The Friction of Desire — Whatever you might be thinking, you might be wrong. Sandy Compton’s fifth book is, he admits, “somewhat auto-biographical,” but it spills far over into the world of his protagonist and narrator, “whom I met quite by accident while trying to write a book one day.” So, meet Larry Longquist — world traveler, depressive, recovering addict, and freshly 60 years old. He cashes his tiny 401K and engages the services of Mary Magdalene Miller, M.D., specializing in psychiatry. Object — clarity.

Dr. Miller has never had a client quite like Larry, who admits to being afraid to get out of bed some days. At the risk of finding out he’s insane, Larry tells her not quite all there is to know about himself. In a series of tender, crazy, funny meetings — paid for in advance — Larry walks and talks his way into her heart. And, she listens her way into his. Compton avers that he doesn’t create his characters; they come to him and ask to be written.

In The Friction of Desire, he lets them tell the story. “They have done a much better job of it than I might have,” Compton says. With humor, compassion and unflinching self-exposure, Doctor Miller details her relationship with Larry as he tells her about his odd relationship with life and the ironic gifts it gives him.