Warhol wanted to be a writer but, much like his film work, spontaneous performances and an explicit lack of editing was used as a device.

The editor for a, A Novel, Billy Name, preserved the transcripts as is, with every typo and inconsistent character identification, and even moving from two column pages to single-column based on each typist's style.

"[5] A taped conversation between Warhol and Ondine, the book was actually recorded over a few separate days, during a two-year period.

Ondine's monologues and disjointed conversations are further fragmented by Warhol's insistence on maintaining a purity of the transcriptions.

The book is a roman à clef, meaning that the fictional characters are thinly disguised actual persons.

"[5] In his glossary for the 1998 edition of a: A Novel, Victor Bockris cites Billy Name as the source for the title; "a" refers to both amphetamine use and as an homage to e. e.

[10] Donald Stanley of the San Francisco Examiner wrote: "A" is outrageous enough to last until Warhol finishes another movie or discovers a next step.

"[11] John Raymond of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote: "a" is very much like Andy Warhol's movies, especially "The Chelsea Girls" ... All very interesting.