''Story of My Life'' is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

published in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

by American author

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include '' Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', '' Story of My Life'', '' Brightness Falls'', and ''The Last o ...

Plot and characters

The novel is narrated in the first-person from the point of view of Alison Poole, "an ostensibly jaded,

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 ...

-addled, sexually voracious 20-year-old." Alison is originally from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and lives in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where she is involved in several sexual relationships and is aspiring to become an actress. She falls in love with bond trader and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

expert Dean, but soon they betray each other. The novel implies that the cause of Poole's "party girl" behavior is her father's abuse, including the killing of her prize jumping horse.

Influences

Poole is based on McInerney's former girlfriend

Rielle Hunter In August 2008, John Edwards, a former United States Senator from North Carolina and a Democratic Party vice-presidential and presidential candidate, admitted to an extramarital affair, which was initially reported in December 2007 by the ''Nati ...

, then named Lisa Druck. In the novel, Poole describes her childhood and tells how her

show jumper Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows are li ...

horse Dangerous Dan had suddenly "dropped dead." McInerney's novel ends with Poole disclosing that her horse was poisoned by her father: There was speculation that ''Story of My Life'' was a ''

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 ...

'' when it first appeared; to ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

''s questions "Is it real? Did it happen?" McInerney replied, "I'm anticipating some of that kind of speculation, but I'm utterly confident of not having any lawsuits on my hands. The book is a fully imagined work of fiction. On the other hand, it's not to say that I didn't make use of

ause Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and ''de facto'' national language. While Australia has no official language, Engl ...

..That's why I live in New York. Mine is not an autonomous imagination." Poole also appears in the novels of

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack (literary), Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique as a writer is the expression of extreme acts ...

, including ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

'', in which she is

sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexua ...

by the protagonist

Patrick Bateman Patrick Bateman is a fictional character created by novelist Bret Easton Ellis. He is the villain protagonist and unreliable narrator of Ellis's 1991 novel ''American Psycho'' and is played by Christian Bale in the 2000 film adaptation of th ...

, and plays a major role in ''

Glamorama ''Glamorama'' is a 1998 novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. ''Glamorama'' is set in, and satirizes, the 1990s, specifically celebrity culture and consumerism. ''Time'' describes the novel as "a screed against models and celebrity". Deve ...

'' as the girlfriend of protagonist Victor Ward. A reference to Poole and the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

— a chapter in McInerney's novel — is also included in

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She co-wrote the screenplay and directed ''American Psycho'', '' The Notorious Bettie Page' and I Shot Andy Warhol.'' Early life Born in Bracebridge, Ontar ...

's film adaptation of ''American Psycho'' in a conversation between Bateman (played by

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. List of awards and nominations received by C ...

), Elizabeth (played by screenplay co-writer

Guinevere Turner Guinevere Jane Turner (born May 23, 1968) is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She wrote the films ''American Psycho'' and '' The Notorious Bettie Page'' and played the lead role of the dominatrix Tanya Cheex in '' Preachin ...

), and Christie (played by

Cara Seymour Cara Seymour (born 6 January 1964) is a British actress from Essex, England. She has appeared in films such as '' You've Got Mail'', ''American Psycho'', ''Adaptation'', ''Dancer in the Dark'', ''Gangs of New York'', ''Hotel Rwanda'', '' The S ...

): In 2008, McInerney incorporated Hunter's affair with presidential candidate

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

into "Penelope on the Pond", featuring Poole, in his short story collections ''The Last Bachelor'' and ''How It Ended''.

Critical response

Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...

wrote,

Publishing history

In August 2008,

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

ordered an additional 2,500 copies of the book in the wake of the interest generated by then-presidential candidate

acknowledging his affair with Hunter."Edwards' mistress was basis for '80s book character"
''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

Notes

External links

Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Story Of My Life (Novel) 1988 American novels Novels by Jay McInerney Roman à clef novels Novels set in New York City Novels about actors Atlantic Monthly Press books