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With the publication of Bright Lights, Big City in 1984, Jay McInerney became a literary sensation, heralded as the voice of a generation. The novel follows a young man, living in Manhattan as if he owned it, through nightclubs, fashion shows, editorial offices, and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn. With nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in this anti-quest, he runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to acknowledge loss and, possibly, to rediscover his better instincts. This remarkable novel of youth and New York remains one of the most beloved, imitated, and iconic novels in America.
The tragicomedy of a young man in NY, struggling with the reality of his mother's death, alienation and the seductive pull of drugs.
The author of seven novels and two collections of essays on wine, Jay McInerney is a regular contributor to New York, The New York Times Book Review, The Independent and Corriere della Sera. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy and Granta. In 2006, Time cited his 1984 debut, Bright Lights, Big City, as one of nine generation-defining novels of the twentieth century. He was the recipient of the 2006 James Beard Foundation’s M.F.K.
| It's Six A.M. Do You Know Where You Are? | 1 | |
| The Department of Factual Verification | 11 | |
| The Utility of Fiction | 36 | |
| A Womb With a View | 54 | |
| Les Jeux Sont Faits | 69 | |
| Coma Baby Lives! | 80 | |
| Pygmies, Ferrets and Dog Chow | 99 | |
| O Couture! | 119 | |
| Linguine and Sympathy | 128 | |
| Sometimes a Vague Notion | 145 | |
| The Night Shift | 160 | |
| How It's Going | 170 |
Anonymous
Posted May 22, 2006
BRIGHT LIGHTS was one of the first ¿New York¿ books I ever read. It wasn¿t the last. It has been said that those flames that burn the brightest fade the most quickly. It has also been argued that an extension of this maxim to literature provides a quick dismissal of all topical, works of and in a moment. Bright Lights, Big City serves as an eloquent riposte to this critique of topicality though it is very much a book about a moment within a subculture within a place (and it rejoices in its rootedness), more importantly it is about a person, and the details which seem to date it provide no more a detriment to its universality than those that Fitzgerald reveled in. Likened to McCrae's 'KATZENJAMMER' this book is a ¿bright¿ spot in the literary firmament.
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Posted March 25, 2004
This novel is unified, with form matching the content, in ways that most are not. The 2nd-person point-of-view is brilliant, since the narrator feels outside of himself, made distant not because of drugs, not really, not initially, but because of loss and denial. Too often people dismiss McInerney's choice of 2nd as gimmicky and impertinent, like the Coma Baby riff, but the Coma Baby riff isn't gimmicky and impertinent either, since it helps the reader solve the mystery of why the self-destructive narrator is doing cocaine and running from his brother in the first place (and foreshadows his own rebirth). Bright Lights, Big City is a fun, easy read, but it's a smart read, too. Very clever and, at the end, very touching.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 4, 2000
This novel falls just short of the American classics Huck Finn, Sun Also Rises, Gatsby, Holden Caufield, True Grit. MacInerney captured being young in New York in the 80's which means he captured being young and confused for all times. The smell of bread in the beginning brings you to the smell of bread at the end. The people and situations are as true to the rules of reality as fiction can be. And the walk that you and Tad's cousin take through the Village is most fetching indeed. The bricks and wooden Dutch shoes at the end of the book point beautifully to the Dutch sailor's eyes that first contemplated this continent at the end of Gatsby. The only problem I have with the book is it's a little too New Yorker, polished fiction--he never let loose the reins. There's many ways to be wicked but you don't know one little thing about love.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 24, 2013
Two chains. Im different. Yah im different. Im different. Me and bro we dont get along
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Posted May 24, 2013
Returns to her rundown yet charming apt. And falls asleep. Night
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Posted May 24, 2013
(Sorry!)
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Posted May 23, 2013
He walked in and kicked some dirt.
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Posted May 24, 2013
Uhh...
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Posted May 24, 2013
"This sucks."
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Posted May 20, 2013
May i join?
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Posted May 19, 2013
May i join
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Posted May 18, 2013
Um hi? This place is dead.....no ard feelings^_^
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Posted May 16, 2013
FOREVER RES 2 PLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEEE JOIN!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 24, 2013
If u see cap. Cody tell him some one is going to be murderd at "babel" result one pleaze hurry.
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Posted May 14, 2013
Walks on the sidewalk...hhhheeeeellllllllllooooo?????
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 12, 2013
Hey :)
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 24, 2013
Last year you started a police dog rp right? Well i dont know if you remember but i was Pharaoh,you dog. I think i was a german sheperd or something. Just saying hey and all that.
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Posted May 13, 2013
Drives thier
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Posted May 11, 2013
My account says my moms name but i am jT young and my account that i want is wanting to be called JTTennis(pro) in tennis, JTSoccer(pro) in soccer, you get the pattern right? But if im not doing any sport now then i am AwesomeJT10!
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Posted May 12, 2013
Lilly
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Overview
With the publication of Bright Lights, Big City in 1984, Jay McInerney became a literary sensation, heralded as the voice of a generation. The novel follows a young man, living in Manhattan as if he owned it, through nightclubs, fashion shows, editorial offices, and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn. With nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in this anti-quest, he runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to ...