love and homosexual identity than most thematically relevant movies and books out there. It's an exploration of the self and other.

[Jimbo]

This is an incredible story about finding who you are and being who you are through your friends and lovers
It is a period story of the 1980s taking place in Vancouver, Canada, and New York City.
It is fundamentaly a coming-of-age story, but funny and powerful filled with insight, sadness, and joy.
Beautifully written. An amazing writer with a unique and special voice.

[Al]

I find that in some books, especially books that focus on a specific character and their life, whether true like a memoir or fiction, like this one, that I’ll compare myself to the character. When there are similarities I’ll wonder how I’d have handled a situation. But sometimes the differences are pretty drastic. In those books I find that these are good at the glimpse it gives into a life different than yours and hopefully helps the reader understand others better. This book, while happening during a time, the 1980s, when I would have been roughly the same age as the characters involved, is full of characters that I have very little in common with. However, it helped me understand the struggles some of my friends were going through during this era, when AIDS was spreading and killing many in the gay community and someone who was trying to come to terms with their sexuality would have encountered struggles worse than at most other times in history.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Micheal D.]

Richard Willett’s A Friend of Dorothy’s is a masterful, poignant exploration of love, identity, and resilience amidst one of the most challenging periods in LGBTQ+ history. The novel immerses readers in 1980s New York while seamlessly weaving memories from earlier decades, capturing both the exuberance and fear of the era. Eric and Dale’s bond is intimate, raw, and heartbreakingly human, and Willett portrays the crisis of the AIDS epidemic with compassion, honesty, and a sharp literary voice. The story transcends its time, offering a universal coming-of-age tale that examines mortality, desire, and the courage it takes to care deeply. A profoundly moving and beautifully written novel that will linger long after the final page.

[September Withers]

A Friend of Dorothy’s is a profoundly moving and historically significant novel capturing the essence of gay life in the 1980s amid the AIDS crisis. Richard Willett skillfully blends coming-of-age themes with rich, authentic characters and evocative settings, exploring love, mortality, and resilience. The narrative balances heartbreak, hope, and humor, offering an intimate perspective on friendship and survival. Willett’s sharp insight, lyrical prose, and unapologetic storytelling make this a poignant, unforgettable read that resonates deeply with both historical and contemporary audiences.

[Marsha Scarbrough]

This well-written debut novel paints a dark, emotional, yet inspirational picture of a young man's coming-of-age in New York City during the AIDs epidemic of the 80s. It's important history that deserves to be remembered in all its complexity. It's also an engaging read that explores love and sex in the face of ever-present death. Highly recommended.

[Lisa Omicinski]

3.5 stars