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The Calloway Trilogy #1

by Jay McInerney, Jay MacInerney

Brightness Falls is the story of Russell and Corrine Calloway. Set against the world of New York publishing, McInerney provides a stunningly accomplished portrayal of people contending with early success, then getting lost in the middle of their lives.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, New York, Contemporary, Novels, Literature, The United States Of America

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City, Ransom, Story of My Life, Brightness Falls, and The Last of the Savages. He edited The Penguin Book of New American Voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of Bright Lights, Big City, and co-wrote the screenplay for the television film Gia, which starred Angelina Jolie. He is the wine columnist for House & Garden magazine, and his essays on wine have been collected in Bacchus & Me (2000) and A Hedonist in the Cellar (2006). His most recent novel is titled The Good Life, published in 2006.

Reviews

[David Lentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brightness Falls is a great American novel, which owes a great deal to F. Scott Fitzgerald and his Gatsby. At times, it seems as if McInerney wants to re-tell the Gatsby tale on Wall Street during the Crash of '87. McInerney's Nick Carraway is, after all, Crash Galloway. However, the meaning of this novel transcends this decade and its hideous "greed is good" mantra: it's not simply a "period piece." The story is about the mad pursuit of wealth, the shallowness of the great Faustian trade and the price paid in unintended consequences. The story replays time after time and has done so since Helen of Troy and it always will stand as a poignant, cyclical, cautionary tale about those with unfettered ambition blindly seeking wealth and power. For all the apparent allure and trappings of wealth in New York high society and in big business, Russell Galloway is engaged in a zero-sum game. The writing in this novel is exquisite: I know this is absolute heresy but, at times, McInerney out-Fitzgeralds Fitzgerald. The main characters are round, full, human, distinctive and complex: I found myself intrigued by all of them. The dialogue is witty, funny, honest, real and each character spoke with a distinctive voice. The story-line was unexpected, credible and ambitious in its scale. The final chapter is one of the great closes among 20th century, literary novels. Having worked for global corporations during this time, I was deeply impressed with how well McInerney captured the essence of the era and then rendered his depiction timeless. I really can't say enough about this truly great American novel as the greed, arrogance and quotidian materialism of the late '80s just keeps on re-playing in the 90's of the day trader and in this decade as hedge funds are about to free-fall below the zero-line in their forthcoming decadent, dizzying downside. I was moved by the closing allusions to redemption in this prophetic novel and the optimism inherent in the premise that salvation can be experienced even after epic catastrophe and transcend it through the beauty of love and forgiveness -- even as brightness falls from the air.

[Cmamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever attended a long cocktail party at an elegant hotel with crowds of well dressed people chattering while a piano player provides background music and after the ball is over find yourself at home with the vague impression that you have not actually been anywhere? If so, you have a good idea of what this book is about.

Jay McInerney enjoyed some acclaim for "Bright Lights, Big City," but this effort is eminently forgettable. It is well written, mildly humorous at times but ultimately inconclusive and totally inconsequential. I found the characters as polite and as interesting as talking to a courteous necktie salesman, a bathroom attendant or a high rise building doorman. To put it another way, you could have watched two reruns of "Mad About You" and gotten the same result.

[christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

this reminded me of how "the beautiful and damned" is technically better than "the great gatsby" but not as well-known. this is better than "bright lights, big city."

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were certainly slow points through this book (I actually reshelved it for many months). But considering it’s about a failing marriage in the late 80s it has many surprisingly prescient themes. Betrayal, divorce, drugs, death, economic collapse, careers, ennui, infidelity, friendship, white privilege, and racism. And different than a lot of books I’ve recently read it became more and more engaging as it went along. There are two more books in the series with the same characters, and while I’d love to visit them again down the road, I’m not going to jump into those books immediately.

[Emmy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books which, if you read it at a certain time in your life, might very well make you weep with its truthfulness. At other times you might read it loathing everybody in it. I'm the exact age of the protagonists and honestly some things struck me as incredibly true. It's well-written too, in a way I had not expected. Yet there were times when I thought I would not finish it because for large stretches nothing's going on and it seems to be going nowhere. I suppose read into that what you will. If it's nothing else, it's also an interesting portrait of the 80s.

[J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found this in the laundry room.
I don't want any giddy expectations to get in the way of an eventual critical response, but in the early going, it's already showing signs ...: this one looks like it might have "dumpster" written all over it ...

[Joan Roure · Rating 4 out of 5]

El maravilloso y complejo mundo de las relaciones sentimentales. El retrato de una época y un lugar perfectamente ambientado y descrito: el Nueva York de los ochenta, el de la vanidad, las fiestas sin control, las drogas, el de los brokers más ávidos... El libro muestra la forma de vivir de entonces a través del aparentemente perfecto y joven matrimonio Calloway. Corrine y Russell tienen un futuro prometedor, pero no será tan fácil, los problemas empiezan a surgir y se convertirán en prueba de fuego de su relación.
La forma de narrar de McInerney es brillante, al igual que los diálogos, llenos de chispa e ironía. Para muestra un botón:

"—Te queremos, Jeff.
—¿Queremos? ¿A qué viene ese plural? El amor no es una actividad de grupo, maldita sea. Aunque las higienistas mentales de aquí hagan como si lo fuera. Me cago en la terapia de grupo. ¿Sabes?, nos animan a compartir un montón de cosas. La palabra «compartir» aquí es un puto verbo intransitivo. Se supone que debemos llevar un diario donde digamos: «Hoy compartí con Tony... Fran ha compartido con nosotros que no era capaz de compartir con su familia». Ya sé que a ti y a Russell os gusta hacerlo todo juntos, pero en este caso, ¿por qué no te limitas a hablar por ti misma? —Hizo una pausa, imaginando el rostro apenado y bello de Corrine al otro lado de la línea—. Yo también te quiero —añadió, enfadado—. Dame algún tiempo para que deje de odiarte."

El fascinante universo McInerney; con ganas ya de leer la siguiente entrega y saber que deparará el futuro de Corrine y Russell.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for the first 200 pages of Brightness Falls. Great, but not quite up to McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City standards. Two stars for the mind-numbing, over-reaching, name-dropping middle hundred-or-so pages, during which I almost threw in the towel. Then perhaps a touch more twinkle than 4, for the final, sobering, sweetly crashing 14 chapters. Given my questionable math skills, along with a self-diagnosed Freudian aversion to thirds, let's round it off here to three-and-a-half stars.

[Romain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trente ans et des poussières et pas une ride – je dis ça car le livre a lui aussi désormais trente ans et des poussières (1992). Le tout début correspond exactement à ce à quoi je m’attendais. Les années 80, ça sent la cigarette et l’alcool, c’est revigorant, la vie décadente – on est assez loin du healthy des années 2020.

La soirée se brisa en petits morceaux, mosaïque d’éclats brillants aux formes bizarres coagulés par l’alcool.

Corinne et Russell sont l’archétype de la réussite, ce sont des yuppies, elle travaille dans la finance, lui dans l’édition. Ils sont mariés et habitent New York évidemment. La trentaine est l’une des période charnière dans une vie. Il est fréquent de remettre en question des aspects fondamentaux de notre vie, de tourner une page et de faire de nouveaux projets, c’est un tournant majeur pour un couple.

On passe son enfance à désirer être un adulte et le reste de sa vie à idéaliser son enfance.

Le livre est le premier d’une trilogie (La trilogie des Calloway) que Jay McInerney a bouclé en 2016 avec Les Jours enfuis. Il s’est fait connaître grâce à son premier livre Bright Lights, Big City et par la suite par ses relations tumultueuses avec une autre star de la littérature américaine des années 90 Bret Easton Ellis. Il a un sacré talent, une grande culture et maîtrise sa narration. Sa façon d’écrire est plus claire, plus traditionnelle et moins maniérée que celle de son acolyte Ellis – ou alors elle a mieux vieilli. La lecture est facile sans être monotone car les chapitres ne sont pas calibrés.

Même s’ils pourraient désormais constituer des stéréotypes, les personnages sont quand même tous bien campés. Bernard Melman est excellent en financier génial maniaco-dépressif qui passe de la mégalomanie de la finance à celle de s’imposer dans le monde de la culture. Pareil pour celui de Trina Cox – j’aimerais bien voir ça au cinéma, et a priori mon voeux va être exaucé car les livres sont en cours d’adaptation par Amazon. Malgré un nombre de pages respectable, je ne me suis jamais lassé et je lirai sans aucun doute la suite des aventures des Calloway.

Également publié sur mon blog.

[A.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brightness Falls -- what an appropriate title. How could McInerney have gone from Bright Lights, a narrative tour de force, to this sprawling, turgid mess? Occasional sharp turns of phrase remind us of what he can do, but they're lost among excruciating passages of (sometimes repetitive) exposition and a narrative voice that's often too distant and disengaged. That distance comes from ambition: McInerney has set up too many threads and doesn't have space to tie them all together convincingly.

Some people have called this McInerney's best. Perhaps it seemed that way when still fresh, and its satire still had bite. But 20 years later, I read passages and then think, "clearly, that was all very funny at the time." This novel hasn't aged well; it is too wrapped up in its own time and place.

[isa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando empecé a leer este libro supe que se iba a convertir inmediatamente en uno de mis libros favoritos. Es un libro maravilloso, que te engancha al instante y vives lo que viven los protagonistas. Las ultimas 100 paginas son un horror, en el buen sentido y la forma de escribir del autor es increible. Que ganas de que saquen las continuaciones de este libro y poder ver que ha ocurrido en la vida de Russell y Corrine.

[Bieiris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admito que al principio me pareció una historia aburrida y superficial con personajes insufribles e histriónicos, pero al final me ha resultado muy conmovedora y está francamente bien escrita (y fenomenalmente traducida). El personaje de Jeff Pierce me ha encantado. Será que tengo debilidad por los personajes románticos y autodestructivos. No descarto seguir con la trilogía en un futuro más o menos lejano.

[John McDermott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly brilliant novel. Without question, one of my all time favourites.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a sucker for anything '80s and culture-industries in general, a novel about hostile takeover drama in the publishing world? Done, sign me up.

[Peter Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I read a book that alternately made me sad made me cry and laugh out loud and also made me aware of the beauty of language. I loved this so much it hurts. Not simply Russel and Corrine but Jeff ( oh Jeff) and the myriad characters that populate the screaming mad world in which this novel exists. Overall I felt deeply saddened by the lifestyle and the excess of drink and drugs and their impact on beautiful shining people who fall from the brightness and those who cling on desperately trying to have just one more success.

American society especially the old money with which New York has always been owned by is as class ridden as any European nation and McInerney brilliantly handles his narcissistic and nihilistic cast.

Of course there are comparisons with Brett Easton Ellis and the world of Las Vegas and the entropy of young people who drink fuck and take drugs. Yet where Ellis explores the division between art and entertainment as he delves into the meaning of ‘humanity’ McInerney is more concerned with the contrasts in society itself between the rich and poor and women and men and the lives of black and Hispanic and poor white people. The rich use philanthropy to assuage their conscience - Corrine works at the Mission on Sundays - Ace and his drug binges.

Then there is Jeff the successful author who has everything - the family and old money - who instead of bathing in his success is troubled by it and the sadness that pervades his life becoming almost like one of Ellis characters. McInerney explores humanity through this man and the poingnant and terrifying experience of rehab and his contact with the others like him explores further than Ellis and takes us into a world of madness and guilt.

This novel is not all about greed and debsuchery it is about human contact life love and betrayal. Please read this book.

[Serginho S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non mi ha convinto in pieno questa svolta massimalista di McInerney. Balza subito all’occhio come la folgorante ispirazione che lo portò a scrivere “Le mille luci di New York” stesse ormai per esaurirsi. Nonostante l’ammirevole intenzione (solita, a dire la verità) di fotografare la generazione yuppie, il romanzo soffre di molte parti con poco fiato: McInerney non è né Roth né Delillo e questo purtroppo si vede e si legge. La sua tecnica, però, è di un certo richiamo e stempera un apparente cinismo che accompagna tutta la lettura.
Se da una parte sembra ormai impossibile mantenere vivo un matrimonio senza sacrificare la monogamia, dall’altra esiste sempre una punta di speranza per poter confidare in una risalita dopo aver toccato il fondo della propria esistenza. Consigliato agli appassionati della New York anni 80.

[Jérémy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Globalement très long. Il faut attendre les trois quarts du livre pour enfin avoir un peu d'action. Les relations H/F sont stéréotypées a souhait et le nombre pléthorique de personnages inutiles fini par perdre même le lecteur le plus averti.
En bref, beaucoup de souffrances pour peut-être apprécier les 100 dernières pages...(sur 600....)

[Anders Demitz-Helin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A love story at the 'end of the world'. Rapid and smart and a descent read.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. so me aaron and natty coded

[Julay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf @365 pages et c'est con parce que j'ai acheté toute la trilogie après qu'on m'ait vendu du rêve. Ca m'apprendra à acheter des séries entière sans avoir lu le premier volume d'abord. Enfin bon.

Russell est le pire des connards de la planète, il passe son temps à songer à tromper sa femme, à combien c'est injuste qu'il ne puisse pas tromper sa femme, à presque tromper sa femme, et à tromper sa femme puis dire que ce n'était pas vraiment trompé parce qu'il n'est pas allé jusqu'au bout de l'affaire. En attendant Corinne est un amour, ne se doute de rien, et me fait de la peine.

C'est génialement bien écrit par contre, McInerney est très sarcastique et ça c'est un truc que j'aime bien. Dommage que je ne pouvais pas care less pour le récit et ses personnages...

[Nanou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dans les années 80, à Manhattan, Russel et Corinne forme un couple modèle, envié par tous leurs amis. Lui est éditeur chez Corbin, Dern & Cie, elle est courtière en bourse et est bénévole dans une association d’aide aux démunis. Ils ont trente ans, ils s’aiment et ont l’avenir devant eux, ils s’amusent dans toutes les fêtes où il faut être vu, écument les vernissages et les cocktails. Pourtant, chacun commence à ressentir une insatisfaction, un manque dans sa vie. Russel s’ennuie dans son activité professionnelle, il est tenté par des propositions cinématographiques sur la côte Ouest. Ou alors, pourquoi ne pas profiter de sa rencontre avec un riche homme d’affaires et lancer une OPA sur Corbin, Dern et Cie. Et puis, la routine matrimoniale commence à lui peser, il est attiré par d’autres femmes que la sienne. Quant à Corinne, elle se sent de plus en plus mal à l’aise dans le milieu boursier et voudrait faire une pause, avoir un bébé, arrêter de boire, moins sortir, souffler, quoi. Et puis, il y a leur ami Jeff, un écrivain qui n’a plus écrit depuis plusieurs années, qui a replongé dans la drogue. Cette rechute et la part active qu’ils doivent prendre pour faire entrer Jeff en cure de désintoxication sont un choc pour eux, le passage dans l’âge adulte en quelque sorte.

En commençant ce livre, j’ai souvent pensé aux romans de Paula Fox. Comme chez elle, les personnages ne sont pas forcément très sympathiques. Tout l’art de l’auteur est de donner, malgré cela, envie de les accompagner, de s’intéresser aux évènements qu’ils vivent, tant ils sont ancrés dans une époque décrite de façon très réaliste, très concrète. Ici, c’est la crise boursière de 1987 à New York qui va venir contrer les projets de Russel et de Corinne, bouleverser leur existence confortable et les forcer à se remettre en question. C’est une description très vivante du New York de la fin des années 80, dans le milieu des yuppies, de leurs excès, du toujours plus et du difficile retour aux réalités, quand la crise vous oblige à réduire la voilure.

C’est ma deuxième lecture de Jay McInerney, après Bright Lights, Big City, et j’ai vraiment envie de découvrir davantage cet auteur. Ça tombe bien, il existe une espèce de suite à Trente ans et des poussières, La belle vie, où l'on retrouve Russel et Corinne après les attentats de septembre 2001.

[Meryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the doldrums of his rehab facility, Jeff Pierce, the party boy novelist reflects "begin with an individual and you'll find you've got nothing but ambiguity and compassion; if you intend violence, stick with type." He is referring to his best friends, Corrine and Russell, the perfect power couple, or so it seems. Thirty-one and together since college, they are the stabilizing force for their group of friends who are still navigating the Bacchanalian frontier that is New York of 1987.

McInerney lifts the curtains on their marriage, revealing blue-blooded Corrine's loneliness and body dysmorphia, her dissatisfaction with an unfulfilling career in finance that supports the purity of Russell's literary pursuits, and the sense that she is trapped in an interminable cocktail party. Russell Calloway, like Nick Carraway, is the Irish Midwesterner of humble patronage, who never feels quite at home watching the lives of the privileged whose orbit he circles. Russell envies the lives of his single friends, and isn't ready to take the next step to achieving adulthood without more money in his pockets. When Russell embarks upon a scheme to buy the publishing company that he works for, with the backing of Trina Cox, a beautiful Mergers and Acquisitions broker that the couple knew at Brown, the issues plaguing their marriage rise to the forefront.

Where McInerney succeeds is his beautiful descriptions of New York and the social society that is the background for this novel, his funny and realistic dialogue, and his painting of Corrine and Russell as fully realized characters. He inhabits the minds of several characters, some more convincingly than others. Trina Cox's motivations are never clear, and she serves as more of an instigator for conflict than a believable person. The plot is secondary to the novel's exploration of a place and time, and the challenges faced by thirty-somethings on the verge of big changes, as they chart the path for their future.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite book from the entire literary brat pack canon, this book goes beyond New England undergrads in orgies of blow and manages to fully explore the relationship of a Manhattan power couple. The novel opens on a storybook marriage between Corrine and Russell with Russell on the cusp of becoming head editor of a large publishing house, replete with coke fueled parties filled with models and the life of the jet set. Everything crashes down at once: the stock market crashes, Russell sleeps with his agent, and Corrinne admits to sleeping with Russell's best friend. The final sentence of this book is one of the most hauntingly resonant one's I've ever read.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit this book was good. I decided recently that because it is possible to read all of McInerney's fiction in a month that one should do so. This whole book really rocked. I like the characters and the arc. I've said this before but a few years ago McInerney seemed dated, but now it's more like his eighties books are a perfect time capsule of a forgotten era that came on the heels of a depressed, near bankrupt 70s. I turned the last page and immediately went on to read his next and then ordered two more on line.

[Edijkelly Salvatore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though the story may be dated, mired as it is in the M&A craze of the late '80s, this is one of the few books I've desired to go back to and re-read. I remember getting to a critical part on an airplane and not realizing I was sobbing until the elderly lady next to me offered a tissue. Truly a moving story about characters you hate, but still care about.

[Jenn Steidley · Rating 1 out of 5]

There aren’t many books that I can’t finish reading (I can only think of one other- not going to state it, for fear of backlash), but this is one of those books. Super dry. Trying to be too similar to Brett Easton Ellis, but failing horribly. Not even sure what the point was. It’s just bad. I’ll leave it at that.

[Linoleum · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York, fine anni Ottanta, i preppies annaspano, la borsa crolla e l’AIDS imperversa. Nessuno meglio di Jay McInerney poteva raccontare questo momento storico e culturale che ha forgiato gli anni a venire, facendo centro.

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

God, I think I'm finally ready to let go of my love for the 80s brat pack writers (save janowitz).

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+ Fantastic story of two couples and their love, affairs, and complications in NYC--the kind of book that takes you over

[Biskit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another find from my brother-in-law's bathroom reading. Fine for just that - bathroom, beach, anywhere you're not wearing pants & need some 80's NYC yuppie escapism.