Waiting on a Friend

Waiting on a Friend is a fun, sexy, heartbreaking, inventive whirl of a novel. Renata has always seen ghosts, and when her best friend Mark dies, she wants nothing more than to see him again. This story is a beautiful study of friendship, of how loss unmoors us, and how if we keep turning towards love, anything is possible. – Ann NapolitanoA charming and innovative debut, Waiting on a Friend is fresh and refreshing, both heartbreaking and uplifting. Such a pleasure to read. Natalie Adler has given us a gem * Rabih Alameddine, National Book Award finalist *A ghost story, a mystery, an ode to the New York City of the 1980s, a requiem for the early victims of AIDS, a celebration of queer friendship … This book pulses with life and exuberance amid death and loss. A riveting debut by a writer of tremendous compassion and insight * Helen Phillips, author of The Need, longlisted for the National Book Award *Waiting on a Friend is a breathtaking novel: candid, wickedly funny, deeply generous, and kind. Above all else it is a kind book. The plotting is intricate. The characters, moving and well-drawn. I absolutely loved it and could not stop reading * Jiaming Tang, author of Cinema Love, winner of the Lambda Literary Award *I’ve read this gorgeous and heartbreaking novel a few times now (not to brag) and each time I’m completely sucked in and devastated and awash in a feeling of somebody gets it! about the moment of queer life in NYC that was ending right as I showed up in the late ‘80s… . Adler gets the feeling of the time more right than almost any historical fiction I’ve read about the early-middle height of AIDS in NYC * Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl *Waiting on a Friend sets a personal story of loss within the backdrop of a city still grieving those lost to AIDS. The effect is a powerful, moving story that speaks to the themes of friendship, found families, and acceptance. With resonant character work and hauntingly beautiful care for those remaining and gone, this book will linger long after the last page * Gerrard Conley, author of Boy Erased *By turns biting and generous, funny and devastating, Waiting on a Friend evokes friendship in all its complexity-its resentments, tender obsessions, marvelous intimacies, and supernatural power * Beth Morgan, author of A Touch of Jen *Natalie Adler is bringing one incarnation of the AIDS experience into the present where it all belongs. Someone is listening * Sarah Schulman, author of Rat Bohemia and Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP *Waiting on a Friend is a wildly inventive and moving novel that walks a tightrope of emotion with grace and humour. It’s both a portrait of a time and place-New York City in the early 1980s-and a testament to the challenge of carrying on in the face of devastating loss. Natalie Adler has written an astonishingly brilliant debut. – Patrick Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of BuckeyeWaiting on a Friend is some of the best writing on the thorny, sexy entanglements of queer friendship I’ve ever read, as well as being a stylish and stubbornly political ghost story. The kind of novel that–ironically–makes you feel alive * Avery Curran *A perfect ghost story … beautiful, quietly radical, and so heartfelt it hurts * Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt *Adler’s intimate portrayal of the period is richly detailed, both in the grim atmosphere and the city’s life-affirming downtown arts community. This dazzles like a mirrorball * Publishers Weekly * A joy to read, Natalie Adler’s evocative Waiting on a Friend offers a unique perspective on loss in a time of love * Sophie Ward *Filled with flawed, relatable and lovable characters, Adler’s work celebrates chosen family with a fresh burst of youthfulness. A story that is as equally heartbreaking as it is heartwarming, Waiting on a Friend is a triumphantly cathartic novel filled with humour, warmth, empathy, and compassion. It is a novel that reclaims the spirit of resistance that is deep-rooted in queer community. * Midlands Rainbow *A muscled and elegant portrayal of queer community, grief and found family * GQ (The Best Books of 2026 So Far) *A rollicking Ghostbusters-flavored mystery, a neon immersion into the gay ‘80s party scene, and a life-affirming case for feeling it all. “Fun,” as Renata realizes, “is just as real as pain.” This debut packs both in breathtaking abundance * Oprah! (Summer Books Highlight) *Vividly and wittily capturing the sights and sounds (and other sensations) of such a specific time and place, Waiting For A Friend uses this backdrop to examine grief and loss, but also friendship, compassion and community. It’s a novel written with humour, humanity and heart, while never avoiding the reality of how individuals and communities were devastated by this most terrible disease. It’s as much a righteous celebration as it is a lament, and to carry off such a balancing act in this manner shows Natalie Adler to be a writer of some finesse * The Skinny *A magical, moving retelling of queer history * Grazia *It’s hard to do justice to this beautiful and intimate novel about love, friendship, death and ghosts … A stunning debut * Daily Mail *

Natalie Adler is an editor at Lux magazine. She was a 2022-23 Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. She has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College and a PhD in comparative literature from Brown University. She is from New Jersey and lives in New York City.

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