The Good Life

I know I’m going to enjoy a novel if it starts with a dinner party, and this book had me hooked right from the first moments in the kitchen of Russell and Corrine’s New York apartment. McInerney’s funny, clever writing lulls you into the world of these people, their kids and their friends, and it’s not until page sixty-nine that you’re hit with the shock: it’s all been taking place on September 10th, 2001, and their world, the whole world, is about to erupt.

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.

Loved it. No ifs, ands, or buts. Wasn't sure at first.....it starts with a dinner party and lots of name dropping of famous writers...but it's not about that. It's about relationships, love, loyalties, and how an external event (in this case, 9/11) can bring our lives into focus. What I liked about this novel was that it talked about individuals -- not a pulling together as a society -- and this made it different. I loved the deep character development, and felt I came to know the two main characters (Corrine and Luke) very well. So well that I predicted the ending, but in a good way -- the way you sometimes just know what a good friend or family member will do.

At first the veneer of ultra-privileged Manhattanites annoyed me. Where, in mocking itself in too much world-weariness and too much cynicism, the authorial voice threatened to undercut sympathy, instead replacing it with the reader's impatience. But starting from the second part, it grew on me, and yes, the soul-searching of a fund manager got better. Smarter, I think, than Claire Messud's 9/11 novel The Emperor's Children.

One of the many 9-11 novels being written by the A-list of 90's/ought novelists right now. I really liked the first 3/4 of it. The characters were vivid and the storyline was magnetic. However, it needed another 50 pages to tie things up. Just when McInerney brings the story to a crescendo, he pulls the plug suddenly. It, frankly, was like being interrupted in the middle of sex. Things are great, then they stop suddenly and there's no point in starting again, and you're just pissed and bitter and soured on the experience.

This is a story of the lives of the rich and the very rich in NYC just prior to 9/11 and then after 9/11. There are many interesting characters, but the book highlight two couples, Russell & Corrine and Luke & Sasha. Both of their marriages are foundering, with affairs by Russell and Sasha. Luke has an appointment scheduled with his best friend on the morning of 9/11 at Windows on the World. He cancels the appointment, but his friend doesn't get the message and dies in the tragedy. Luke is part of the initial relief effort, which is horrifying. The book is part lifestyles of the rich and famous and part explanation of what it was like to live in NYC during 9/11 and its aftermath. Great writing, but the characters were a little hard to show more relate to, but overall I enjoyed the book and did want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. show less

I didn't know if I was going to be able to get through this book while reading the first part. Two families are profiled - one of which has a father in publishing while the mother is an aspiring screen writer. The schmoozing that goes on in the early chapters of this book was so self indulgent - I don't know if there is anything that I enjoy less than that kind of industry centered writing - it has been done to death.

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.

New York City successes and socialites, the McGavocks and the Calloways run in similar circles without yet having met each other. Each family has its own share of problems, from drug abuse and infidelity to infertility and perpetual guilt. The novel begins before the 9/11 attacks, but it does not really start until after. The McGavock patriarch, Luke, and the Calloway matriarch, Corrine, meet amidst the dust, rubble, panic, and chaos of New York City hours after the fall of the Twin Towers. The two continue to work together late at night at a volunteer soup kitchen, becoming closer and more intimate and becoming solace for each other in their turbulent times.

Luke and Corrine discover that they are soul mates. Each married with children show more 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. show less