Posted by On a recent trip to (what felt like) the middle of nowhere, I decided to bring along my copy of Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, which I picked up while in New York earlier this year.
The book provided a nice distraction from all that peace and quiet (No sirens? Weird.), and I can now officially say that Bright Lights, Big City is one of my favourite books. I loved everything about it, but more specifically…
I love that it was written in second person and that it actually pulls it off.
I love that I didn’t really like the main character because he’s kind of an ass, but that I enjoyed spending time with him anyway. The writing was so good that it made watching him self-destruct more bearable.
I love that McInerney’s words sometimes made me feel like I’d been kicked in the gut (in a good way, whatever that means), like the last few lines of the book: “You get down on your knees and tear open the bag. The smell of warm dough envelops you. The first bite sticks in your throat and you almost gag. You will have to go slowly. You will have to learn everything all over again.”
Bright Lights, Big City was made into a movie and a musical, but I’ve never seen either. The trailer for the movie version is pretty bad, but I will definitely rent it anyway because anything with both Kiefer Sutherland and Michael J. Fox in it has to be good, right?
I’ve heard rumours that a remake of the movie is on the way. My guess is Cee Lo’s “Bright Lights Bigger City” will be featured in the new version and that it will probably look a lot like Gossip Girl.
Anyone else a big fan of this book? What did you love about it?