Tags:
Journalism of Courage
JAY MCINERNEY8217;S NEW novel The Good Life takes us once again into the Manhat-tan home of Corrine and Russell Cal-loway, the golden couple from Brightness Falls 1992. In that novel, their marriage survived a miscarriage, a separation, and a stockmar-ket meltdown, as well as Russell8217;s failed lever-aged- takeover attempt at the publishing house where he worked. The novel worked as an affectionate look at their struggle and how they emerged from it8212;emotionally scarred, integrity compromised, but marriage intact.
This time, too, their marriage comes under strain, but against the backdrop of a far greater tragedy. They are now the parents of twins conceived with Corrine8217;s sister8217;s eggs. They are still in Manhattan, having missed out on the gentrification boom but living in a rent-stabilised TriBeCa loft. Corrine quit her stockbroking job to bring up the children and is working on a screenplay of Graham Greene8217;s The Heart of the Matter8212;but in their set, this is the same as being unemployed.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in this long dark night of the soul, retired investment banker Luke McGavock realises that his trophy wife is having an affair with an even richer billion-aire. Worse, his teenage daughter is talking to a murky European aristocrat with a reputa-tion for strange sexual preferences.
The second part of the novel opens on September 12. Luke, covered in ash and dust after helping at Ground Zero, meets Corrine on West Broadway. They have both lost friends in the attack. Volunteering at a soup kitchen for rescue workers, they are attracted to each other, but resist the impulse8212;until, one evening, Corrine discovers that Russell has been having an affair with his former secre-tary. Conflicted, she must make the choice.
McInerney makes no secret of his fascina-tion with the lives of the rich and famous, and he is at his best when he writes about their riches and fame. The posh addresses, the ele-vator etiquette. The literary namedropping, the Gays and Nans. The single girl who has written a bestselling novel about a single girl8212;and who, at another Calloway party, ad-vised Paul Auster to read John Grisham for tips on plotting. Even the superficial post-9/ 11 chatter among privileged Manhattanites is done stylishly.
But even as The Good Life waves at Scott Fitzgerald and genuflects at the altar of Gra-ham Greene, it isn8217;t even vintage McInerney.
