Compassionate. Provocative. Moving.

In this new collection, Thomas Westerfield challenges our expectations about the stories that can be told regarding sexuality, race, love, abuse, trauma, art, and intergenerational relationships.

We meet, among others, a men’s sexual abuse group in rebellion against their earth mother therapist; a ninety-six-year-old gay cult writer who confronts a young queer interviewer; a burnt-out white professor playing dangerous academic games with his Black lesbian colleague; a teenager in a small Kentucky town in 1971 who experiences gay life for the first time through the movie, The Boys in the Band; a retired man sharing a Las Vegas roulette table with a lonely drunk college student celebrating his twenty-first birthday; a little boy terrified of what his Barbies will do to him in the dark of night; and a sex-trafficked young man, now free, explaining why he will never return to his family.

Some find acceptance, even peace, within the many contradictory and often warring elements of their hearts; some do not. But all are embraced with compassionate acceptance as they go on, without the world’s understanding.

Praise for Goes On, Without the World’s Understanding

“An excellent collection! Filled with pathos, rage and, dare I say it, even a touch of charm at times, these stories linger long after the final sentence.”
—John Weagly, award-winning author of Dancing in the Knee-Deep Midnight and The Undertow of Small Town Dreams

“In “This is Enough,” Westerfield dares to step inside the mind of Johnny, a boy trapped in a world of abuse and cruelty. The way he portrays him holding onto his human core is childlike, believable and inspiring. The stories explore darkness, but also offer enduring glimmers of compassion, hope and kindness. It is a unique, surprising and satisfying bundle.” —Allen Silver, author of Man of Use: A Sensitive West Texas Boy Finds Purpose and Fulfillment in Erotic Service

“Thomas Westerfield’s closely-observed characters surprise, unsettle, provoke, entertain, and illuminate.” —Gerard Cabrera, author of Homo Novus

“Westerfield’s characters live in the gray spaces that have become so difficult to talk about in our absolutist culture. Each is drawn with brave complexity and weary resiliency. They speak with hard-won insight of lives both fabulous and fraught with contradictions and lead us to better understanding of our own imperfect humanity.” —Jeff Rufus Byrd, Performance Artist