Published in Australia (pb) and US (hb/pb)
(Interviewer) So what's the story: "Pussy's Bow"? What's it mean, and where does it come from?
(Neal) Well, "pussy's bow" is one of those old Australian idioms meaning "more than enough". It's the kind of thing your grandma might say after she's downed three pots of tea, two sponge cakes and a box of jelly donuts: "Would you like some more Grannie?" ... "Oh no, thank you dear, I'm full to pussy's bow!" It's one of those hokey expressions that is also used to mean "I've had it up to the neck with you", "I could wring your neck or choke you to death" ... but I'm giving too much away!
I thought that after Glove Puppet, the word "pussy" would have some ... how should I say ... "indecent" connotation?
I guess you could say -- the apple never falls far from the tree, and yes, there is pussy of both the feline and human variety in the book. People presume I'm some sort of sex machine that can just go on pumping out titillation for my readers. Well, I have just this to say: if you want to read about houses full of bed-hopping murderous queers who take too many drugs, if you want cocka-doodee this and fucka-doodee that, the way you got it in Glove Puppet , well ... all right, you'll get some. But you must understand, all the characters are over the age of consent this time and the denouement of Pussy's Bow is rather more complex than that of Glove Puppet. I've got murder, ghosts and runway modeling for you to contend with this time. I'll give you the basic ingredients: a wealthy 34-year-old gym junkie doctor with a taste for steroids; a pompous and tarnished English ex-pat' with a master's in expediency; a successful, sexy young Vietnamese artist; a glamorous if somewhat nosy female neighbour; a gorgeous, ambitious young country stud of uncertain sexuality; the ghost of a Jewish architect from the 1930s ... and a withered society hostess with a secret. Beneath all the fun and glamour, this is really a story about the nature of prejudice and how people might attempt to defy it by accumulating wealth or scrambling for respectable positions. Yet, all are ultimately vulnerable.
So where did the prejudice theme come from?
At the time I was writing the book we had the rather frightening experience in Australia of witnessing this redneck politician named Pauline Hanson who gained prominence in a number of states in Australia. She is an offensively ignorant woman who garnered support from gun lobbyists and all manner of trash from the far right. She was so outspoken against Aboriginals, Asians, gays and the welfare dependent that for a while, the ugliest components of our society felt it was once again okay to abuse or attack minority groups on the street. The Vietnamese character Dung comes face to face with this prejudice and, like many Asian Australians during that time (1997-8), he lived in constant fear. Fortunately, Pauline's party has now sunk into the mire of its own corruption and Australian voters have come to their senses. Throughout the book, this modern-day racist theme has echoes in the past . You see, all these contemporary characters share a fantastic Deco house which was built in the 1920s by a Jewish architect whose own life was ruined by the anti-Semitism of his time. History is forever repeating itself, as we all know.
Prejudice and racism and history repeating ... that's all rather serious!
Well, strangely, it's not. Sure, there's some nasty shit going down but there is also a pre-war, or ill-fated post-AIDS, decadence to it all. These are guys who by normal standards should be settled and sensible, saving money, working hard and looking after their health. But as Dixon, the English one, says: "that's all hetero-babble". He sees gay men as the castrati of a thankless modern age, creatures designed purely for pleasure and amusement. Of course, even he is concerned deep down as to how one's aging, diminishing finances and vanishing beauty fit into that equation.
So where are you in these characters?
I'm like God, everywhere and nowhere at all. I'm the bastard child of Annie Sprinkle and Trent Lott ... I like to be a moral tug-of-war. All my characters like to see what they can get away with, who they can fuck -- or fuck over -- and how minimal the consequences will be. Recreational drug use, in case you don't know, can play havoc with conventional sexual dynamics. There's a quote in the book, "No man can guess in cold blood what he may in passion do". That sums up a lot of elements of the story. These guys are mostly in their thirties and the drugs don't even work for them as well as they used to. Still they persevere -- taking even more if needs be, to reach the states of bliss and responsibility abrogation that they remember from their youth. All of them want one last night at the ball, one more sensational sexual encounter, one last drink before the lights go on. Sophistication and maturity are not necessarily synonymous.
What's the relevance of setting Pussy's Bow in Melbourne when you set Glove Puppet in Sydney?
I guess Sydney has the full-on gay reputation and decadence required to pull off the dynamics of a book like Glove Puppet. Melbourne is the second largest Australian city and it has a kind of Bostonian or European edge to it. It's colder, and the seamy things are more hidden. Sydney's like LA: everything's brash and in your face; Melbourne seems more cultured and has a lot of old money propping up its establishment. The historic subplot is based on the sort of stories I read in old newspapers from the twenties, when the rich WASP businesses were trying smear campaigns against the "Jewish money mongers", as they were described at the time. There's this kind of snide anecdote which was started by one of Australia's most wealthy Jewish merchants. In the first half of the twentieth century, Sidney Myer owned the biggest department store in Melbourne, but he was never allowed to join exclusive institutions like The Melbourne Club. When his son was invited to join many years later he declined, saying if his father wasn't good enough for their club, he certainly wasn't. Apparently each generation of the family finds a more glib way to decline the club's invitations.
Pussy's Bow is a lot funnier than Glove Puppet. Why is that?
It just panned out that way. I must have been having an amusing year. I guess I have been particularly inspired by some of the British television programs in the 90s, like This Life and Queer as Folk. I love fast dialog and witty comebacks. There seems to be this underlying, unspoken, rule to modern social intercourse that the only real sin is being boring. When I kneel to say my prayers each night I say: "God I know you have to age me, and I don't care if I'm unstable or just some cosmic lampoon or if some of the men in the change room are better endowed than me, but please big intergalactic Daddio, never let me be humourless or boring".