From the bestselling author of Bright Lights, Big City and Brightness Falls comes a chronicle of a generation, as enacted by two men who represent ...
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Oct 12, 2011
Patrick
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I haven’t read a Jay McInerney novel since college, but I recently picked up The Last of the Savages at a used bookshop. It proved to be a good diversion. It is the life story of two friends from dissimilar backgrounds that met in prep school and represent two distinct lifestyles through the turbulent 60s, 70s, and 80s. The southern bred R&B producer/star maker Will Savage, who is from a Southern family with skeletons in the closet, and Patrick Keane a scholarship boy from a lower class Boston f
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Sep 27, 2008
Katerlio
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the first 2/3 of this book is really good, draws you in and tells a compelling story with well-formed intriguing characters - and the last 1/2 is mediocre. the tone becomes preachy, and he loses conficence that you can draw the obvious connections yourself and takes all the fun out of it. not terrible, but disappointing.
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Dec 10, 2011
Nicole
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This novel tells the story of two friends who meet as roommates in the 1960's at a New England prep school, one (Will Savage) is from a privledged Memphis family, the other (Patrick Keane) a scholarship kid from Massachusetts. The novel charts their friendship over three decades, as Patrick pursues academia and law school but Will chooses to become a music mogul, charting the records of R+B artists of the south. It's an unlikely friendship that battles Will's temperment and drug-escapes and Pa
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Jan 16, 2012
Myles
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I was prepared to be underwhelmed by this one, I like most of McInerney's work, but sometimes (such as with Model Behavior) his novels leave you feeling "uh-huh, and?". So a novel about two baby boomer prep-school boys growing up and apart didn't seem like a great idea.
I forgot though that all of McInerney's novels work at the very least because of the language. Other writers in his "generation" may arguably be better storytellers or have a better grasp on the pul More...
I forgot though that all of McInerney's novels work at the very least because of the language. Other writers in his "generation" may arguably be better storytellers or have a better grasp on the pul More...
Jan 10, 2008
Hey Sailor!
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 07, 2011
Pcon
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I'm not sure characters can get any more cliche than the characters in The Last of the Savages. How many times have we heard this story? Poor but smart kid goes to prep school and then ivy league college and tries to forget his humble upbringing and fit in. Rich but nonconformist kid befriends him while rejecting his own upbringing. The two grow apart and yet remain friends. Oh, and it is set against the turbulent back drop of the 1960s/1970s.
Apr 03, 2008
Nomi
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I picked up this book at a used bookshop and was intrigued by the premise: the 30-year friendship of two very different men who meet as boys at a prep school. I started optimistically and was rewarded with several interesting turns of phrase in the first part of the book. There was also some nostalgia involved as the protagonist receives his undergraduate degree in the late 1960s. However, as the book wore on, I wore out. It seemed like an endless loop tape on several levels: the characters move
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Sep 12, 2010
Brian
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Last Of the Savages was an excellent read. I found myself completely engrossed in McInerney's story, could not put it down. Found all of the characters to be well developed, and in a sense felt like I knew them by the end of the book.
Aug 12, 2009
badjujube
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On my all-time top ten list of best novels! An incredible story with McInerney's trademark bittersweetness and over-indulgence but with an eye on history.
Aug 16, 2008
Tiny Pants
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I have a major thing for 80s literary brat pack fiction, but Jay McInerney sank to new lows with this one. I have a thing about finishing books I start -- they have to suck on a The Devil Wears Prada level for me to actually put them down (I made it through less than a chapter of that book before throwing it across the room, then donating it to a charity since I could never bring myself to actually throw a book away). But man, this one is close. The knowledge that I spent $5 on it is really what
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Jan 11, 2009
Kurt
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A great tale about the strangeness of friendship, of class systems gone awry, and the joys of sex, drugs, and rock 'n'roll.
Oct 13, 2011
Kris
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This book didn't really resonate with me - seems better suited to a movie (which is something I don't often think).
Oct 20, 2010
Okralaw
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One of my favorite books of all time.......sex, drugs, rock and roll, and a wonderful writer
Nov 16, 2011
James
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Read at Oakmont nursing home. Good sweep, though a bit shallow, of a family life.
Jun 26, 2008
Mouse
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I enjoyed the novel; loved the historical context and was quite fascinated - like everyone else in the novel, it seems - by Will. Patrick was endearing, though he irritated me quite a bit at times too... except for the ending, where I loved the man he'd become. I felt a bit sad for him, but he seemed to have come to peace with his life, so I also felt I had no right to be.
Anyway, I enjoyed the novel and will probably seek other books by this author.
Anyway, I enjoyed the novel and will probably seek other books by this author.
Aug 16, 2011
Jeff
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I dug it...I needed a good buddy book (currently teaching Huck Finn and about to start On the Road with my juniors and seniors) and this certainly fit the bill. Plus, after a pretty steady diet of Ian McEwan for the past few months, it was nice to read something so American.
Jul 02, 2007
Linsey
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(Obviously I read the book because of the title.)
Still, it was an amusing summer read: The author writes wine reviews for Town & Country, which goes a long way toward explaining the cultivated diction, despite topics like rock & roll, drugs, Southern life, and a blue-collar upbringing.
Still, it was an amusing summer read: The author writes wine reviews for Town & Country, which goes a long way toward explaining the cultivated diction, despite topics like rock & roll, drugs, Southern life, and a blue-collar upbringing.
Feb 05, 2008
Biskit
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Typical of the prep-school/ivy league fantasy teenage life I never came close to having (or wanting, I guess). Normally I'm a total sucker for this stuff, but this one was too broad-reaching w/ the whole 60's thing. Started to feel like a really long "Wonder Years" episode.
May 25, 2011
Amanda
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I thought McInerney may take a politically correct stance here.
Why would I think that? I don't know. It's just that so many authors are prepared to sacrifice the real story for something more socially acceptable.
He doesn't and the book is brilliant.
Why would I think that? I don't know. It's just that so many authors are prepared to sacrifice the real story for something more socially acceptable.
He doesn't and the book is brilliant.
Jul 26, 2007
Ryan
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A book for Bro's. It's one of those cheesy masturbatory brotherly/love college roommate type books. I didn't get far into it. Considering how good some of his others are I was quite shocked.
A real stinker.
A real stinker.
Jan 21, 2008
Meg
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Fantastic... Not only for a Memphis girl, but for anyone interested in a first-person narrative on the story of a lifelong friendship full of humor, adventure and realism.
Jan 05, 2008
Jay's best stuff ... great read ... portrait of a counterculture type coming of age ... prep school, university, adulthood ... couldn't put it down
Oct 24, 2008
Ben
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The epic-like story of two friends whose life-paths diverge over time. Very well written, a little neat, but a well told story.
