The book goes at a cracking pace, and at less than two hundred pages, it is a rapid read. There are the storied, drug, drink and debauched scenes at many nightclubs, the loss of a job and what it does to identity, and the ill-thought plans for a ferret, injuring an unintended subject. The unnamed central character goes through many events quickly, from the impending divorce of his model wife, who he humiliates at a fashion show, or the family he keeps at arm's length. Very much of its time, the 1980's, the story is one of redemption and finding meaning in life at a difficult time. Written in the second person, Bright Lights Big City is a roller-coaster ride through New York nightlife, writing and research career on the downward trajectory, and problems with a former wife, and drink and drugs. 'A brilliant and moving work - unique, refreshing, imaginatively powerful.' So begins our nameless hero's trawl through the brightly lit streets of Manhattan, sampling all this wonderland has to offer yet suspecting that tomorrow's hangover may be caused by more than simple excess.īright Lights, Big City is an acclaimed classic which marked Jay McInerney as one of the major writers of our time. All might become clear if you could just slip into the bathroom and do a little more Bolivian Marching Powder. The club is either Heartbreak or the Lizard Lounge. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head. The novel follows a young man, living in Manhattan as if he owned it, through nightclubs, fashion shows, editorial offices, and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn. Bright Lights, Big City in 1984, Jay McInerney became a literary sensation, heralded as the voice of a generation.

Bright lights big city book review