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The Calloway Trilogy #3
Bright, Precious Days
Jay McInerney's first novel since the best-selling "The Good Life: " a sexy, vibrant, cross-generational New York story--a literary and commercial read of the highest order.
Russell and Corrine Calloway seem to be living the New York dream: book parties one night and high-society charity events the next; jobs they care about (and actually enjoy); twin children, a boy and a girl whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But all of this comes at a high cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has cultural clout but minimal cash; as he navigates an industry that requires, beyond astute literary taste, constant financial improvisation, he encounters an audacious, expensive and potentially ruinous opportunity. Meanwhile, instead of seeking personal profit in this incredibly wealthy city, Corrine is devoted to feeding its hungry poor, and they soon discover they're being priced out of their now fashionable neighborhood.
Then Corrine's world is turned upside down when the man with whom she'd had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change--including Obama's historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited--the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have anticipated. "From the Hardcover edition.""
Russell and Corrine Calloway seem to be living the New York dream: book parties one night and high-society charity events the next; jobs they care about (and actually enjoy); twin children, a boy and a girl whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But all of this comes at a high cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has cultural clout but minimal cash; as he navigates an industry that requires, beyond astute literary taste, constant financial improvisation, he encounters an audacious, expensive and potentially ruinous opportunity. Meanwhile, instead of seeking personal profit in this incredibly wealthy city, Corrine is devoted to feeding its hungry poor, and they soon discover they're being priced out of their now fashionable neighborhood.
Then Corrine's world is turned upside down when the man with whom she'd had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change--including Obama's historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited--the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have anticipated. "From the Hardcover edition.""
416 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 2, 2016
186 people are currently reading
4529 people want to read
About the author
Jay McInerney
70 books1,112 followersJohn 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.
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November 29, 2023
SI SPENGONO LE LUCI
Edouard Manet: Interno ad Arcachon, 1871. È conservato al Clark Art Institute dove Luke porta Corrinne nel loro weekend insieme.
Per le prime duecento pagine ho avuto l’impressione d’essere davanti a una sceneggiatura di Sex and the City - peraltro serieTV della quale so davvero poco avendone visto un solo episodio e neppure fino in fondo, che però d’istinto mi ha sempre interessato poco.
Ma sentivo echi di James Salter, che io apprezzo parecchio: un Salter in minore, meno malinconico, meno raffinato.
Se mi fossi fermato lì avrei potuto fare mio il giudizio di questo recensore:
Per quanto dal punto di vista dell’autore questo libro fosse inevitabile, e per quanto il lettore cresciuto insieme a Russell e Corrine meritasse di sapere come si fossero evoluti, l’amara impressione, chiudendo il libro, è che, forse, avremmo preferito non saperlo.
Ma sono andato avanti e con lo scorrere delle pagine il piacere della lettura è cresciuto, il quadro ha acquistato almeno una dimensione in più, e oltre Salter ho sentito l’eco (lontana lontana) di FSF, del suo grandissimo Gatsby e non solo.
Altra opera sensazionale della collezione Clark di cui si parla qui è questa “Madonna e Bambino sul trono con quattro angeli” di Piero della Francesca (1460 -70).
Il brano che ho riportato sopra nomina i due protagonisti, Corrine e Russell, moglie e marito, entrambi sul fare dei cinquanta - che sembrano diventati i nuovi quaranta (o trenta del tutto?). Hanno una coppia di gemelli, maschio e femmina, nati da un ovulo di sua sorella fecondato in vitro da Russell: due undicenni che dato il loro tasso di piacevolezza mi viene da soprannominare Rimbrotto e Ostilità
Ho appreso che avrei già potuto incontrare sia Corrine che Russell se avessi letto i primi due capitoli di questa che ho scoperto essere una trilogia: quello ambientato negli anni Ottanta, Brightness Falls – Si spengono le luci uscito nel 1992 – decennio newyorkese che McInerney descrive come i Settanta in City of the Dead di Herbert Lieberman – gli anni della strage da AIDS, che si porta via Jeff, il terzo personaggio principale, amico di Russell nonché amante di Corrine.
Poi nel 2006 è arrivato Good Life, la stessa coppia ormai sposata alle prese col post nine eleven (undici settembre) e per lei un nuovo amante, Luke, che ritorna anche qui: si conoscono facendo volontariato dopo l’attentato alle Twin Towers, soffocati dalla polvere sparsa per giorni e settimane sull’intera isola.
Per dieci anni McInerney ha smesso di pubblicare romanzi: fino a questo qua, uscito nel 2016, che (al momento) conclude la trilogia di Russell e Corrine.
SoHo, il quartiere di Manhattan dove vivono Corrine e Russell, che lui fa gran fatica ad abbandonare.
Manhattan è il terzo personaggio protagonista: per Russell, editore ed editor, luogo fondamentale e imprescindibile, come McInerney mette in chiaro sin dall’incipit:
Una volta, non molto tempo addietro, giovani uomini e donne erano venuti in città perché amavano i libri, perché volevano scrivere romanzi, racconti, o addirittura poesie, o perché volevano partecipare alla produzione e distribuzione di questi manufatti e conoscere le persone che li creavano. Per coloro che bazzicavano le biblioteche di periferia e le librerie di provincia, Manhattan era l’isola splendente delle Lettere.
Dell’isola newyorkese si parla tanto, ma in particolare del suo aspetto gastronomico: McInerney ama raccontare di posti e cibi nuovi, spesso strani (sperma di pesce, testicoli di toro fritti, cocktail di vodka miscelata con brodo di bue, pesce ingoiato ancora vivo per quanto sia condito …). Siamo a cavallo del 2008, Obama vince le primarie e si appresta a diventare il primo presidente afroamericano degli Stati Uniti: la crisi economica, lo scandalo della Lehman Brothers, l’America che si libera del guerrafondaio presidente con lo sguardo da furetto…
Inutile nasconderselo: McInerney è innamorato di New York, è innamorato della sua famosa isola, Manhattan, la canta e la sente come sua musa: insiste sulla luce, ripete “bright” nei suoi titoli (Bright Lights, Big City – Brightness Falls – questo Bright, Precious Days) e non è solo la luce che arriva dal cielo a baciare strade, piazze, parchi e grattacieli, ma anche quella che nella frizzante aria autunnale, immersa nella giallognola luce metropolitana che si riversa da migliaia di finestre… ci regala un bell’excipit.
I Calloway finiscono col trasferirsi 140 isolati più a nord, in una town house di Harlem come questa, prima che anche questa zona di Manhattan venisse gentrificata.
Soprattutto mi pare si parli di passato, del suo peso e del suo conforto, di bilanci, di sogni non realizzati, aspettative deluse, di vite che non corrispondono a quanto immaginato in gioventù, di matrimonio amore e amanti.
Love hurts dice la canzone omonima di Gram Parsons qui citata, e, per quanto l’amore non può per definizione nascere tra un uomo e la moglie, che sono vicendevolmente legati dal dovere, ma solo tra amanti, come sostiene la Contessa di Champagne nel De Amore di Andrea Cappellano (1185) - anche questo è qui riportato - l’amore fa soffrire sia gli amanti che i coniugi. E forse l’amante è davvero la passione, il desiderio, l’attrazione – il coniuge è sì probabilmente il dovere, ma anche la solidità e la stabilità, e comporta l’amore filiale, il calore della famiglia: emozione vs sentimento?
L’amore fa male, l’amore è fragile, sia uno che l’altro.
McInerney, che si è sposato almeno quattro volte (per ora?), sembra credere all’amore matrimoniale, quello solido e duraturo che riesce ad assorbire anche le spallate e i marosi degli amanti.
Edouard Manet: Interno ad Arcachon, 1871. È conservato al Clark Art Institute dove Luke porta Corrinne nel loro weekend insieme.
Per le prime duecento pagine ho avuto l’impressione d’essere davanti a una sceneggiatura di Sex and the City - peraltro serieTV della quale so davvero poco avendone visto un solo episodio e neppure fino in fondo, che però d’istinto mi ha sempre interessato poco.
Ma sentivo echi di James Salter, che io apprezzo parecchio: un Salter in minore, meno malinconico, meno raffinato.
Se mi fossi fermato lì avrei potuto fare mio il giudizio di questo recensore:
Per quanto dal punto di vista dell’autore questo libro fosse inevitabile, e per quanto il lettore cresciuto insieme a Russell e Corrine meritasse di sapere come si fossero evoluti, l’amara impressione, chiudendo il libro, è che, forse, avremmo preferito non saperlo.
Ma sono andato avanti e con lo scorrere delle pagine il piacere della lettura è cresciuto, il quadro ha acquistato almeno una dimensione in più, e oltre Salter ho sentito l’eco (lontana lontana) di FSF, del suo grandissimo Gatsby e non solo.
Altra opera sensazionale della collezione Clark di cui si parla qui è questa “Madonna e Bambino sul trono con quattro angeli” di Piero della Francesca (1460 -70).
Il brano che ho riportato sopra nomina i due protagonisti, Corrine e Russell, moglie e marito, entrambi sul fare dei cinquanta - che sembrano diventati i nuovi quaranta (o trenta del tutto?). Hanno una coppia di gemelli, maschio e femmina, nati da un ovulo di sua sorella fecondato in vitro da Russell: due undicenni che dato il loro tasso di piacevolezza mi viene da soprannominare Rimbrotto e Ostilità
Ho appreso che avrei già potuto incontrare sia Corrine che Russell se avessi letto i primi due capitoli di questa che ho scoperto essere una trilogia: quello ambientato negli anni Ottanta, Brightness Falls – Si spengono le luci uscito nel 1992 – decennio newyorkese che McInerney descrive come i Settanta in City of the Dead di Herbert Lieberman – gli anni della strage da AIDS, che si porta via Jeff, il terzo personaggio principale, amico di Russell nonché amante di Corrine.
Poi nel 2006 è arrivato Good Life, la stessa coppia ormai sposata alle prese col post nine eleven (undici settembre) e per lei un nuovo amante, Luke, che ritorna anche qui: si conoscono facendo volontariato dopo l’attentato alle Twin Towers, soffocati dalla polvere sparsa per giorni e settimane sull’intera isola.
Per dieci anni McInerney ha smesso di pubblicare romanzi: fino a questo qua, uscito nel 2016, che (al momento) conclude la trilogia di Russell e Corrine.
SoHo, il quartiere di Manhattan dove vivono Corrine e Russell, che lui fa gran fatica ad abbandonare.
Manhattan è il terzo personaggio protagonista: per Russell, editore ed editor, luogo fondamentale e imprescindibile, come McInerney mette in chiaro sin dall’incipit:
Una volta, non molto tempo addietro, giovani uomini e donne erano venuti in città perché amavano i libri, perché volevano scrivere romanzi, racconti, o addirittura poesie, o perché volevano partecipare alla produzione e distribuzione di questi manufatti e conoscere le persone che li creavano. Per coloro che bazzicavano le biblioteche di periferia e le librerie di provincia, Manhattan era l’isola splendente delle Lettere.
Dell’isola newyorkese si parla tanto, ma in particolare del suo aspetto gastronomico: McInerney ama raccontare di posti e cibi nuovi, spesso strani (sperma di pesce, testicoli di toro fritti, cocktail di vodka miscelata con brodo di bue, pesce ingoiato ancora vivo per quanto sia condito …). Siamo a cavallo del 2008, Obama vince le primarie e si appresta a diventare il primo presidente afroamericano degli Stati Uniti: la crisi economica, lo scandalo della Lehman Brothers, l’America che si libera del guerrafondaio presidente con lo sguardo da furetto…
Inutile nasconderselo: McInerney è innamorato di New York, è innamorato della sua famosa isola, Manhattan, la canta e la sente come sua musa: insiste sulla luce, ripete “bright” nei suoi titoli (Bright Lights, Big City – Brightness Falls – questo Bright, Precious Days) e non è solo la luce che arriva dal cielo a baciare strade, piazze, parchi e grattacieli, ma anche quella che nella frizzante aria autunnale, immersa nella giallognola luce metropolitana che si riversa da migliaia di finestre… ci regala un bell’excipit.
I Calloway finiscono col trasferirsi 140 isolati più a nord, in una town house di Harlem come questa, prima che anche questa zona di Manhattan venisse gentrificata.
Soprattutto mi pare si parli di passato, del suo peso e del suo conforto, di bilanci, di sogni non realizzati, aspettative deluse, di vite che non corrispondono a quanto immaginato in gioventù, di matrimonio amore e amanti.
Love hurts dice la canzone omonima di Gram Parsons qui citata, e, per quanto l’amore non può per definizione nascere tra un uomo e la moglie, che sono vicendevolmente legati dal dovere, ma solo tra amanti, come sostiene la Contessa di Champagne nel De Amore di Andrea Cappellano (1185) - anche questo è qui riportato - l’amore fa soffrire sia gli amanti che i coniugi. E forse l’amante è davvero la passione, il desiderio, l’attrazione – il coniuge è sì probabilmente il dovere, ma anche la solidità e la stabilità, e comporta l’amore filiale, il calore della famiglia: emozione vs sentimento?
L’amore fa male, l’amore è fragile, sia uno che l’altro.
McInerney, che si è sposato almeno quattro volte (per ora?), sembra credere all’amore matrimoniale, quello solido e duraturo che riesce ad assorbire anche le spallate e i marosi degli amanti.
August 9, 2016
You can’t say he didn’t warn us. Jay McInerney’s new novel, “Bright, Precious Days,” is bright and precious.
It’s his third book about Russell and Corrine Calloway, the New York couple that makes their friends believe a good marriage is still possible. We first met these shiny lovers way back in 1992 in “Brightness Falls” and caught up with them again in 2006 in “The Good Life,” which, if nothing else, means their relationship has lasted longer than most real-life marriages.
McInerney, now on his fourth wife, has spoken of Russell as his alter ego. Far from the cocaine-snorting fact checker of “Bright Lights, Big City,” Russell is the responsible co-owner of a boutique publishing house where he works as editor-in-chief, fulfilling his well-polished Maxwell Perkins fantasy. An attentive husband to Corrine and a good father to their children, he glides through New York’s financial and cultural empyrean in a state of blissful. . . .
To watch the Totally Hip Video Book Review of this title, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/...
It’s his third book about Russell and Corrine Calloway, the New York couple that makes their friends believe a good marriage is still possible. We first met these shiny lovers way back in 1992 in “Brightness Falls” and caught up with them again in 2006 in “The Good Life,” which, if nothing else, means their relationship has lasted longer than most real-life marriages.
McInerney, now on his fourth wife, has spoken of Russell as his alter ego. Far from the cocaine-snorting fact checker of “Bright Lights, Big City,” Russell is the responsible co-owner of a boutique publishing house where he works as editor-in-chief, fulfilling his well-polished Maxwell Perkins fantasy. An attentive husband to Corrine and a good father to their children, he glides through New York’s financial and cultural empyrean in a state of blissful. . . .
To watch the Totally Hip Video Book Review of this title, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/...
November 5, 2019
La via dell’eccesso conduce al centro di disintossicazione, o al cimitero
Uno dice McInerney e subito vengono in mente le mille luci di New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmeTs...
Accidenti quanto tempo è passato da quando lessi quel libro, e ne è passato parecchio anche dalla lettura del suo proseguo, “Si spengono le luci”. Per fortuna “La luce dei giorni” (il terzo libro della saga) lo si può leggere senza aggancio agli episodi precedenti ed è consigliato farlo se si sta navigando fra i 45 e i 55, se si è stati o si vorrebbe andare a New York, se si sono letti Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Carver, Updike, Joyce, Capote, Salinger, Greene, Nabokov, King, Celine, Hunter Thompson.. Ok non ce la farò mai a citarli tutti, dopo appena venti pagine si è già fatto il pieno di romanzi e scrittori, ma non finisce lì, perché Russel (il protagonista) è un editor e continuerà a mettere riferimenti letterari per 500 pagine. Tanto per far capire con chi avrete a che fare, Jay Mc Inerney è colui che scrisse:
«Scoprire la narrativa di Carver agli inizi degli anni Settanta fu un’esperienza che trasformò parecchi scrittori della mia generazione, un’esperienza paragonabile forse alla scoperta di Hemingway negli anni Venti. In effetti il linguaggio di Carver era inequivocabilmente simile a quello di Hemingway».
Potete smettere di leggere questo commento, io sono spudoratamente di parte, Hemingway e Carver sono i miei scrittori preferiti e ho letto con piacere alterno tutti gli scrittori citati da Mc Inerney nelle prime venti pagine e buona parte di quelli che citerà più tardi. È un libro che si apprezza se si è letto abbastanza, se si è tradito, se siamo stati traditi, se si hanno dei figli, se gli autunni che si hanno davanti sono minori di quelli alle proprie spalle, se si ha una certa passione per i cibi e i vini. Ecco, per esempio a me quella manca completamente e il libro ne è satollo. Russel (l’alter ego di Jay Mc Inerney) è un gourmet con il grembiule da chef, una buona forchetta, un palato educato.
Mi è piaciuto molto questo libro, mi fermo a 4 stelle solo perché l’anno scorso, il primo libro dell’anno fu ”Riposa coniglio” e Updike è superiore a Mc Inerney, entrambi però hanno scattato foto significative del tempo in cui hanno vissuto; John si ferma ai ’90, Jay ci proietta negli ’00 dalle torri gemelle al fallimento della Lehman Brothers, sta al lettore decidere quale dei due crolli sia stato più fragoroso.
Ho sottolineato due battute su NY (la vicenda si svolge ancora una volta lì) su cui concordo
“Però ricordate, New York non è l’America.”
“Non è per questo che siamo venuti qui?”
Sì, sì, sì, è impossibile non desiderare di andare proprio lì, nell’ombelico del mondo attuale.
Colonna sonora:
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nPi...
Aspettatevi tutto lo struggimento possibile per quel decennio, la colonna sonora non l’ho scelta a caso fra le citazioni di Jay.
Uno dice McInerney e subito vengono in mente le mille luci di New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmeTs...
Accidenti quanto tempo è passato da quando lessi quel libro, e ne è passato parecchio anche dalla lettura del suo proseguo, “Si spengono le luci”. Per fortuna “La luce dei giorni” (il terzo libro della saga) lo si può leggere senza aggancio agli episodi precedenti ed è consigliato farlo se si sta navigando fra i 45 e i 55, se si è stati o si vorrebbe andare a New York, se si sono letti Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Carver, Updike, Joyce, Capote, Salinger, Greene, Nabokov, King, Celine, Hunter Thompson.. Ok non ce la farò mai a citarli tutti, dopo appena venti pagine si è già fatto il pieno di romanzi e scrittori, ma non finisce lì, perché Russel (il protagonista) è un editor e continuerà a mettere riferimenti letterari per 500 pagine. Tanto per far capire con chi avrete a che fare, Jay Mc Inerney è colui che scrisse:
«Scoprire la narrativa di Carver agli inizi degli anni Settanta fu un’esperienza che trasformò parecchi scrittori della mia generazione, un’esperienza paragonabile forse alla scoperta di Hemingway negli anni Venti. In effetti il linguaggio di Carver era inequivocabilmente simile a quello di Hemingway».
Potete smettere di leggere questo commento, io sono spudoratamente di parte, Hemingway e Carver sono i miei scrittori preferiti e ho letto con piacere alterno tutti gli scrittori citati da Mc Inerney nelle prime venti pagine e buona parte di quelli che citerà più tardi. È un libro che si apprezza se si è letto abbastanza, se si è tradito, se siamo stati traditi, se si hanno dei figli, se gli autunni che si hanno davanti sono minori di quelli alle proprie spalle, se si ha una certa passione per i cibi e i vini. Ecco, per esempio a me quella manca completamente e il libro ne è satollo. Russel (l’alter ego di Jay Mc Inerney) è un gourmet con il grembiule da chef, una buona forchetta, un palato educato.
Mi è piaciuto molto questo libro, mi fermo a 4 stelle solo perché l’anno scorso, il primo libro dell’anno fu ”Riposa coniglio” e Updike è superiore a Mc Inerney, entrambi però hanno scattato foto significative del tempo in cui hanno vissuto; John si ferma ai ’90, Jay ci proietta negli ’00 dalle torri gemelle al fallimento della Lehman Brothers, sta al lettore decidere quale dei due crolli sia stato più fragoroso.
Ho sottolineato due battute su NY (la vicenda si svolge ancora una volta lì) su cui concordo
“Però ricordate, New York non è l’America.”
“Non è per questo che siamo venuti qui?”
Sì, sì, sì, è impossibile non desiderare di andare proprio lì, nell’ombelico del mondo attuale.
Colonna sonora:
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nPi...
Aspettatevi tutto lo struggimento possibile per quel decennio, la colonna sonora non l’ho scelta a caso fra le citazioni di Jay.
March 11, 2022
Just what I didn't need. Another book about rich people sleeping around, hemorrhaging money, shoving the monetary equivalents of median annual American incomes up their noses, and shmoozing with an in-crowd of artiste-type writers (who never write) and dilettantes. So obnoxious. But of course, impeccably written in places. It will promptly be forgotten with most of the other Bret Easton Ellis, Martin Amis, John Updike, Donna Tartt, etc. These authors kept trying to articulate how empty the American dream became when the wheel is greased with lucre, how hollow the experience of profligacy is in the end, how reckless and bereft was the disenchanted youths they vicariously syphon off into literary blandness, while the reader can only assume that if they knew how to live any other kind of life, why didn't they write about that aspect of it instead? These literary fiction purveyors were stuck in a rut of uncreativity if you ask me. At least Lethem could infuse his pseudo-intellectual navel-gazing with pulp magic realism. It's like Don Delillo, but not as quirky.
July 19, 2017
Recommended for readers who enjoyed THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES by Tom Wolfe; THE PRIVILEGES by Jonathan Dee; and CAPITAL by Tom Wolfe.
Sometimes don't you just want to see how the other 1% lives? In Manhattan? Throw in a ton of book people and book speak and just for the heck of it, the third book in the story of a marriage? Sure, Jay McInerney often comes across as pompous but give him his credit - the man can spin a tale.
BRIGHT, PRECIOUS DAYS picks up several years after THE GOOD LIFE left off. It's the third book to feature Corrine and Russell Calloway, a golden couple to their friends but a duo with issues and secrets aplenty. Russell continues to slave away as a dedicated yet under appreciated book editor. Corrine's work in the non-profit sector is overshadowed by the reappearance of Luke McGavock, her former lover. As usual, McInerney takes us inside the world of movers and shakers complete with a lot of dirt and intrigue.
The book takes place in the 18 months leading up to and following the 2008 recession. But the time period is merely a backdrop for Russell's misstep with one author and Corrine's sidestepping with Luke. Family members and friends, especially Corrine's sloppy sister and her hilariously hypocritical best gal pal, up the juicy quota.
If you like your gossipy fiction well-written and no doubt penned with help from the finest wines, BRIGHT, PRECIOUS DAYS is the book for you. I enjoyed it in the way I enjoy watching "Antiques Roadshow" on PBS. It's a great way to poke fun AND indulge your envy muscle. Plus, it's Public Television so it's got to be good for you, right?
Sometimes don't you just want to see how the other 1% lives? In Manhattan? Throw in a ton of book people and book speak and just for the heck of it, the third book in the story of a marriage? Sure, Jay McInerney often comes across as pompous but give him his credit - the man can spin a tale.
BRIGHT, PRECIOUS DAYS picks up several years after THE GOOD LIFE left off. It's the third book to feature Corrine and Russell Calloway, a golden couple to their friends but a duo with issues and secrets aplenty. Russell continues to slave away as a dedicated yet under appreciated book editor. Corrine's work in the non-profit sector is overshadowed by the reappearance of Luke McGavock, her former lover. As usual, McInerney takes us inside the world of movers and shakers complete with a lot of dirt and intrigue.
The book takes place in the 18 months leading up to and following the 2008 recession. But the time period is merely a backdrop for Russell's misstep with one author and Corrine's sidestepping with Luke. Family members and friends, especially Corrine's sloppy sister and her hilariously hypocritical best gal pal, up the juicy quota.
If you like your gossipy fiction well-written and no doubt penned with help from the finest wines, BRIGHT, PRECIOUS DAYS is the book for you. I enjoyed it in the way I enjoy watching "Antiques Roadshow" on PBS. It's a great way to poke fun AND indulge your envy muscle. Plus, it's Public Television so it's got to be good for you, right?
February 8, 2018
This novel is one big cliche. It is the equivalent of meeting a paunchy man with a comb-over on his third or fourth wife. In fact, any book that opens, as this one does, with an older married man getting hit on by a woman so young he isn't sure she can legally order alcohol should be categorized separately. This isn't fiction. It's wishful male fantasy. McInerney might as well have given us a mirror. (The young woman, by the way, is described as "voluptuous," with "pouty red lips," and who, at her first meeting with the much older Russell, holds out a fingertip for him to lick.)
Predictability could be forgiven if the writing were spectacular. It isn't. This isn't Jonathan Dee or Philip Roth or Tom Wolfe. Here is the rarefied world of Manhattan privilege (charity balls, emaciated Upper East Side women, private planes, the 21 Club), mixed with the familiar male tropes of aging, sexuality, and power, but the writing falls flat. Characters lack depth. The prose lacks vitality. This is more movie script than novel. Dialogue is stilted. A (presumably) black man in the Bronx, asked about his gout, replies, "Tolerable better, though I did get me a batch of ribs night 'fore last." Jesus. Who talks like that? And while the events here circle around the 2008 financial crisis, the tenor of this novel is curiously 1980s-infused. The characters are all New York liberals torn between supporting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but the mood, the obvious nostalgia for excess, reminded me of Trump—someone stuck in the '80s, who has never caught up.
This book feels like a pale approximation of an actual novel, too dull to be social satire, too limp to show us eros with real humanity, too superficial throughout. I haven't read McInerney's other works, which I suspect are stronger, but let's be honest: If this were written by a no-name author, it wouldn't have been published.
Predictability could be forgiven if the writing were spectacular. It isn't. This isn't Jonathan Dee or Philip Roth or Tom Wolfe. Here is the rarefied world of Manhattan privilege (charity balls, emaciated Upper East Side women, private planes, the 21 Club), mixed with the familiar male tropes of aging, sexuality, and power, but the writing falls flat. Characters lack depth. The prose lacks vitality. This is more movie script than novel. Dialogue is stilted. A (presumably) black man in the Bronx, asked about his gout, replies, "Tolerable better, though I did get me a batch of ribs night 'fore last." Jesus. Who talks like that? And while the events here circle around the 2008 financial crisis, the tenor of this novel is curiously 1980s-infused. The characters are all New York liberals torn between supporting Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but the mood, the obvious nostalgia for excess, reminded me of Trump—someone stuck in the '80s, who has never caught up.
This book feels like a pale approximation of an actual novel, too dull to be social satire, too limp to show us eros with real humanity, too superficial throughout. I haven't read McInerney's other works, which I suspect are stronger, but let's be honest: If this were written by a no-name author, it wouldn't have been published.
September 6, 2016
I kinda hated every character in this. Maybe I was supposed to?
July 16, 2016
Bright, Precious Days is my first time reading Jay McInerney - it will not be my last. Loved this story set in NYC, at the cusp of the financial crisis and Obama's historic election, peppered with characters who are writers, artists, publishers, and at the center a couple who have been married for 25 years and continue to weather the storms that plague any long-term relationship, as well as all that is happening in the world. A great read from a seasoned writer.
May 16, 2016
Every ten years or so, Jay McInerney revisits Russell and Corrine Calloway who have served as prototypical upscale New Yorkers. In Brightness Falls (1997) they find their footing almost as pilgrims colonizing Tribeca in the aftermath of the '80s; in The Good Life (2007), their marriage faces challenges in the wake of 9/11. Each of these books are written at a distance of several years after the seminal event, giving the perspective which McInerney handles so well. Now it is 2007, but the book is coming out in 2016, so the characters' reactions to the election of Obama, the financial crisis, the gentrification of their neighborhood and the personal struggles to keep a marriage afloat under stress can be assessed with a clear eyed precision. As with the earlier books, New York is the true main character, relegating the human population sometimes to be a bit cookie cutter in their ongoing saga. Still, I found it readable, holding my interest. But then, I'm a sucker for books taking place in New York.
December 12, 2016
I have heard mainly sniffy things about this novel in reviews, but having read the first two novels featuring Russell, Corrine and the cast of Manhattan socialite / literary set, I thoroughly enjoyed this update, taking in the couple's life around the time of Obama's election and through the financial crash.
I'm not sure if this will be McInerney's last visit to the couple - this is his first novel in many years - but if he does feature them again, I hope against hope that any sex scenes he features aren't as toe curlingly cringeworthy as those in this one - definitely my main issue with the novel.
I'm not sure if this will be McInerney's last visit to the couple - this is his first novel in many years - but if he does feature them again, I hope against hope that any sex scenes he features aren't as toe curlingly cringeworthy as those in this one - definitely my main issue with the novel.
August 30, 2017
per i primi capitoli è esasperante, non succede niente a parte un'interminabile sfilza di "name droppings".
poi, improvvisamente, non so neanche dire esattamente quando, diventa irresistibile e si va avanti a leggere fino a notte fonda per sapere che cosa succederà ai personaggi - non perché sprizzino simpatia, ma perché sono molto veri (almeno, a me lo sono parsi).
finisce in calando, ma rimane una buona lettura.
in più, se uno ha in programma un viaggio a New York può usarlo come guida, risparmiando sull'acquisto della medesima.
poi, improvvisamente, non so neanche dire esattamente quando, diventa irresistibile e si va avanti a leggere fino a notte fonda per sapere che cosa succederà ai personaggi - non perché sprizzino simpatia, ma perché sono molto veri (almeno, a me lo sono parsi).
finisce in calando, ma rimane una buona lettura.
in più, se uno ha in programma un viaggio a New York può usarlo come guida, risparmiando sull'acquisto della medesima.
August 15, 2016
McInerney Scores a Homerun for the Art+Love Team
The prose of Jay McInerney shines in Bright, Precious Days, a nostalgic look back at the mid-Aught highs and lows, hopes and hells, of the first century of the new millenium. Comedy and tragedy mingle and sparkle against the backdrop of a love story between the idealistic Calloways as they wade into the melancholic springwaters of middle-age, brave the muddywaters of a marriage marooned on the rocks. Particularly enjoyable was the look into the pitfalls and pratfalls of the small publishing industry and the troublesome enfant-terribles and factfudging terror-hostage memoirists that come knocking for contracts. If this novel is, indeed, a kunstlerroman a clef, then McInerney should be given proper props for throwing his ego on top of the pile of coats in the upstairs bedroom and presenting a McInerney stand-in (Russell Calloway) that meets and exceeds the goofy cartoony lampoonery of the McInerney character (the cocaine-fiend partycrash "character" Jay McInerney) in Lunar Park (Bret Easton Ellis). The upshot is, it's as Pulitzer worthy as that Greatest of American Novels, Rabbit at Rest (Updike). The downshot is, the concluding question is, how will McInerney portray, burnish, garnish in ten years time the undeniable dystopia we live in now?
The prose of Jay McInerney shines in Bright, Precious Days, a nostalgic look back at the mid-Aught highs and lows, hopes and hells, of the first century of the new millenium. Comedy and tragedy mingle and sparkle against the backdrop of a love story between the idealistic Calloways as they wade into the melancholic springwaters of middle-age, brave the muddywaters of a marriage marooned on the rocks. Particularly enjoyable was the look into the pitfalls and pratfalls of the small publishing industry and the troublesome enfant-terribles and factfudging terror-hostage memoirists that come knocking for contracts. If this novel is, indeed, a kunstlerroman a clef, then McInerney should be given proper props for throwing his ego on top of the pile of coats in the upstairs bedroom and presenting a McInerney stand-in (Russell Calloway) that meets and exceeds the goofy cartoony lampoonery of the McInerney character (the cocaine-fiend partycrash "character" Jay McInerney) in Lunar Park (Bret Easton Ellis). The upshot is, it's as Pulitzer worthy as that Greatest of American Novels, Rabbit at Rest (Updike). The downshot is, the concluding question is, how will McInerney portray, burnish, garnish in ten years time the undeniable dystopia we live in now?
April 21, 2019
If Jonathan Tropper went through some kind of midlife crisis where he was on wife 4 and lost all sense of humor, it would be this book. I hated all the characters, maybe that's the intention. Another problem is likely that I'm not the target audience as I've never been to New York and am certainly not upper class where I could sympathize with people living in a million dollar apartment. My people are not 25k a plate black tie benefit people, more like $5 taco dinners from a taco stand in the shitty part of town. Somewhere around the 100 page mark is when I faded in and out of the story reading the words but not really retaining a lot. Even though I did finish reading this, I couldn't tell you how it ends. That's how little I cared.
January 29, 2018
An examination of a marriage at mid-life, and NYC post 9/11 on the eve of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Unexpectedly beautiful and resonant, although admittedly I'm surely influenced by my own personal circumstances more than I'd usually be reading fiction.
August 14, 2016
Time marches on, both for Jay McInerney, who is never going to escape the aura of 1984's Bright Lights, Big City, and for his characters, golden couple Russell and Corrine Calloway. They first appeared in his 1992 fourth novel, Brightness Falls, set against the the financial turmoil of the late 1980s, and returned in 2006's The Good Life, coping with the aftermath of 9/11. Now, McInerney picks up their story in Bright, Precious Days (Knopf, digital galley), chronicling the years 2006-2008, when Art and Love again collide with Power and Money.
Although the Calloways have always seen themselves as belonging to the first category, they've hung around enough with those in the second that lines have blurred. Literary editor and publisher Russell rues that they can't afford to buy the $6 million Tribeca loft that's going condo on them, while Corrine, who works part-time for a non-profit food bank, has to wear one of two or three same-old-things to the charity galas they attend with friends' tickets. Then there are the 11-year-old twins' private school fees, and the borrowed summer house in the Hamptons is on the market.
That sounds a bit snarky, and I don't mean to be, at least not much. The Calloways may be older -- in their 50s -- but they're not especially wiser, and I still enjoy their company, despite and because of their flaws, as well as the voyeuristic appeal of their glittery New York life. Russell's feeling overshadowed by the hot young writer he's edited and mentored, while Corrine is again attracted to her former lover, multimillionaire Luke, who first showed up in The Good Life. Corrine's younger sister Hilary pops up in unexpected places, detonating one family secret and covering up another. Everyone misses writer Jeff Pierce, who succumbed to drugs a long, long time ago, but whose reputation is being resurrected by a new generation.
The story may feel soapy and the writing a bit cliched, but on the whole it's still engaging. There's substance as well as style, wit and wistfulness, irony and nostalgia. McInerney goes Tom Wolfe every now and then, what with the ladies who lunch and gossip, and does Fitzgerald too, with Russell's yearnings and Corrine remembering what it was like to be 22. The title Bright, Precious Days suits the book. In the end I liked it, so much so that I asked for a copy for my upcoming birthday. Yep, time marches on, but some books I want to hold on to.
from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever
Although the Calloways have always seen themselves as belonging to the first category, they've hung around enough with those in the second that lines have blurred. Literary editor and publisher Russell rues that they can't afford to buy the $6 million Tribeca loft that's going condo on them, while Corrine, who works part-time for a non-profit food bank, has to wear one of two or three same-old-things to the charity galas they attend with friends' tickets. Then there are the 11-year-old twins' private school fees, and the borrowed summer house in the Hamptons is on the market.
That sounds a bit snarky, and I don't mean to be, at least not much. The Calloways may be older -- in their 50s -- but they're not especially wiser, and I still enjoy their company, despite and because of their flaws, as well as the voyeuristic appeal of their glittery New York life. Russell's feeling overshadowed by the hot young writer he's edited and mentored, while Corrine is again attracted to her former lover, multimillionaire Luke, who first showed up in The Good Life. Corrine's younger sister Hilary pops up in unexpected places, detonating one family secret and covering up another. Everyone misses writer Jeff Pierce, who succumbed to drugs a long, long time ago, but whose reputation is being resurrected by a new generation.
The story may feel soapy and the writing a bit cliched, but on the whole it's still engaging. There's substance as well as style, wit and wistfulness, irony and nostalgia. McInerney goes Tom Wolfe every now and then, what with the ladies who lunch and gossip, and does Fitzgerald too, with Russell's yearnings and Corrine remembering what it was like to be 22. The title Bright, Precious Days suits the book. In the end I liked it, so much so that I asked for a copy for my upcoming birthday. Yep, time marches on, but some books I want to hold on to.
from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever
July 17, 2016
I never did find the plot. I have never known people who behaved like this. I hated the characters and their lifestyles. If I could give it no stars and write a review I would.
February 7, 2017
Third in the series of New York zeitgeist novels featuring Corrine and Russell Calloway, and the investment banking and literary set around them, living a live of excess while consumed at times by the shallowness of their lives and set against some form of external crisis – here the financial crash of 2008, albeit the role that plays here is less than the role of the 1987 crash in Brightness Falls and particularly that of September 11th in The Good Life.
Corrine and Russell are still together – Corrine now working full time in a food-bank related voluntary sector role and Russell, literary editor of a venture capital backed publishing house in which he has an equity stake and in which he starts to sense the possibility to finally make some money (a common sense in this book, is that Russell and Corrine’s artistic and charitable principles have meant they have lost out on much of the financial boom and gained little in exchange, with a number of variants in their thoughts along the lines of that thay had discovered that money cannot buy you happiness, but it can save off all sorts of unhappiness.
Corrine’s lover from The Good Life Luke (still ridiculously wealthy, now running a part charity, part vineyard in South African and with a new, young South African wife) resumes his affair with Corrine, leaves his second wife and tries to persuade her to marry him, even at one stage saying that she could set up her own foundation (and make far more of a charitable impact than she currently does) and that by not living with him she is sacrificing her children’s lifestyle, education and prospects.
Russell’s business seems to be succeeding on a number of fronts. After the death of his ex-best-friend Jeff (whose death was a key part of the plot in Brightness Falls), Russell had edited and published to some acclaim his posthumous novel with a plot largely based on the relationship between Jeff and the Calloways – this novel is becoming re-established as a cult classic with a major on-line following. An author, whose first two books Russell published but who then defected to another house, becomes a celebrity after escaping a Taliban kidnapping in Afghanistan and Russell wins the rights to publish his non-fiction account of his adventures. He also discovers the new enfant terrible of literature – a young Southern writer Jack whose tails of drug-added low-life in his home area, heavily edited and pared down by Russell create a literary storm.
However just as the financial crisis hits, their lives unravel – they are forced to leave their downtown flat as it is put up for sale, Russell and Corrine’s 11-12 year old daughter exposes the latter’s affair, the celebrity author turns out to be a fake and Jack resents Russell’s editing and sacks him. Faced with the unravelling of their lives and reminded of their life long romance Russell and Corrine decide to get back together and move out to Harlem, the book ending with a screening of the film of Jeff’s book (screenplay written by Corrine).
There are some excellent set pieces in the book (a particularly well targeted skit around a tasting menu in an exclusive fusion restaurant serving deconstructed Japanese classics such as “lily paste dumpling wrap around foie gras …. Twenty four karat gold leaf …. [and] crushed quail skull” and also some very tedious ones (largely around Russell fishing with his financial backer, and Jeff taking drugs).
Overall though the sense of the book is similar to its two predecessors. Washington, a key protagonist in all the books, and close friend of Russell and Corrine remarks of 9-11:
which captures the way in which the characters and their lives have not really moved on since The Good Life but also McInerney’s awareness of that and presumably his view that it reflects reality of privileged New York life, a life of which its remarked (when the Calloways are holidaying with the rich and powerful in the Hamptons)
McInerney to often seems to revel in this life rather than highlighting its absurdities (the restaurant scene being an exception) seemingly believing as Russell remarks in an opening internal monologue that
When listening to the first (triumphantly received) public reading by Jack of one of his short stories, Russell reflects that (partly as a result of his editing) the story
By contrast the sense I was left with these on reading those books – was similar to that of a large meal out at a traditional English or French restaurant with rich food and red wine: of having enjoyed the experience while it was happening, but not the sense of over-indulgence that comes immediately afterwards.
Corrine and Russell are still together – Corrine now working full time in a food-bank related voluntary sector role and Russell, literary editor of a venture capital backed publishing house in which he has an equity stake and in which he starts to sense the possibility to finally make some money (a common sense in this book, is that Russell and Corrine’s artistic and charitable principles have meant they have lost out on much of the financial boom and gained little in exchange, with a number of variants in their thoughts along the lines of that thay had discovered that money cannot buy you happiness, but it can save off all sorts of unhappiness.
Corrine’s lover from The Good Life Luke (still ridiculously wealthy, now running a part charity, part vineyard in South African and with a new, young South African wife) resumes his affair with Corrine, leaves his second wife and tries to persuade her to marry him, even at one stage saying that she could set up her own foundation (and make far more of a charitable impact than she currently does) and that by not living with him she is sacrificing her children’s lifestyle, education and prospects.
Russell’s business seems to be succeeding on a number of fronts. After the death of his ex-best-friend Jeff (whose death was a key part of the plot in Brightness Falls), Russell had edited and published to some acclaim his posthumous novel with a plot largely based on the relationship between Jeff and the Calloways – this novel is becoming re-established as a cult classic with a major on-line following. An author, whose first two books Russell published but who then defected to another house, becomes a celebrity after escaping a Taliban kidnapping in Afghanistan and Russell wins the rights to publish his non-fiction account of his adventures. He also discovers the new enfant terrible of literature – a young Southern writer Jack whose tails of drug-added low-life in his home area, heavily edited and pared down by Russell create a literary storm.
However just as the financial crisis hits, their lives unravel – they are forced to leave their downtown flat as it is put up for sale, Russell and Corrine’s 11-12 year old daughter exposes the latter’s affair, the celebrity author turns out to be a fake and Jack resents Russell’s editing and sacks him. Faced with the unravelling of their lives and reminded of their life long romance Russell and Corrine decide to get back together and move out to Harlem, the book ending with a screening of the film of Jeff’s book (screenplay written by Corrine).
There are some excellent set pieces in the book (a particularly well targeted skit around a tasting menu in an exclusive fusion restaurant serving deconstructed Japanese classics such as “lily paste dumpling wrap around foie gras …. Twenty four karat gold leaf …. [and] crushed quail skull” and also some very tedious ones (largely around Russell fishing with his financial backer, and Jeff taking drugs).
Overall though the sense of the book is similar to its two predecessors. Washington, a key protagonist in all the books, and close friend of Russell and Corrine remarks of 9-11:
Its like It never happened ……. We were all going to change our lives, and in the end we’re the same shallow, grasping hedonists that we used to be
which captures the way in which the characters and their lives have not really moved on since The Good Life but also McInerney’s awareness of that and presumably his view that it reflects reality of privileged New York life, a life of which its remarked (when the Calloways are holidaying with the rich and powerful in the Hamptons)
It was a life they had been living for years, and therefore unremarkable for them, until some minor dislocation or embarrassment highlighted its absurdities
McInerney to often seems to revel in this life rather than highlighting its absurdities (the restaurant scene being an exception) seemingly believing as Russell remarks in an opening internal monologue that
The backdrop of Manhattan, it seemed to him, gave every gesture an added grandeur, a metropolitan gravitas
When listening to the first (triumphantly received) public reading by Jack of one of his short stories, Russell reflects that (partly as a result of his editing) the story
.. had that vertiginous lift of that he had always wished for at the end of a story, the simultaneous feeling of rising out of the mundane comprehension of our mortal experience and the sensation as we rise of looking down into the abyss, an intimation of redemption – or damnation, that was all the more powerful for being left almost unspoken
By contrast the sense I was left with these on reading those books – was similar to that of a large meal out at a traditional English or French restaurant with rich food and red wine: of having enjoyed the experience while it was happening, but not the sense of over-indulgence that comes immediately afterwards.
September 7, 2018
Husband and wife live their lives as New York types distorted for comic and dramatic effect but still recognisable. Every now and then a shard of humour or an observation pierced through and makes this book good. I would have wished for more tasting menu moments.
January 11, 2020
Amazing times in NYC, a great visit to The City without having to actually go there. (I was there for two days once, and that was more than enough for me. I don't know how anyone can actually live there.) Of course, it helps if you have $$$$ and lots of friends. Even though some of the characters in this book have some concern with financial issues, my take is if you can still afford trips to the Hamptons, you're probably doing alright. The characters are very likeable; perhaps moreso, since one's own flaws pale in comparison with a lot of the monkey business that goes on. This is a book I really disliked having to put down, and didn't look forward to finishing. However, I have another novel by Jay McInerney close at hand. He is a very captivating writer.
May 24, 2016
Jay McInerney's new novel, "Bright, Precious Days", is like “Sex and the City” only with married people rather than singletons. Russell and Corrine Calloway met in college (Brown), and as the novel opens, set in New York City in 2006, Russell is a book publisher and Corrine runs a non-profit food charity; they have eleven-year old twins. As the novel progresses it flashes back to the 1980s when the couple's college friend, Jeff, was living the "Bright Lights, Big City" life of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, excess. (A working knowledge of NYC - the boroughs and neighborhoods - is an asset while reading this novel, but not a necessity.)
Then there is Luke, whom Corrine met serving in a soup kitchen immediately after 9/11. They part after a brief (90 days to be exact) affair; Luke moving to South Africa to run a vineyard. But has that fire really been quashed or will Corrine succumb to temptation when Luke returns to NYC? And just how heavy is Russell’s editorial hand?
I could make the argument that this novel is a work of historical fiction – recent history, to be sure, but rich in subject matter. The narrative revisits the drug-fueled "preppy bohemian" life of the 1980s; with that setting as well as the first few years after 9/11 (the “aughts”), we, the readers, know things about the future that Corrine and Russell do not...for example, the financial crash of 2008 loomed large in my mind as McInerney describes lavish spending and high real-estate prices. We know that those "bright, precious days" will not last.
"Bright, Precious Days" is well-paced and it was great fun to read about how the "other half live" in NYC lofts, dining at exclusive restaurants and attending charity galas. Though, let's face it; it's not the other "half" - more like the other 1%. And I’ll admit to a bit of Schadenfreude reading about how these 1%-ers totally mess up their lives through idiotic and selfish choices.
They say “write what you know” and McInerney checks all those credibility boxes: the hazards of early success, inside publishing (he’s married to a Hearst), marriage (he’s on his 4th), and NYC, which is almost another character in this novel. I recommend it as pure escapism; the novel certainly had me in its grip as I waited for Corrine and Russell to either right themselves or train-wreck. (I wouldn’t be surprised if the film rights were optioned.)
Then there is Luke, whom Corrine met serving in a soup kitchen immediately after 9/11. They part after a brief (90 days to be exact) affair; Luke moving to South Africa to run a vineyard. But has that fire really been quashed or will Corrine succumb to temptation when Luke returns to NYC? And just how heavy is Russell’s editorial hand?
I could make the argument that this novel is a work of historical fiction – recent history, to be sure, but rich in subject matter. The narrative revisits the drug-fueled "preppy bohemian" life of the 1980s; with that setting as well as the first few years after 9/11 (the “aughts”), we, the readers, know things about the future that Corrine and Russell do not...for example, the financial crash of 2008 loomed large in my mind as McInerney describes lavish spending and high real-estate prices. We know that those "bright, precious days" will not last.
"Bright, Precious Days" is well-paced and it was great fun to read about how the "other half live" in NYC lofts, dining at exclusive restaurants and attending charity galas. Though, let's face it; it's not the other "half" - more like the other 1%. And I’ll admit to a bit of Schadenfreude reading about how these 1%-ers totally mess up their lives through idiotic and selfish choices.
They say “write what you know” and McInerney checks all those credibility boxes: the hazards of early success, inside publishing (he’s married to a Hearst), marriage (he’s on his 4th), and NYC, which is almost another character in this novel. I recommend it as pure escapism; the novel certainly had me in its grip as I waited for Corrine and Russell to either right themselves or train-wreck. (I wouldn’t be surprised if the film rights were optioned.)
February 17, 2018
Ho voluto leggere La luce dei giorni, di Jay McInerney, uno degli autori americani del brat Pack letterario. Non dovevo fidarmi di uno amico di Brett Easton Ellis.
Ho odiato cordialmente il libro e i suoi protagonisti, e pensare che è anche scritto molto bene. Si ispira a F.S.Fitzgerald, i protagonisti della sua storia sono una coppia attorno alla quale ruotano molti personaggi. Lui è un ex aspirante scrittore, diventato piccolo editore indipendente e, come presto si scopre, pesante editor degli scrittori che pubblica. La sua ascesa si deve alla pubblicazione del libro del suo migliore amico, morto di overdose. Molta droga e molto sesso nel libro, come da premessa.
Lei è una bionda bellissima, che lavora per una fondazione che recupera il cibo invenduto per distribuirlo ai poveri, a tempo perso scrive e riscrive la sceneggiatura del famoso libro che racconta il triangolo fra lei, il marito e lo scrittore morto di overdose.
La prima parte del libro descrive i loro “problemi “ di quasi cinquantenni. La seconda il crollo dei mercati, il fallimento della Lehman, l’elezione di Obama, la crisi e il recupero del matrimonio.
Adesso io non nego che le droghe, l’ossessione per la bellezza, il rapporto bipolare con il cibo, non siano connesse con la società attuale, il problema è che non riesco a creare empatia con una protagonista i cui problemi sono avere un meraviglioso loft però con un bagno solo, oppure non poter indossare un vestito nuovo ogni due giorni, quando partecipa a eventi mondani. Meno che mai poi nelle trecento circa pagine nelle quali deve decidere se andare o no a letto con un suo ex, bellissimo e miliardario. Purtroppo non ho potuto neanche vederli precipitare nella crisi economica, perché la bionda riesce a salvare capra e cavoli grazie allo scrittore morto e sepolto. Due stelle e tempo perso.
Ho odiato cordialmente il libro e i suoi protagonisti, e pensare che è anche scritto molto bene. Si ispira a F.S.Fitzgerald, i protagonisti della sua storia sono una coppia attorno alla quale ruotano molti personaggi. Lui è un ex aspirante scrittore, diventato piccolo editore indipendente e, come presto si scopre, pesante editor degli scrittori che pubblica. La sua ascesa si deve alla pubblicazione del libro del suo migliore amico, morto di overdose. Molta droga e molto sesso nel libro, come da premessa.
Lei è una bionda bellissima, che lavora per una fondazione che recupera il cibo invenduto per distribuirlo ai poveri, a tempo perso scrive e riscrive la sceneggiatura del famoso libro che racconta il triangolo fra lei, il marito e lo scrittore morto di overdose.
La prima parte del libro descrive i loro “problemi “ di quasi cinquantenni. La seconda il crollo dei mercati, il fallimento della Lehman, l’elezione di Obama, la crisi e il recupero del matrimonio.
Adesso io non nego che le droghe, l’ossessione per la bellezza, il rapporto bipolare con il cibo, non siano connesse con la società attuale, il problema è che non riesco a creare empatia con una protagonista i cui problemi sono avere un meraviglioso loft però con un bagno solo, oppure non poter indossare un vestito nuovo ogni due giorni, quando partecipa a eventi mondani. Meno che mai poi nelle trecento circa pagine nelle quali deve decidere se andare o no a letto con un suo ex, bellissimo e miliardario. Purtroppo non ho potuto neanche vederli precipitare nella crisi economica, perché la bionda riesce a salvare capra e cavoli grazie allo scrittore morto e sepolto. Due stelle e tempo perso.
September 18, 2016
I greatly enjoyed McInerney's latest installment in the lives of Russell and Corrine. These characters were first introduced to us in the great "Brightness Falls" to which I was led by "Bright Lights, Big City". These are great books informing us of the times in which the characters live, and how their relationship changes over time. I would draw a modest comparison to the "Rabbit" series by John Updike, more for the scope of the timeline than the content/language, but it's oddly refreshed to get to spend more time with familiar characters. I'm glad McInerney continues to mine this vein for the gold that he continues to unearth.
March 24, 2016
Your usual McInerney.
May 18, 2017
Heerlijk boek over financiële en culturele elite, in frisse stijl, met geloofwaardige personages.
Corrine
McInerney beschrijft het leven van 50-ers Corrine en Russell. Corrine is een intelligente hoog opgeleide vrouw van goede komaf die niet haar draai kon vinden in de financiële wereld en een stichting runt die voedsel distribueert aan de minder bedeelden in New York. Ze vindt dat haar werk voldoening geeft, maar worstelt ermee dat ze op haar leeftijd nog steeds financieel en qua behuizing leeft zoals een paar decennia eerder, terwijl 'soortgenoten' binnenlopen in private equity.
Russell
Russell is een idealist die leiding geeft aan een kleine literaire uitgever. Een nichespeler zonder grote namen en bestsellers. Hij ruikt groot geld bij een schrijver die hij zo zwaar redigeert dat die bij hem weggaat. Door zijn kleine positie wordt hij door een agent misbruikt om fake-memoires uit te geven; de onechtheid van de memoires komt groot uit in de pers waardoor de uitgeverij failliet dreigt te gaan.
Trouw en overspel
McInerney typeert zijn personages als mensen van vlees en bloed. Geen good guy - bad guy stereotypen maar mensen met zorgen en twijfels, met goede bedoelingen en egocentrische verlangens. Hilary, de zus van Corrine heeft de eicellen gedoneerd voor de kinderen van Corrine en Russell. Hilary verlangt naar erkenning en vertelt dit geheim aan de kinderen, wat leidt tot een breuk met haar zus en zwager. Russell verlangt naar seks die hij niet meer heeft met zijn vrouw en heeft korte affaires met vrouwen op wie hij niet verliefd wordt. Corrine verlangt hartstochtelijk naar een oude liefde die weer opduikt in haar leven en gaat in op diens uitnodigingen voor avonden en weekenden samen, inclusief gepassioneerde seks. Dat de man rijk is, helpt... op de achtergrond speelt nog steeds een overleden vriend (kunstenaar, overleden aan overdosis drugs) een rol in haar verlangens naar meer passie en inhoud in haar leven. Vrienden van hen zitten in hetzelfde schuitje: rationeel trouw maar emotioneel en fysiek verlangend naar anderen, een verlangen dat ze ook volgen. Je wordt als lezer wel gedwongen om sympathie op te vatten voor deze mensen die zo hevig verlangen en tegelijkertijd ook immoreel gedrag vertonen, zakelijk en .... privé..., je vraagt het je af. Knap gedaan hoor.
Stijl
McInerney kan prachtig in weinig woorden typeringen geven. Bijvoorbeeld van een jong gezin met dubbel werkende ouders, vroegwijze kinderen, overcompenserende vader die zich verliest in koken en kookspullen en een kritische moeder. Of een scene in een over the top restaurant met twee groepen rijke eters die elkaar aftroeven met wijnkennis en vermogen om dure europese wijnen te kunnen veroorloven. Ze praten over de wijnen alsof het seks is met pedofielen voor het drinken van 'minderjarige' wijn... echt grappig en raak.
Kanttekening
Ik heb maar één kanttekening. Namelijk het einde. Op zich doet McInerney een mooie ingreep, namelijk dat hij het einde begint met een scene uit een nieuw scenario van Corrine en wel voor een film over de overleden kunstenaar / minnaar en dus haar eigen leven. Dat scenario eindigt op het randje van kitsch en daarmee het boek dus juist niet. Slim. Ook goed is dat Corrine en Russell tot het einde van vlees en bloed blijven, met hoop maar ook met krassen op de ziel. En toch schuurt de allerlaatste scene: die moraliseert dat je koste wat kost een huwelijk in stand moet houden en dat verleiding van buitenaf vergankelijk is. Ik vond dat opgeheven vingertje de aftrek van een ster waard. Verder: prachtboek.
Quotes
'Het was bijna beangstigend, zo snel als je aan bedrog gewend raakt.'
Het Macht-en-geld-team en het Kunst-en-liefde-team.
Hilary, de zus can Corrine, over overspel:
'Het gebeurt elke dag. Echtgenotes worden geacht zich er op de een of andere manier overheen te zetten, maar als mannen worden bedrogen, is het alsof alle natuurwetten zijn opgeschort. Bij jullie draait alles om trots.' En: 'En één ding weet ik zeker: wanneer iemand vreemdgaat, komt dat meestal doordat de ander hem iets niet geeft wat hij nodig heeft. Denk daar maar eens over na, Russell. Ben jij er voor Corrine? Heb je oog voor haar behoeften? (...) Ik heb het niet over seks. Als een vrouw het buiten de deur zoekt, is ze op zoek naar meer verleiding en begrip. Ze wil begeerd worden, niet alleen maar gebruikt.'
Corrine
McInerney beschrijft het leven van 50-ers Corrine en Russell. Corrine is een intelligente hoog opgeleide vrouw van goede komaf die niet haar draai kon vinden in de financiële wereld en een stichting runt die voedsel distribueert aan de minder bedeelden in New York. Ze vindt dat haar werk voldoening geeft, maar worstelt ermee dat ze op haar leeftijd nog steeds financieel en qua behuizing leeft zoals een paar decennia eerder, terwijl 'soortgenoten' binnenlopen in private equity.
Russell
Russell is een idealist die leiding geeft aan een kleine literaire uitgever. Een nichespeler zonder grote namen en bestsellers. Hij ruikt groot geld bij een schrijver die hij zo zwaar redigeert dat die bij hem weggaat. Door zijn kleine positie wordt hij door een agent misbruikt om fake-memoires uit te geven; de onechtheid van de memoires komt groot uit in de pers waardoor de uitgeverij failliet dreigt te gaan.
Trouw en overspel
McInerney typeert zijn personages als mensen van vlees en bloed. Geen good guy - bad guy stereotypen maar mensen met zorgen en twijfels, met goede bedoelingen en egocentrische verlangens. Hilary, de zus van Corrine heeft de eicellen gedoneerd voor de kinderen van Corrine en Russell. Hilary verlangt naar erkenning en vertelt dit geheim aan de kinderen, wat leidt tot een breuk met haar zus en zwager. Russell verlangt naar seks die hij niet meer heeft met zijn vrouw en heeft korte affaires met vrouwen op wie hij niet verliefd wordt. Corrine verlangt hartstochtelijk naar een oude liefde die weer opduikt in haar leven en gaat in op diens uitnodigingen voor avonden en weekenden samen, inclusief gepassioneerde seks. Dat de man rijk is, helpt... op de achtergrond speelt nog steeds een overleden vriend (kunstenaar, overleden aan overdosis drugs) een rol in haar verlangens naar meer passie en inhoud in haar leven. Vrienden van hen zitten in hetzelfde schuitje: rationeel trouw maar emotioneel en fysiek verlangend naar anderen, een verlangen dat ze ook volgen. Je wordt als lezer wel gedwongen om sympathie op te vatten voor deze mensen die zo hevig verlangen en tegelijkertijd ook immoreel gedrag vertonen, zakelijk en .... privé..., je vraagt het je af. Knap gedaan hoor.
Stijl
McInerney kan prachtig in weinig woorden typeringen geven. Bijvoorbeeld van een jong gezin met dubbel werkende ouders, vroegwijze kinderen, overcompenserende vader die zich verliest in koken en kookspullen en een kritische moeder. Of een scene in een over the top restaurant met twee groepen rijke eters die elkaar aftroeven met wijnkennis en vermogen om dure europese wijnen te kunnen veroorloven. Ze praten over de wijnen alsof het seks is met pedofielen voor het drinken van 'minderjarige' wijn... echt grappig en raak.
Kanttekening
Ik heb maar één kanttekening. Namelijk het einde. Op zich doet McInerney een mooie ingreep, namelijk dat hij het einde begint met een scene uit een nieuw scenario van Corrine en wel voor een film over de overleden kunstenaar / minnaar en dus haar eigen leven. Dat scenario eindigt op het randje van kitsch en daarmee het boek dus juist niet. Slim. Ook goed is dat Corrine en Russell tot het einde van vlees en bloed blijven, met hoop maar ook met krassen op de ziel. En toch schuurt de allerlaatste scene: die moraliseert dat je koste wat kost een huwelijk in stand moet houden en dat verleiding van buitenaf vergankelijk is. Ik vond dat opgeheven vingertje de aftrek van een ster waard. Verder: prachtboek.
Quotes
'Het was bijna beangstigend, zo snel als je aan bedrog gewend raakt.'
Het Macht-en-geld-team en het Kunst-en-liefde-team.
Hilary, de zus can Corrine, over overspel:
'Het gebeurt elke dag. Echtgenotes worden geacht zich er op de een of andere manier overheen te zetten, maar als mannen worden bedrogen, is het alsof alle natuurwetten zijn opgeschort. Bij jullie draait alles om trots.' En: 'En één ding weet ik zeker: wanneer iemand vreemdgaat, komt dat meestal doordat de ander hem iets niet geeft wat hij nodig heeft. Denk daar maar eens over na, Russell. Ben jij er voor Corrine? Heb je oog voor haar behoeften? (...) Ik heb het niet over seks. Als een vrouw het buiten de deur zoekt, is ze op zoek naar meer verleiding en begrip. Ze wil begeerd worden, niet alleen maar gebruikt.'
April 26, 2019
I love New York stories, but actually chose this book to listen to based on the narrator. Which is to say Edoardo Ballerini is a terrific narrator. Maybe from his acting experience or maybe it is inane, but he brings a certain elegance to his reading that’s really engaging. Which helped so much here, because the characters themselves aren’t especially easy to engage with. Mainly because they aren’t terribly likeable. Or really there are just a very specific kind of people, to be more precise a very specific kind of New Yorkers. The ones with status and money and glitzy social lives. It’s difficult to like or care about them as they whine about having (gasp) a single bathroom in their spacious, but not spacious enough city loft. And they positively infuriate with their incessant money complaints, despite blowing thousands of dollars every month on dining out. And yet, tedious as they are, they are still people and some of what they go through is fairly universal…getting older, dealing with infidelities, etc. The lead couple of the novel is the Calloways, who have been together for decades in what seems to be a mostly happy loving marriage. But then the business pressures of his publishing company and the emotional pressures of her affair and the social pressures of living through a radical election year and a financial crash will combine to dramatically test their marriage. It would be reductive to describe it as a love story, but that is the soul of it, under all the ephemera. Can two people make their relationship a priority time and time again, especially given options. But meanwhile there are countless trendy restaurants and events and auctions and all the other crap elite tends to preoccupy itself with. There is also intermittent reminiscing about the bygone crazy eighties, when NYC was dangerous and wild and everyone was coked up. The book is actually a good depiction of New York as a very specific sort of a city and the kind of people who despite all reason wouldn’t belong or wish to in any other place. Well, they deserve each other. But it is always fascinating to behold that fact that a well written well narrated book can be compelling despite its characters or even subject matter. So yeah, weirdly I did enjoy this book, irrespective of my opinions on Calloways and their social sphere. It entertained thoroughly for several decent walks.
January 26, 2022
I was really disappointed in this contemporary fiction novel. The writing is excellent, but I just didn’t care about the ultra-rich characters who were so unappreciative of what they had, and squandered relationships like they were trash. I noticed (after reading it) that this is the third in a trilogy and I hadn’t read the others, so maybe that would have made a difference. This one wasn’t for me though. 1/5 stars.
February 27, 2017
We get it - New York is a special, unique city. Russell is literary and a foodie. His wife is one-dimensional (as are all the women in this book) and obsesses over a former lover she met the day after 9/11. Set in 2008, the economy is beginning to crater, Obama is a historic Presidential candidate, and everyone cheats on their spouses.
I just couldn't get into this, and the ending was trite. Skip!
I just couldn't get into this, and the ending was trite. Skip!
February 22, 2019
Disappointing. I've read a few reviews of this which should have put me off reading it, but I was curious. One described it as "consumer porn", another postulated that McInerney dashed off the book in a sort of knee-jerk reaction to the idea that maybe he should revisit Russell and Corinne again to see what they were up to (this is the third book featuring them) but really his heart wasn't in it. Neither was his brain, it seemed to me. And Russel and Corinne were just doing more of the same … lusting after other people, having affairs, mixing it with the smart set and being horrendously pretentious while wishing they had more money to be even more pretentious. One can only hope there isn't a fourth on the horizon.
August 18, 2017
A well written and compelling narrative of the cesspool of New York egoists, drug addicts, artists and publishing.
A poignant and unexpected ending. To Mc Inerney's credit, I feel i really got to know a few interesting, complex characters.
Enjoyable, if not immensely inspiring.
A poignant and unexpected ending. To Mc Inerney's credit, I feel i really got to know a few interesting, complex characters.
Enjoyable, if not immensely inspiring.
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