The Good Life? Eh, Not So Much

I have to say that I was excited to read Jay McInerney's latest novel The Good Life. If nothing else, McInerney has long had a satirist's ear for the microstrata of upper crust society, even if it's a part of society that doesn't seem all that interesting to a good portion of middle class America. Even still, I was curious about how his own 9/11 novel would work in the face of novels like Saturday and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Sadly, I thought the book failed mostly because McInerney seemed lost in the novel, never quite sure where to go next and how to elicit empathy for what seems a rather trivial affair amongst the ruins.

My review of it is here.

Lots of other folks have weighed in on the novel as well, but I was particularly drawn to Dan Chaon's review in this past weekend's Washington Post, which closely echoes many of the thoughts I had. (And, incidentally, if you haven't read Dan's brilliant novel You Remind Me of Me, I encourage you to do so.) Here's a bit from Dan's review:

Honestly, it seems McInerney doesn't know what to do with this material. He skirts the complex observations and deep feelings discussed in his moving essays on 9/11. Perhaps the tragedy feels so sacrosanct, so enormous, that he has chosen not to apply the skills that are closest to his true talent, and what's left is this odd, stilted, earnestly tremulous book. But it's kind of scary. If Jay McInerney can't bring himself to write a Jay McInerney novel about New York during 9/11, then maybe Naipaul was right.

Comments

[Danny Barer]

I haven't read a Jay McInerney novel since I perused Ransom and Bright Lights, Big City in the late eighties. I'm afraid reading one now would seem like an anachronism -- like hearing The Safety Dance on an Ipod. (On the other hand, I keep hearing that New Order song from the BLBC movie, True Faith, on my Ipod . . . )

[WittyName32]

Jay McInerney will be remembered as the Jay McInerney of his time.

[dave zarkin]

Wisconsin fundamentalists were similarly pissed about "You've Got a Friend in Cheeses," a popular endorsement of gouda or maybe cheddar.