Was (or Was... in the UK edition) is a WFA–nominated[1] 1992 novel by Canadian author Geoff Ryman, published by HarperCollins, focusing on themes of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the 1939 musical film version, ranging across time and space from 1860s Kansas to late 1980s California.

The primary focus is on Jonathan, a gay actor with AIDS who goes on a obsessed pilgrimage of sorts to Manhattan, Kansas, in search of the "real" Dorothy.

Other portions of the novel explore the tragic life of "Dorothy Gael" in 1800s Kansas, whose traumatic experiences with Aunt Emily and Uncle Henry after her mother's death leads her to create an imaginary and idealized world in her mind based on some of her real-life experiences as a way of coping with her bleak reality.

Unlike Baum's fairy tale book, she never gets to experience the magic of Oz, thus turning her into an insane and bitter old woman.

[4] The Publishing Triangle named the book number 79 on its list of best gay and lesbian novels, and it was republished as a part of Orion's Masterworks series.