Author: Paul Dalgarno
Format: E-book
Pages: 252
Publisher: Upswell
So I brought this book because of a thread on Twitter- one of my favourite authors posted that he had been interviewed for it and recommended it- so I decided to go “why the hell not” and purchased it straight away and started it almost straight away- I had to finish another book first )only took me about twenty minutes).
What can I say about this intriguing book?
The premise is that it’s a book about how prudish Australia really is when it comes to sex, with a lens based in the authors’ own experience of being in a poly relationship.
That’s the simple way to describe this book- and that’s a good thing!
The long version is that this is a treatise on poly relationships which soon expands to explore how, essentially, that despite Australia being a happy go lucky country that if you “deviate” from the “sexual norm” ie- anything other than hetero- then Australia is more repressed than America and (somewhat ironically) Britain- which both countries have a reputation of being prude beyond believe.
I didn’t think I would like this novel- poly relationships are really not my thing(PRUDE!!!)- but I continued to devour this novel because it’s simply enjoyable.
The authors’ writing style is superb- it’s like having a conversation with someone over a cup of tea with no strings attached- and while dealing with things I don’t have much to do with, it challenged my own levels of prudishness.
A piece of writing- if it’s good- is meant to make you thing and pause on the objects it’s raising and Pude Nation certainly did- it made me question myself and how on the one hand I can be extremely prudish (conditioned prudishness much?)- but by the same token we have a friendship based on no judgment and we talk about things of a sexual nature.
The great thing about this treatise is the author has taken his time to research the hell out of it- there’s a wide range of interviews that are Australian based- authors, poets, academics- that help ensure that this book should hopefully be held in high regards in terms of Australian sexuality studies.