Well, here we are, he’d say, at once awkward and exhilarated.
Yes, she’d say, her face sad and hopeful—so he imagined—even as she rolled her eyes at the banality of the situation, the stiltedness of their exchange. Here we are.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For bucolic shelter and rooms with view I want to thank Dominique Browning and Will and Cissy Akers. I’m also very grateful to Anne and Amanda Hearst and to Helen Schifter, Paul Schrader, and Kim Tipaul for anthropological background. I’d like to acknowledge the amazing dedication and inspiration of Bruce Grilikhes and Jeff Stafford, formerly of the Bowling Green Relief Station. Once again, Gary Fisketjon’s editorial advice was deft, insightful, and indispensable. And without Amanda Urban’s advice and encouragement I seriously doubt I would have completed this book. Thank you, Binky. Finally, I would like to thank Barrett and Maisie McInerney for their patience.
ALSO BY JAY McINERNEY
Model Behavior
The Last of the Savages
Brightness Falls
Story of My Life
Ransom
Bright Lights, Big City
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright 2006 by Bright Lights, Big City, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McInerney, Jay.
The good life / Jay McInerney.
p. cm.
1. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001—Fiction. 2. Victims of terrorism—Services for—Fiction. 3. Life change events—Fiction. 4. Loss (Psychology)—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. 6. Married people—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.C3694G66 2006
813'.6—dc22 2005044370
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
eISBN: 978-0-307-26469-5
v3.0
The Good Life Page 36
