The Good Life

by Jay McInerney

  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