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Jay McInerney

    January 13, 1955

    This American author is celebrated for his novels that delve into the vibrant lives and complexities of the modern world. His writing is characterized by a keen insight into the human psyche, capturing the urgency and dynamism of contemporary society. Beyond fiction, he also pens insightful essays, exploring themes of wine and lifestyle with a distinctive voice that blends expertise with a passion for sensory experience. His work offers readers a compelling exploration of meaning and pleasure in today's fast-paced existence.

    Jay McInerney
    Bright, Precious Days
    Story of My Life
    The Last of the Savages
    Brightness Falls
    Bright Lights, Big City
    Dangerous Women
    • Dangerous Women

      • 384 pages
      • 14 hours of reading

      Prepare to meet the most seductively female and shockingly fatal femme fatales, brought to you by seventeen of today’s finest authors of mystery and suspense fiction. Award-winning editor Otto Penzler presents a collection of short, sizzling masterpieces filled with thrilling tales that showcase how sexy and fierce the 'gentler sex' can be. In 'Third Party', a party girl takes you on a wild ride through the Paris night, while Nelson DeMille's 'Rendezvous' plunges you into a Vietnam jungle where the deadliest scourge is a woman. Elmore Leonard introduces a Depression-era teenage gun moll in 'Louly and Pretty Boy', who loves Pretty Boy Floyd more than robbing filling stations. Lorenzo Carcaterra's 'A Thousand Miles from Nowhere' features a smart blonde seeking slow-simmered vengeance, and Michael Connelly's 'Cielo Azul' reveals how a nameless woman found dead in Los Angeles can be the most lethal prey. Other riveting tales include a scorned lover claiming an old fling's heart, a mysterious woman offering a tempting suicide pact, and a she-demon rising from the grave. These and many other bad girls cast their criminal spells through the powerful voices of Joyce Carol Oates, John Connolly, Thomas H. Cook, Jeffrey Deaver, and more, in stories as irresistible as the anti-heroines that blaze through their pages.

      Dangerous Women
      4.2
    • Bright Lights, Big City

      • 182 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      The tragicomedy of a young man in NYC, struggling with the reality of his mother's death, alienation and the seductive pull of drugs.

      Bright Lights, Big City
      3.8
    • Introduces the characters from McInerney's novel, The Good Life.

      Brightness Falls
      3.8
    • The Last of the Savages

      • 288 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      From the bestselling author of Bright Lights, Big City and Brightness Falls comes a chronicle of a generation, as enacted by two men who represent all the passions and extremes of the class of 1969. Patrick Keane and Will Savage meet at prep school at the beginning of the explosive '60s. Over the next 30 years, they remain friends even as they pursue radically divergent destinies--and harbor secrets that defy rebellion and conformity. From the Trade Paperback edition.

      The Last of the Savages
      3.7
    • Story of My Life

      • 188 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      In his breathlessly paced new novel Jay McInerney revisits the nocturnal New York of Bright Lights, Big City. Alison Poole, twenty going on 40,000, is a budding actress already fatally well versed in hopping the clubs, shopping Chanel falling in and out of lust, and abusing other people's credit cards. As Alison races toward emotional breakdown, McInerney gives us a hilarious yet oddly touching portrait of a postmodern Holly Golightly coming to terms with a world in which everything is permitted and nothing really matters.

      Story of My Life
      3.6
    • This unforgettable New York story of glamour, sex, ambition, and heartbreak begins in the heady days before the financial crash. Russell and Corrine Calloway seem to be living the dream: a calendar filled with high-society parties; jobs they care about and enjoy; twin children, a boy and a girl whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But beneath the glossy surfaces, things are simmering. Russell, editor-in-chief of a boutique publisher, has cultural clout but is on the edge financially, and feels compelled to pursue an audacious—and potentially ruinous—opportunity. Meanwhile, 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, and the Calloways find themselves tested more severely than they ever could have imagined. The third book in McInerney’s celebrated Calloway trilogy, Bright, Precious Days is an aching, extraordinary portrait of a marriage during a period of dizzying change.

      Bright, Precious Days
      3.4
    • Manhattan Transfer

      • 221 pages
      • 8 hours of reading

      Considered by many to be John Dos Passos's greatest work, Manhattan Transfer is an "expressionistic picture of New York" (New York Times) in the 1920s that reveals the lives of wealthy power brokers and struggling immigrants alike. From Fourteenth Street to the Bowery, Delmonico's to the underbelly of the city waterfront, Dos Passos chronicles the lives of characters struggling to become a part of modernity before they are destroyed by it. More than seventy-five years after its first publication, Manhattan Transfer still stands as "a novel of the very first importance" (Sinclair Lewis). It is a masterpiece of modern fiction and a lasting tribute to the dual-edged nature of the American dream.

      Manhattan Transfer
      3.7
    • Vintage Contemporaries: Story of My Life

      A Novel

      • 188 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      In his breathlessly paced new novel Jay McInerney revisits the nocturnal New York of Bright Lights, Big City. Alison Poole, twenty going on 40,000, is a budding actress already fatally well versed in hopping the clubs, shopping Chanel falling in and out of lust, and abusing other people's credit cards. As Alison races toward emotional breakdown, McInerney gives us a hilarious yet oddly touching portrait of a postmodern Holly Golightly coming to terms with a world in which everything is permitted and nothing really matters.

      Vintage Contemporaries: Story of My Life
      3.6
    • South Beach

      The Novel

      • 288 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Gabriel Tucker is a globe-trotting, trust fund–endowed twenty-nine-year-old who suddenly finds himself penniless and alone in the world, except for an old Miami Beach apartment building named the Venus De Milo Arms, the last thing of value left to him by his now-vanished family. Lacking skills or resources, he heads to Miami Beach to reconstruct his life, finding himself neighbors with an unlikely mix of tenants: an elderly Holocaust survivor, a lip-synching drag queen, a cynical two-bit gossip columnist, and a rebellious young performance artist who will eventually capture his heart. Within days, Gabriel is thrust into the outrageous world of South Beach, Miami of the nineties: temptations, quick fortunes, mountains of drugs, notorious murders, nonstop sex, and beautiful women (and men) for sale (or rent) are the order of the day. He is a ringside witness to the excesses and intrigues of Italian fashion empires, Cuban refugee supermodels, rapacious German developers, old-fashioned crooked politicians, and a cast of characters that would make Caligula blush. It is in South Beach that Gabriel will eventually discover the long-buried mysteries of his family and find a soul he never imagined he had and a love he never dreamed he deserved.

      South Beach
      3.5
    • Bacchus and Me

      Adventures in the Wine Cellar

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      With a unique blend of literary flair and insightful commentary, the best-selling novelist explores the world of wine through a collection of unconventional musings. This work appeals to both casual wine drinkers seeking recommendations and dedicated enthusiasts, offering a fresh perspective on wine and its culture. McInerney's command of language elevates the discussion, making it an engaging read for anyone interested in the nuances of wine appreciation.

      Bacchus and Me
      3.6
    • The Penguin Book of New American Voices

      • 304 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      This is an anthology of fiction, by those who began publishing in the 1990s. The authors include Terry McMillan, Mark Leyner, Jeffrey Eugenides, Paul Watkins, William Vollman, Darcey Steinke and Dorothy Alison.

      The Penguin Book of New American Voices
      3.2
    • How it Ended

      • 196 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      A transsexual prostitute accidentally propositions his own father. A senator's serial infidelities leave him in hot water. And two young lovers spend Christmas together high on different drugs. This work aims to expose the dark underbelly of the American dream.

      How it Ended
      3.5
    • The Good Life

      • 354 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      James Frey reviews Jay McInerney's work, noting the lasting impact of "Bright Lights, Big City," released in 1984. Despite its significance, many have forgotten McInerney's subsequent works. His career has seen both highs and lows, paralleling F. Scott Fitzgerald's trajectory, marked by early success and personal struggles. While Fitzgerald produced a masterpiece in "The Great Gatsby," McInerney's journey through life's ups and downs may prove equally compelling. His latest book, "The Good Life," is described as his best since "Bright Lights." It follows two Manhattan couples around the time of September 11th: Luke and Sasha, wealthy socialites, and Russell and Corrine, a literary editor and his wife. Both couples are disillusioned, grappling with love and family dynamics. Luke, a banker seeking fulfillment, faces infidelity, while Corrine feels neglected. Their paths converge at a soup kitchen near Ground Zero, where they find love and hope amidst tragedy. McInerney's narrative is a poignant exploration of marriage, loss, and the search for meaning, reflecting his own experiences. Unlike Fitzgerald, who faced a tragic end, McInerney's resilience shines through, offering a glimpse of what a sustained literary career can yield.

      The Good Life
      3.3
    • Ransom

      • 288 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Here is Jay McInerney's acclaimed first novel, published to coincide with the release of the major motion picture and movie tie-in edition of Bright Lights, Big City. "Continually witty and tape-recorder accurate".

      Ransom
      3.3
    • Model Behavior

      A Novel and 7 Stories

      • 298 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Then there's the sister with whom he shared a flamboyantly addled childhood, and who now matches her brilliance for theoretical abstraction with a compassion for world suffering so acute that her own well-being is imperiled.

      Model Behavior
    • Another Planet

      New York Portraits 1976-1996

      • 320 pages
      • 12 hours of reading

      "What came to mind when looking at Christophe von Hohenberg's book was... loved the scrapbook format and thought it was by far the best way to show photographs and the life of the photographer." Etheleen Staley - Staley-Wise Gallery The 1970s and 80s in New York were a dazzling age. Since the 1920s in Paris, the world had not seen such a cultural movement. Von Hohenberg lived and photographed this period, when the giants of fashion, art and society rubbed elbows with drag queens and addicts in clubs like the legendary Studio 54. This historic "time capsule" contains portraits of personalities like Allen Ginsberg, Julian Schnabel and Cornelia Guest, Robert F. Kennedy Junior and Britney Spears, to name just a few. Some are no longer with us, and some reign as icons of the century. With texts and handwritten letters from acclaimed American writers like Jay McInerney, Candace Bushnell, Anthony Haden-Guest, Michael Gross, and Bob Colacello

      Another Planet
    • Bacchus et moi

      • 432 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      Ce livre de Jay McInerney rassemble soixante-six chroniques parues dans House and Garden et le Wall Street Journal, où il partage ses connaissances sur les vins et les personnes qui les produisent à travers le monde. Le lecteur voyage des châteaux légendaires de la culture vinicole aux régions viticoles d'Australie, de Nouvelle-Zélande, des collines de Santa Rita et Paso Robles, ainsi qu'en Argentine et au Chili. On y croise des passionnés du vin, vignerons, sommeliers et experts, qui incarnent l'énergie et la passion de ce domaine. Les récits de McInerney, à la fois exploratoires et luxueux, traitent de vins rares et chers, tout en s'intéressant à des crus moins connus ou sous-évalués. Ses réflexions sont enrichies d'anecdotes amusantes et de comparaisons brillantes. Il aborde des questions telles que la différence entre Lafite et Mouton, la lecture des étiquettes de vin allemand, les champagnes accessibles, ou encore l'évolution de la perception du "vin californien". Ce recueil instructif et réjouissant souligne que le goût du vin est une affaire hautement sentimentale, offrant ainsi une perspective subjective sur cet univers fascinant.

      Bacchus et moi
      4.0
    • È il romanzo d'esordio di Jay McInerney, con il quale è assurto al rango di icona della letteratura post-minimalista degli anni Ottanta. Il suo percorso letterario successivo testimonia l'evoluzione di uno scrittore che ha saputo creare un universo personale divertente e trasgressivo, dove fra eccessi, violenze, celebrità, sesso e droghe, si aggira inquieto e romantico lo spettro dell'amore.

      Classici contemporanei: Le mille luci di New York
      3.7
    • Mój Nowy Jork

      Słynni Nowojorczycy opowiadają o swoim mieście

      • 256 pages
      • 9 hours of reading
      Mój Nowy Jork
    • Marilyn a já

      • 87 pages
      • 4 hours of reading

      Soubor sedmi půvabných, krátkých próz, které čtenáře zaujmou především kromobyčejnou pestrostí a neuvěřitelnou lehkostí, s jakou byly napsány. A to nezávisle na šíři volených prostředí, ve kterých se jednotlivé minipříběhy odehrávají, psychiatrickou léčebnou počínaje a Kubou konče.

      Marilyn a já
      3.0