The late Dominick Dunne “outs” himself from the grave in “Too Much Money,” his autobiographical novel being published by Crown on Dec. 15.
Post book reviewer Michael McHale reports that in the novel, Dunne is Gus Bailey, who works for Park Avenue magazine (based on Vanity Fair), has a TV show (“Power, Privilege & Justice”) and a son named “Grafton,” instead of Dunne’s real-life son, Griffin Dunne.
While Dunne, who died this year of cancer, was sued for slander by former congressman Gary Condit, Bailey is being sued by Rep. Kyle Cramden. The lawyer preparing Bailey for a deposition says, “Gus, there are gossip stories about you.” Gus: “Probably true, whatever you heard.”
Lawyer: “Oh, you know, that you’re deep in the closet.” Gus: “Well, maybe I am . . . So what. What you haven’t heard is that I’ve been celibate for almost 20 years.” Lawyer: “You didn’t have to tell me this.”
Gus: “Yes, I did . . . I feel quite relieved . . . I’m beyond 80 . . . Mustn’t have any more secrets. Can’t die with a secret, you know. I’m nervous about the kids, even though they’re middle-aged men now. Not that they don’t already know, I just never talk about it. It’s been a lifelong problem.”
Lawyer: ” . . . your sexuality should have nothing to do with this extortion plot.”
Old friends of Dunne recall that his lover in the 1970s was Frederick Combs, who starred onstage in “The Boys in the Band” and in the movie version which Dunne produced in 1970 after leaving his wife, Lenny. “They were very much in love,” said one friend. In 1979, Combs moved to Los Angeles, where he founded the LA/Actor’s Lab. He died of AIDS in 1992 at 57.
In February, Dunne told the Times of London: “I call myself a closeted bisexual celibate . . . That’s just the way I am. At 83, it’s too late to start on a new path.”