This week, we're going to revisit another member of the '80s literary "Brat Pack" that paved the way for many young writers. Let's take a look at his stats:
Author: Jay McInerney
Titles: "The Last of the Savages" (1997) and "Bright Lights, Big City" (1984)
Number of Pages: 288 in the 1997 Penguin edition (same as "The Rules of Attraction"!) and 208 in the 1984 Vintage edition
Movie Versions: Both in production, and a previous film adaptation of "Bright Lights, Big City" came out in 1988
John "Jay" McInerney was born in Hartford, Conn., and his novels personify the East Coast as cool and collected. Since his first publication at the age of 29, McInerney has been an active writer: He has published seven novels, one collection of short stories and two non-fiction books on wine. McInerney has been scrutinized for the extent to which his personal life is reflected in his stories.
However, the author's personal hijinks do not detract from his unique storytelling abilities. I have included his books on this list because, though they utilize varying writing styles, all are equally powerful. McInerney excels at creating unique characters and situations, so his stories are incredibly distinct, but also relatable. So I do not need to be, for example, a young model/wife who has run away from my husband in order to genuinely connect with Amanda of "Bright Lights, Big City."
First up is "The Last of the Savages." At its heart, the novel may be a riff on "The Great Gatsby." The story tracks the diverging friendship of Patrick, a lower class Irish student from Boston, and Will, a wealthy southern rebel with whom Patrick is enamored. There are many surprising twists and powerful themes throughout the story, but most striking is McInerney's exploration of why friendships seem so weighty at our age. Is it just because this is our first time experiencing life away from our family? How do these friendships grow in time — or become strangled by distance?
"Bright Lights, Big City" is McInerney's most famous work, and rightly so. Since it's written in the second person, you are literally dropped into the nameless main character's head and life. You become him, an aspiring writer in his early twenties living in the "Devil's Playground" of New York City and stuck in a dead-end job. Freshmen and sophomores perhaps cannot relate to this scenario, but in my experience, juniors and seniors can empathize with the pressures of the post-graduation world. Don't fear! I swear the character in "Bright Lights, Big City" has a lot more on his plate.
Like Ellis' stories, McInerney's translate well onto the big screen. The script of "The Last of the Savages" is in the hands of Oscar-winner Frank Pierson of "Cool Hand Luke" (1967) fame, and an updated "Bright Lights, Big City" is in development by "Gossip Girl" (2007) developer Josh Schwartz. The older version of "Bright Lights, Big City" is pretty entertaining, with Jamie (Michael J. Fox) completely buyable as the protagonist. Unfortunately, the charm and effect of the novel is lost when the character becomes concrete and separate from you, the reader and viewer.
McInerney's talent lies in his ability to use empathy to weave us into his flawed characters, making their outrageous, excessive lives feel like extensions of our own. But I must leave you with one warning: Don't let free association lead you to Cee-Lo Green's new single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" (2011). You lose all of McInerney's charm and heart in a music video with calculated shots of the reflection of city lights on a limousine and a handcuffed dominatrix model subplot. I can't believe I just typed that last bit! That's why I stick to the book.
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Alexandria Chu is a junior majoring in English. She can be reached at Alexandria.Chu@tufts.edu.
