In the mood to read another New York book, I picked up Bright Lights, Big City the modern classic published in 1984 about a young man, lost in life, trying to find himself in NYC. This book has been lauded by the likes of authors Jonathan Tropper and Jen Lancaster (who titled her book after, Bright Lights, Big Ass, in reference to it). Time magazine also named it one of its nine generation-defining novels.

Therefore, I had big expectations for this novel. For the most part it met my expectations. The author, Jay McInerney, described the 1980's New York nightlife where everyone snorts cocaine mindlessly on the regular. His wife, who works as a model, calls from France to tell him she's staying there and basically hopes his life goes well for him. He works for a fact department in an agency where he reads through other people's fiction to correct any incorrect "facts" but it hasn't helped him rise to the fiction department which was his goal in the first place. His friend, Ted Allagash, calls him up every night to party at random clubs.

While I found the 182 page romp through 1980's New York interesting, I'm fairly certain I read it much too superficially. The significance of most of it probably slipped through my fingers. Just from the little I've read written about it on various websites, I see that I didn't "get it". I wonder if some of what was so loved about this book was that it was innovative and enlightening for its time. (?) Anyway, even though it was an "easy" read, I feel like some cliff notes might help me out a little. Unless any of you have read it and can explain to me what I was supposed to have gotten from it?

Oh! I almost forgot to mention this book is written in second person. It might be the first book I've read like this, and while I normally wouldn't like it, it worked for this book, and I still felt like I was reading about another person rather than feeling like I was him. It's almost like I'm reading something he wrote to himself. Sounds strange but it actually worked out fine, lol.

Anyway, I'm way behind the times on this because apparently there was a movie based on this book with Michael J. Fox and Keifer Sutherland from 1988, an off-broadway musical for a little bit in 1999, and was performed on stage in the UK in 2009 (just last year!) I guess that's how out of the loop you can get when you're only 2-years-old when the book is published, lol. But apparently they are also re-making the movie, set to release in 2013. So... I will be watching the original movie soon and will return here to review it!

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com