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Hailed byNewsweekas “a superb and humane social critic” with, according toThe Wall Street Journal,“all the true instincts of a major novelist,” Jay McInerney unveils a story of love, family, conflicting desires, and catastrophic loss in his most powerfully searing work thus far. Clinging to a semiprecarious existence in TriBeCa, Corrine and Russell Calloway have survived a separation and are thoroughly wonderstruck by young twins whose provenance is nothing less than miraculous, even as they contend with the faded promise of a marriage tinged with suspicion and deceit. Meanwhile, several miles uptown and perched near the top of the Upper East Side’s social register, Luke McGavock has postponed his accumulation of wealth in an attempt to recover the sense of purpose now lacking in a life that often gives him pause—especially with regard to his teenage daughter, whose wanton extravagance bears a horrifying resemblance to her mother’s. But on a September morning, brightness falls horribly from the sky, and people worlds apart suddenly find themselves working side by side at the devastated site, feeling lost anywhere else, yet battered still by memory and regret, by fresh disappointment and unimaginable shock. What happens, or should happen, when life stops us in our tracks, or our own choices do? What if both secrets and secret needs, long guarded steadfastly, are finally revealed? Whatisthe good life? Posed with astonishing understanding and compassion, these questions power a novel rich with characters and events, both comic and harrowing, revelatory about not only New York after the attacks but also the toll taken on those lucky enough to have survived them. Wise, surprising, and, ultimately, heart-stoppingly redemptive,The Good Lifecaptures lives that allow us to see–through personal, social, and moral complexity–more clearly into the heart of things. From the Hardcover edition.… (more)
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Luke and Corrine discover that they are soul mates. Each married with children to someone else, they share trysts and clandestine encounters. They cannot help but make plans for their futures together. Throughout, however, there are ominous undertones of guilt, betrayal, and unrequited love. Their story seems to end before it begins.
This book is well written and moves forward fairly easily. I have to admit that while I was not bored with it, it tended to be slightly listless; I kept waiting for something to happen. It was almost as if the book were on the verge of being very good, rather than just good. I knew the characters and understood their plights, but I did not really relate. The plot was easy to understand, yet seemed lacking in panache. The 9/11 setting served the purpose of backdrop only, an aside, almost contrived.
I love this book for a lot of reasons. Not least because it hints that even in an age of terror, good things can still happen, and good people can still find each other.
Clinging to a semi precarious existence in TriBeCa, Corrine and Russell Calloway have survived a separation and are wonderstruck by young twins
Wise, surprising, and, ultimately, heart-stoppingly redemptive, The Good Life captures lives that allow us to see–through personal, social, and moral complexity–more clearly into the heart of things.
Anyhoo - the good news is that Part One was mercifully short and the novel got *much* better as it went along.
All in all I thought it was well written though far from being one of McInerney's best. I found the end unsatisfying but the characters well drawn and the plot (for the most part) engaging.