Book Review: Neighbors

Celebrating Pride Month, June 2022

Book Review: 'Neighbors' by Russell O'Neil

2 / 5 Stars

Here at the PorPor Books Blog, we like to celebrate Pride Month by reviewing a book, fiction or nonfiction, that illuminates the LGBTQ Experience. For June 2022, we're reviewing 'Neighbors', by Russell O'Neil.

I couldn't find much information online about O'Neil; a brief New York Times obituary from December, 1991 is, unfortunately, Paywalled. Perusing a listing of works by O'Neil brings up the 1979 Paperback from Hell, titled Venom, about snakes loose in New York City. O'Neil published other horror, comedy, and melodrama novels during the 70s and 80s.

'Neighbors' (269 pp.) was published in May 1972 by Paperback Library; the cover artist is uncredited. 

The novel takes place in the early 1970s, and is set in the bedroom community of Hainesdale, New Jersey. 

In a particularly tranquil part of town sits the 15-room Robinson Cartwright Mansion, empty since the passing of the formidable Ms. Robinson Cartwright. Adjacent to the mansion are three houses, all constructed on the former grounds of the Mansion. Occupying these houses are eponymous Neighbors: Joe and Peg Jablonski, Cynthia and Herb Radnor, and Tom and Ethel Parker. The three families all are fast friends, and spend several days a week socializing.

The harmony of this little subdivision is altered when George Carr, Ms. Cartwright's nephew, takes up occupancy of the Mansion. George is a cultured, middle-aged man of commendable comportment. And sharing the Mansion with him are his very good friend, the blonde actor and author Michael Kaye. And their lithe, young, curly-haired Italian butler and cook, Gian-Carlo........

As white, straight, and suburban as they come, even the Neighbors recognize that their new neighbors are, to put it bluntly, 'fags'. But George mounts a charm offensive - inviting the families to dinner and drinks, and impressing all with his urbane charm. And Michael, learning that the Radnor's 15 year-old son David is an aspiring writer, takes him under his wing.

All seems well, as the Neighbors learnt to adjust to, and even enjoy, the presence of people with an Alternative Lifestyle. But little does George know that when he decides to have an utterly fabulous party on a fine Summer night, the actions of his guests, and the Neighbors, will lead to a moment of crisis that forever will change the lives of all in Hainesdale.........

I found 'Neighbors' to be underwhelming. While its sympathetic treatment of the gay characters could be considered enlightened for a novel of its era, the fact is, the narrative is reliant on lengthy passages of dialogue, which often are stilted, and designed to inform the reader that beneath the seeming blandness of the suburbs, our Neighbors are grappling with 'heavy' early 70s issues: the Generation Gap, Conformity Vs Nonconformity, the use of drugs ('grass'), and ambivalence about the value of the Marriage Contract. 

A constant diet of these melodramatic exchanges induces boredom early on in the narrative. And while our two gay heroes are exempt from the troubles of their straight Neighbors, much attention also is given to documenting bitchy arguments between George and Michael, sparked by their realization that they are growing older and their days of carefree indulgences are drawing to a close.

The closing chapters of the novel bring a sharper note of drama to the proceedings, and author O'Neil refuses to supply any sort of requisite happy ending. But by the time the denouement arrived, I was dulled by the constant exposure to melodramatic dialogue passages, and concluded that the novel is a good 50 to 75 pages too long.  

The verdict ? 'Neighbors' is another entry in the 'suburban melodrama' genre, a genre that perhaps reached its apogee with the 1999 movie American Beauty. While the inclusion of some gay characters gives 'Neighbors' a point of view that was imaginative for 1972, I can't call it a gem of undiscovered LGBTQ fiction, and modern readers likely will find the novel to be dated and plodding.