Bright, Precious Days

A novel

By: Jay McInerney

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

From the best-selling author of Bright Lights, Big City: a sexy, vibrant, cross-generational New York story--a literary and commercial triumph of the highest order.

Even decades after their arrival, Corrine and Russell Calloway still feel as if they’re living the dream that drew them to New York City in the first place: book parties or art openings one night and high-society events the next; jobs they care about (and in fact love); twin children whose birth was truly miraculous; a loft in TriBeCa and summers in the Hamptons. But all of this comes at a fiendish cost. Russell, an independent publisher, has superb cultural credentials yet minimal cash flow; as he navigates a business that requires, beyond astute literary judgment, constant financial improvisation, he encounters an audacious, potentially game-changing—or ruinous—opportunity. Meanwhile, instead of chasing personal gain in this incredibly wealthy city, Corrine devotes herself to helping feed its hungry poor, and she and her husband soon discover they’re being priced out of the newly fashionable neighborhood they’ve called home for most of their adult lives, with their son and daughter caught in the balance.

Then Corrine’s world is turned upside down when the man with whom she’d had an ill-fated affair in the wake of 9/11 suddenly reappears. As the novel unfolds across a period of stupendous change—including Obama’s historic election and the global economic collapse he inherited—the Calloways will find themselves and their marriage tested more severely than they ever could have imagined.

Critic reviews

“Our modern-day Fitzgerald.” —Anderson Tepper, Vanity Fair

“Without any judgement but with the understanding and empathy of a brightly illuminating cultural inspector, Jay McInerney delivers encounters and relationships, at times hilarious and exhilarating or excruciating between and among those individuals who are compelled to live nowhere else but on that tiny sliver of granite—Manhattan. Non-residents worldwide will enjoy the fates of these metropolitan dancers who wriggle, pop, squirm and sizzle under the searing red ray of McInerney's magnifying glass.” —Dan Aykroyd

“In this powerful portrait of a marriage and a city in the shadow of the looming subprime mortgage crisis, McInerney observes the passage of life’s seasons with aching and indelible clarity.” —Keir Graff, Booklist

Excellent Book, OK performance

By the end of the book, everyone has a British accent....otherwise, a good reading of a fantastic book.

It's worth the read but…

Being from the New York metropolitan area and about the same age as the main characters in the book I did enjoy certain aspects of it. The descriptions of various things significant to that era and descriptions of places that I know were all fun for me to read. The story has its good moments but in the end it was predictable. Well written , and I really like his style. This is the first of his books that I have read. It was definitely entertaining but a little bit fluffy.

Engaging Storyline!

The narration is, of course, past compare (Eduardo Ballerini, of course!) and I enjoyed the manner in which the Author developed both the characters and the story itself. Without the expletives, this, in my opinion, would’ve been a great story. This was my first Jay McInerney and bar all the cursing, it was quite engaging. I kept holding my breath, wondering how far Corrine would go with Luke (very daring!) and also found myself wondering if this is a true reflection of how New Yorkers go about their lives. Unfulfilled, discontented lives, it appears. Hmmm…

For the fortunate few

For the fortunate few in very long marriages- for certainly fortunate plays a part- for those of us so accompanied in life this wondrous book will ring like autobiography. No, not in specifics, for how could it? But in tone and theme, in the events of a life together, here is sympatico.

And for those of you, younger, perhaps impetuous, impatient, here's a tale to help you stay the course as you sail into a land, into the far country, into a place peopled by couples only.

As to Mr. Ballerini, who I met following the travails of a young "problem solver" in colonial America- phrasing and tone in this book is precisely, exactly correct; I'd expect no less.

I swallowed this book whole, all the while reminded of countless friends in similarly long marriages, impatiently listing them as recipients of a lovely and timeless experience this book brings.

Couldn't stop listening

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this for the closely observed people, conversations and settings, as well as the spot-on narration. There are constant surprises as the story moves swiftly, alternating points of view and deftly picking up plot pieces from the past.