Aug 01, 2016 theres a moment in jay mcinerneys new novel, bright, precious days knopf, when one of its principals, a book editor in his early fifties, comes to feel that he is a failure. Jay mcinerney contributor jay mcinerney, the author of bright lights, big city and many other books, is. Theirs is the generation that flew too close to the sun on wings of cocaine and whose lives changed irrevocably when planes crashed into the twin towers. Jay mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days, is bright and precious. Buy bright, precious days 01 by jay mcinerney isbn. His latest book, bright, precious days, was published in 2016. Early on in bright, precious days, a writer is described as little more than a name associated with the period of big hair and big shoulder pads.
The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading groups conversation about bright, precious days, jay mcinerney s vibrant and immersive novel about post 911 new york, and a circle of friends and acquaintances whose lives intersect at the crossroads of great social and political change. Aug 10, 2016 its not only russell, but also the young mr. In this attempt to breathe new life into his old characters, jay mcinerney confirms that his best. Jul 12, 2016 mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days, goes on sale august 2nd.
Jay mcinerney has now written three novels about corrine and russell calloway, a couple who met in their teens at brown university and. Jay mcinerney on monogamy, drugs and his new novel wsj. Jay mcinerneys bright, precious days the new york times. Aug 02, 2016 everybody whos anybody in jay mcinerneys highly cultivated bright, precious days knopf, 397 pp. I came to think of it less as a sequel than as the latest season of one of the great tv dramas, like the sopranos or mad men slow to reveal its cards, inherently uneven, but confident that its audience has already invested enough time to take pleasure in the slow. With bright, precious days, jay mcinerney brings his. The uppermiddleclass manhattanites in bright, precious days are. You can only blow up your life so many times before it becomes ridiculous.
Jay mcinerney s bright, precious days tracks a group of creative types as they slowly realize theyve become the old guard, with the next generation coming and expecting them to make room. The third book in mcinerneys celebrated calloway trilogy, bright, precious days is an aching, extraordinary portrait of a marriage during a period of dizzying. Jay mcinerney penguin random house speakers bureau. Jay mcinerneys nyc overachievers are back in a novel that is amusing but awfully familiar. The prose of jay mcinerney shines in bright, precious days, a nostalgic look back at the midaught highs and lows, hopes and hells, of the first century of the new millenium. Jay mcinerney s new novel has its strengths, but dont expect it to provide a respite from presidential politics. Novelist jay mcinerney on his new book, bright, precious days author jay mcinerney discusses his new novel, bright, precious days, the third novel. Cringeworthy descriptions of intercourse are deserving of a bad sex award. The questions, discussion topics, and reading list that follow are intended to enhance your reading groups conversation about bright, precious days, jay mcinerneys vibrant and immersive novel about post 911 new york, and a circle of friends and acquaintances whose lives intersect at the crossroads of great social and political change. Manhattan certainly has become less dirty and dangerous and more expensive and a little shinier and more gentrified, mcinerney says. Bright, precious days provides plenty of both mcinerney is generous with satirical vignettes of new york excess irish times partly an account of midlife crisis and partly a satirical social chronicle there is a warmth to mcinerneys cataloguing of midlifes moments of tristesse spectator. Bright, precious days closes with the election of barack obama in 2008, which mcinerney recalls as a great moment, a redemption of 2001, and yet is also brilliant on the financial crisis and its. Bright, precious days forms a trilogy that began with brightness falls 1992, mcinerneys most accomplished and ambitious novel, and. Bright, precious days cant really be read or discussed apart from its predecessors.
Jay mcinerneys bright, precious days tracks a group of creative types as they slowly realize theyve become the old guard, with the next generation coming and expecting them to make room. But, underneath the glamour and flash of his subject matter, he has always been a more committed psychological novelist than his. Bright, precious days is my first time reading jay mcinerney it will not be my last. Russell calloway, one of the main characters in jay mcinerney s bright precious days, grew up in michigan loving books, and after his ivy league undergraduate education and a year at oxford settled in manhattan, the shining island of letters, determined not to be the next hemingway or fitzgerald but the next max perkins, one day hoping. Jay mcinerney audio books, best sellers, author bio. Jay mcinerney on bright precious days at book expo america 2016. Mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days, goes on sale august 2nd. Jay mcinerney is the author of eight novels, two collections of short stories, and three collections of essays on wine. Aug 07, 2016 bright, precious days by jay mcinerney 397 pp. Bright, precious days, jay mcinerney s newest novel of manhattanites excesses and desires, places one marriage at the heart of a story in which affairs of the heart are never separated from. Jay mcinerneys bright, precious days the new yorker. Jul 24, 2016 bright, precious days, with its wistful nod to the title of his first novel, is the third outing for russell and corrine calloway, a couple we first encountered in brightness falls 1992. Its a sweltering day in august, and the author has just returned from his home in bridgehampton to find that the airconditioning in his greenwich village penthouse is bro.
Aug 09, 2016 on wednesday, august 3, 2016, we were joined by jay mcinerney, author of bright, precious days, as our featured speaker. Jay mcinerneys first novel since the bestselling the good. Right smack on the first page of jay mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days, is an ode to literary manhattan, the shining island of letters, and the iconic books, publications, and authors who gave that shine its stadium wattage. Russell and corrine calloway have spent half their lives in the bright lights of new york.
Its his third book about russell and corrine calloway, the new york couple who make their friends believe a. Im a great fan of mcinerney, and it pains me to say that this book greatly damages his reputation as a respected fiction writer. Loved this story set in nyc, at the cusp of the financial crisis and obamas 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 longterm relationship, as well as. Jay mcinerney s bright, precious days unfolds from 2006 to 2008, a time dominated by barack obamas election to his first term and unbridled capitalism leading to the u. Mcinerney has a gift for the simultaneous perception of the glamour and tawdriness of city life evening standard our modern day fitzgerald evokes new yorks fading glamour in bright, precious days vanity fair the characters in bright, precious days are so welldrawn they leap off. Jay mcinerney will sign bright, precious days, at books and books in westhampton beach, on saturday, august 6, at 4 p.
An entertaining, exuberant novel with strong narrative force despite glaring flaws, especially in the books first half, bright, precious days blends satire, vivid characters and soaring language. Bright, precious days, which comes out august 2, mcinerney checks back in on the characters he first created more than two decades ago. Bright, precious days is a 2016 novel by american author jay mcinerney. Like the previous two novels in the series, bright, precious days is set against the backdrop of a historical event, in this case the great recession. Even decades after their arrival, corrine and russell calloway still feel as if. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Jay mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days, is the third volume in his trilogy following the marriage of russell and corrine calloway, two emblematic ivy leagueeducated manhattan. Bright, precious days provides plenty of both mcinerney is generous with satirical vignettes of new york excess irish times partly an account of midlife crisis and partly a satirical social chronicle there is a warmth to mcinerney s cataloguing of midlifes moments of. New york novelist jay mcinerney never expected the relationship to last 25 years. Jay mcinerney is the author of bright lights, big city, ransom, story of my life, brightness falls, the last of the savages, model behaviour, how it ended and the good life.
Jay mcinerney bio, age, height, net worth, married, wife. From the bestselling author of bright lights, big city. Sep 05, 2017 jay mcinerney, author of bright lights, big city and the recent bright, precious days, was a novelist for 12 years before he started writing about wine. Russell and corrine calloway seem to be living the new york dream. Mcinerney became famous in the 1980s for his semiautobiographical novel about a hardpartying young man in manhattan. With bright, precious days, jay mcinerney brings his yuppie. Morris is the cocreator of the buffalo news poetry page and a former teacher. Mcinerney is once again on a promotional tour for his latest book, bright, precious days.
Bright, precious days quotes showing of 3 such moments are too often lost, the private interludes between the tribal gatherings, the transit between destinations, when the city becomes an intimate landscape, a secret shared by two. Mcinerney has a gift for the simultaneous perception of the glamour and tawdriness of city life evening standard our modernday fitzgerald evokes new yorks fading glamour in bright, precious days vanity fair the characters in bright, precious days are so welldrawn they leap off. On wednesday, august 3, 2016, we were joined by jay mcinerney, author of bright, precious days, as our featured speaker. Even decades after their arrival, corrine and russell calloway still feel as if theyre living the dream that drew them to new. It is his third novel about corrine and russell calloway, a couple who live on the upper east side of manhattan. Jay mcinerney, author of bright lights, big city and the recent bright, precious days, was a novelist for 12 years before he started writing about wine. The literary turf of jay mcinerney by tim falconer speaking with the author of bright, precious days about resisting contempt for your characters, differing degrees of infidelity, and the health of the novel in 2017. Mcinerneys trilogy so far finds corrine and russell calloway in marital and existential crises. He edited the penguin book of new american voices, wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of bright lights, big city, and cowrote the screenplay for the television film gia, which starred angelina jolie.
Similarly, mcinerney wrote the calloway trilogy, which includes brightness falls, the good life, and bright, precious days. Jay mcinerney checks in on an aging zeitgeist in bright. Bright, precious days is a far cry from bright lights, big city, the novel that made mcinerney an instant celebrity in 1984, at the age of twentynine. Aug 18, 2016 jay mcinerneys new novel has its strengths, but dont expect it to provide a respite from presidential politics. I couldnt tell whether or not i liked bright, precious days, the new novel by jay mcinerney, until about a third of the. The book is the third entry of a trilogyfollowing brightness falls and the good life but the titles recall of mcinerney s most famous work cant be coincidence. Its his third book about russell and corrine calloway, the new york couple. Many of you know jay mcinerney from the wonderful books he has written, including his first, bright lights, big city. Jay mcinerneys new novel, bright, precious days, is the third volume in his trilogy following the marriage of russell and corrine calloway, two emblematic ivy leagueeducated manhattan. Russell calloway, one of the main characters in jay mcinerneys bright precious days, grew up in michigan loving books, and after his ivy league undergraduate education and a year at oxford settled in manhattan, the shining island of letters, determined not to be the next hemingway or fitzgerald but the next max perkins, one day hoping. Jay mcinerney s bright, precious days jay mcinerney has now written three novels about corrine and russell calloway, a couple who met in their teens at brown university and arrived in the.
His novels include bright lights, big city, ransom, story of my life, brightness falls, and the last of the savages. Author jay mcinerney discusses his new novel, bright, precious days, the third novel in his trilogy about russell and corrine calloway on lunch break with tanya rivero. Aug 01, 2016 mcinerney became famous in the 1980s for his semiautobiographical novel about a hardpartying young man in manhattan. I really just saw the book as a oneoffmy first attempt to do a more. Jay mcinerney writing and wine jay mcinerney new book. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading bright, precious days. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read bright, precious days. Brightness falls jay mcinerney jay mcinerney interview 1992 writer jay mcinerney shares his newest novel, brightness falls, the story of a husband and wife realizing the ways in which the. The book is the third entry of a trilogyfollowing brightness falls and the good lifebut the titles recall of mcinerneys most famous work cant be coincidence. Theres a moment in jay mcinerney s new novel, bright, precious days knopf, when one of its principals, a book editor in his early fifties, comes to feel that he is a failure.
May, 2016 jay mcinerney discusses his new book, bright, precious days at book expo america 2016. Check out jay mcinerney s short interview mcinerney wrote the screenplay for the american drama film, bright lights, big city adaption of his first novel in 1988. Whether the calloways, as a couple, can weather the various upheavals of a swiftly tilting manhattan is bright, precious dayss big unknown. He lives in new york city and bridgehampton, new york.
The plot was thin to nonexistent, the prose overly precious, with a bland journalistic tone. His recently completed novel, bright, precious days, is the third in a trilogy that follows the fortunes of book editor russell calloway and his wife, corrine, as they struggle and thrive from the late 1980s through the 2008 recession. It is his third novel about corrine and russell calloway, a couple who live on the. Absolutely not, says mcinerney, whose first novel featuring complicated couple russell and corrine calloway was 1992 bestseller brightness falls. Jay mcinerneys bright, precious days an elegy for a. Theres a moment in jay mcinerneys new novel, bright, precious days knopf, when one of its principals, a book editor in his early fifties. 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 middleage, brave the muddywaters of a marriage marooned on the rocks. Bright, precious days by jay mcinerney reading guide. The cover of jay mcinerney s bright, precious days reprises the picture on the cover of his first novel, bright lights, big city 1984. With bright, precious days, jay mcinerney dishes up a third helping of the manhattan lives of russell and corrine calloway, a golden couple in the eyes of their friends, avatars of art and love. Mcinerney, who rhapsodizes at the beginning of the new book, bright, precious days, about a time when young men and women came to new york. His casual and witty approach to wine tasting and wine making makes him an entertaining and enthusiastic lecturer on the subject.
Russell calloway, one of the main characters in jay mcinerneys bright precious days, grew up in michigan loving books, and after his ivy league undergraduate education and a year at oxford settled in manhattan, the shining island of letters, determined not to be the next hemingway or fitzgerald but the next max perkins, one day hoping to serve writers as editor and publisher. Jay mcinerney, the bestselling author of the 1980s classic bright lights, big city, also harbors a passion for wine. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Everybody whos anybody in jay mcinerney s highly cultivated bright, precious days knopf, 397 pp. Born in 1955, mcinerney spent his childhood moving from suburb to suburb in the u. Jay mcinerney contributor jay mcinerney, the author of bright lights, big city and many other books, is the wine critic for. His new book, bright, precious days, probes the challenges of a lasting marriage. Like his fist novel, bright, precious days is set in manhattan, but this one in the manhattan of 20062008. Jay mcinerneys bright, precious days traces one new york. Jay mcinerneys new novel, bright, precious days, is bright and precious.
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