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John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
,
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
, editor, and
columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...
. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', '' Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last of the Savages''. He edited ''The Penguin Book of New American Voices'', wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of ''Bright Lights, Big City'', and co-wrote the screenplay for the television film '' Gia'', which starred
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
. He was the wine columnist for '' House & Garden'' magazine, and his essays on wine have been collected in ''Bacchus & Me'' (2000) and ''A Hedonist in the Cellar'' (2006). His most recent novel is titled '' Bright, Precious Days'', published in 2016. From April 2010 he was a wine columnist for ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''. In 2009, he published a book of short stories which spanned his entire career, titled ''How It Ended'', which was named one of the 10 best books of the year by Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.


Early life and education

McInerney was born in 1955 in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, the son of Marilyn Jean (Murphy) and John Barrett McInerney Sr., a corporate executive. He graduated from
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
in 1976. At
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
, he earned a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in English and studied writing with Raymond Carver.


Career

After working as a fact-checker at ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', McInerney achieved fame with his first published novel, ''Bright Lights, Big City''. Published in 1984, the novel was unique at the time for its depiction of
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
culture in second-person narrative. The title is taken from a 1961
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
song by Jimmy Reed. The novel established McInerney's reputation as part of a new generation of writers. Labelled the 'literary brat pack' in a 1987 article in the '' Village Voice'', McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis and Tama Janowitz were presented as the new face of literature: young, iconoclastic and fresh. Five novels followed: ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', '' Brightness Falls'', ''The Last of the Savages'' and ''Model Behavior''. After the success of '' Bright Lights, Big City'', publishers started looking for similar works about young people in urban settings. Ellis's '' Less than Zero'', published in 1985, was promoted as following McInerney's example. McInerney, Ellis and Janowitz were based in New York City and their lives there were the subject of heavy media coverage. Ellis used McInerney's character, Alison Poole (''Story of My Life''), in his novels '' American Psycho'' and '' Glamorama''. McInerney revealed that the character of Alison Poole is based upon his former girlfriend, Rielle Hunter, then known as Lisa Druck. He described the character as "cocaine addled," and "sexually voracious" but also treated her with some sympathy. McInerney's
roman à clef A ''roman à clef'' ( ; ; ) is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people and the "key" is the relationship between the non-fiction and the fiction. This m ...
opened a prescient glimpse into the notorious horse murders scandal, which did not become known to the public until 1992, when ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' magazine published a confession from the man who had murdered Lisa Druck's horse at her father's behest, in order to claim the insurance on its life. McInerney also has a cameo role in Ellis's '' Lunar Park'', attending the Halloween party Bret hosts at his house. It was later revealed that McInerney was not pleased with his representation in the novel. Throughout his career, McInerney has struggled against the image of himself as both the author and protagonist of ''Bright Lights, Big City.'' In 2009, he said in an interview, "Obviously, I'm no longer a 25-year-old ''bon vivant'', but
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
gave me what I always wanted: the opportunity to be a full-time writer. It hasn't been entirely fair to my other books, and I've had to deal with a lot of idiocy on the part of the critics and the cultural commentators." He appeared at
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
as the commencement speaker for the Class of 2010.


Personal life

His first wife was fashion model Linda Rossiter. His second wife was writer Merry Reymond. For four years he lived with fashion model Marla Hanson.Barber, Lynn, ''The Observer'' (September 10, 2000
Interview: Jay McInerney "The beautiful and the damned"
/ref> His third marriage, to Helen Bransford, lasted nine years, and the couple had fraternal twin children, John Barrett McInerney III and Maisie Bransford McInerney. In 2006, he married Anne Hearst.


Bibliography


Novels

*'' Bright Lights, Big City'' (1984) *''Ransom'' (1985) *'' Story of My Life'' (1988) *''The Last of the Savages'' (1997) *''Model Behavior'' (1998) ;The Calloway trilogy *'' Brightness Falls'' (1992) *'' The Good Life'' (2006) *'' Bright, Precious Days'' (2016)


Short fiction

;Collections * * ;Stories


Nonfiction

*''Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar'' (2000) *''A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine'' (2006) *''The Juice: Vinous Veritas'' (2012)


Critical studies and reviews of McInerney's work

*


Film

* McInerney wrote the screenplay for the 1988 film adaptation of '' Bright Lights, Big City''. Directed by James Bridges, it stars Michael J. Fox, Kiefer Sutherland, and Phoebe Cates.


Television

* McInerney appeared in the series '' Gossip Girl'' as the fictional novelist Jeramiah Harris, mentor to aspiring writer Dan Humphrey * For '' Hotel Room'', a television series for HBO created by David Lynch, McInerney wrote the second episode "Getting Rid Of Robert", which was directed by James Signorelli. * McInerney was interviewed for an episode of the ITV series '' The South Bank Show'' about Bret Easton Ellis. * In 2013 McInerney presented a documentary on writer F. Scott Fitzgerald for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
series '' The Culture Show''.


References

;Notes ;Citations


External links

*
Jay McInerney: why Gatsby is so greatJay McInerney and Anne Margaret Daniel discuss The Great Gatsby with Harriett Gilbert
nbsp;– World Book Club – BBC World Service {{DEFAULTSORT:McInerney, Jay 1955 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Minimalist writers Living people Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from New York (state) The New Yorker people Williams College alumni Writers from Hartford, Connecticut Writers from New York City