Junior Willis

by Richard Natale

The journey from self-loathing to self-acceptance takes Midwesterner Tom Larson through the Korean War, pre-Castro Havana and, finally, Hollywood, where he is befriended by the elusive and charismatic Junior Willis and must decide whether he's prepared for genuine commitment.

Genres: Historical

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 2014

Reviews

[Serena Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an interesting mix between fiction and what could easily be a biography that covers about twenty years of a gay man’s life, ‘Junior Willis’ is the story of Tom confronting his sexual identity in a time before Stonewall (1969). Homosexuality was somewhere between unacceptable and despised by any member of the “moral majority”, not to mention illegal, and Tom finds himself battling his nature for many years. It is an honest account of what those times must have felt like to a man who had no role models, no hope for the intimacy and love he craves, and not even an inkling that marriage equality would one day be a topic discussed openly by the mass media.

Different from a biography, this novella gave me a front row seat to Tom’s emotions, fears, and hopes as he lives through his first relationship with a superior officer, then gets posted to Korea, and follows it by attempting a “normal” life by dating women, His slow evolution toward recognizing that will never lead anywhere for him leads to Tom resigning himself to furtive encounters and brief interludes with men whose expectations are like his – no strings attached.

When love finally finds Tom, in a completely unexpected way, he fights it tooth and nail. After all, Junior Willis used to be the kid who mowed his lawn, so how come Tom suddenly feels way more for him than he should? The laid-back, almost factual narrative of their slowly budding relationship pulled me in, and the lack of overly emotional outbursts made this story feel all the more real to me. Tom is a quiet guy, has learned to keep his feelings close to his heart, and that is exactly how he acts and reacts when Junior Willis makes his move. Tom’s feelings are no less deep for his lack of exuberance, but his way of dealing with them is entirely different from Junior’s, who is almost twenty years younger and has far fewer hang-ups.

If you enjoy reading about men who lived in the past and want to know why they acted the way they did, if you like well-written, quiet stories that have a wealth of emotions bubbling right under the surface, and if you’re looking for a read that is an intensely fascinating character study as well as a wonderful, if necessarily subdued, love story, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romance comes in many different forms, and some of them will gently sneak up on you if you allow them to.

Living in the closet was necessary for survival in previous generations, and it’s still the only option for some members of the LGBTQ+ community today. Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that showed the emotional toll this took on Tom and Junior. As friendly as many of their friends and relatives were, neither of these protagonists could ever be entirely sure how those folks would respond if they knew that Junior and Tom were both attracted to men. The descriptions of the steps they took to avoid arousing any suspicions were just as interesting as the passages that showed what happened when some of their loved ones were accidentally given peeks at a subculture heterosexual people knew almost nothing about back then.

I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters in this novella. Many of the people Tom and Junior met during their lives were only mentioned in passing, and the ones that stuck around weren’t always developed well enough for me to recall who they were when they were mentioned again later. It would have been helpful to either have more information about the personalities and backstories of the folks the main characters met or for the narrator to focus on a smaller supporting cast in general.

One of the other themes of this tale that I loved had to do with how Tom’s past affected his daily life as he left his 20s behind and settled into stable habits and a good job. Attempting to heal is difficult, especially for someone who was facing such high stakes and who only had a small number of people in his inner circle he could be his true self around. A memory might be decades old but still feel as fresh as the day it was made. I don’t want to share any spoilers about how Tom approached his difficult memories, but they did make me want to learn more about him. He demonstrated a great deal of courage in these moments. That is an admirable thing to do without a doubt.

Junior Willis was a thought-provoking and encouraging read.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this spare, beautifully-told tale, the characters are deep and true. I so cared so much about the hero that I had to keep reading until I finished. In 78 pages, Richard Natale manages to pack in a hundred years of gay history, bits of sensational vintage Hollywood gossip (most names protected), and a story that deepens until it becomes profound. To say more would risk revealing too much and deny readers the right to suspect the book will end one way when it might actually take another turn. Readers, experience this book for yourselves.

[Staci Greason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junior Willis is a captivating coming of age story about a man finding himself during changing times. Richard Natale writes in a clean sparse voice that evokes a deep senses of place much like another good Los Angeles writer, John Fante.

[Amos Lassen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natale, Richard. “Junior Willis”, Bold Strokes Books, 2014.

Confronting Self

Amos Lassen

Leaving the Midwest in the early 50s, Tom Larson knows that he is going to have to face up to his sexual and romantic desires. He begins his awakening in Korea where he has a love affair with his commanding officer. Then on a trip to Cuba (before Castro) with his fiancée, he begins a romance with a young Cuban. But by 1969 that was all in his past and he is now a successful film/TV writer. However, he finds himself in love once again but this time with Junior Willis. Willis teases Tom with his wild tales of heterosexual liaisons and Tom believes that this love will never come to fruition. Yet his love for Willis consumes him and ahs he comes to accept himself as a gay man, American gay consciousness is beginning to take hold. He is living in that period between the end of the second World War and Stonewall. It just so happens when he finally stops questioning his nature and his desire for affection, love finds him.

We first meet a young Tom on a military base in Korea when he begins to discover and play with his sexuality. Keeping in mind when the story is set, we see that at that time, people did not come out publicly. Natale introduces us to characters in the 50s, 60s and 70s who deal with their sexuality.

While this is a story about a gay man, it could be about anyone living in that period. Sex was not discussed openly as it is today. In many hears, happiness came with fear and doubt.

Here it is the characters that propel the plot and we learn about them by reading their wants and desires, by how they see themselves and by what they want out of life. This is how it was once and Natale does a wonderful job of describing it.

[Jeffrey Sakson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romantic gay wish fulfillment/fantasy of May/September mid-century love affair. Highly entertaining, well-written, at times erotic, funny and ultimately moving.