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| ==Plot and Characters== | ==Plot and Characters== | ||
| The novel is narrated in the first-person from the point of view of Alison Poole, whom author Jay McInerney describes as, "an ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year old."<ref>{{cite web | title = Interview between author Jay McInerney and Rielle Hunter | last = McInerney | first = Jay | accessdate = 2008-08-01 | url = http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20060202225431/beingisfree.org/fame.html }}</ref> Alison is originally from ] and lives in ], ] where she is involved in several sexual relationships and is aspiring to become an actress. She falls in love with bond trader and ] expert Dean but soon they betray each other. | |||
| The novel is narrated in the first-person from the point of view of ], whom author Jay McInerney describes as, "an ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year old … inspired by <nowiki>], then named ]<nowiki>]</nowiki>."<ref>{{cite news | title =EDWARDS' MISTRESS DISHES ON SLEEPING WITH POWERFUL RICH MEN, SORT OF | work = ] | date = 2008-07-29 | url = http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/edwards-mistress-dishes-on-sleeping-with-powerful-rich-men-s.php }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Scrubbed: Edwards Filmmaker's Deleted Website Raises Questions | last = Stein | first = Sam | work = ] | accessdate = 2008-08-01 | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/10/scrubbed-edwards-filmmak_n_67868.html }}</ref><ref>As documented in the ], ]'s website {{url|beingisfree.org}} has been deleted and blocked on the , however, an archived copy is available at: {{cite web | title = Archived copy of Rielle Hunter's website beingisfree.org | last = Hunter | first = Rielle | accessdate = 2008-08-01 | url = http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20060203013746/beingisfree.org/indexN.html }} An archived copy of the interview between author ] and ] is available at: {{cite web | title = Interview between author Jay McInerney and Rielle Hunter | last = McInerney | first = Jay | accessdate = 2008-08-01 | url = http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20060202225431/beingisfree.org/fame.html }} Author McInerney's description in context is: <blockquote>"The way I remember it, I first met Rielle Hunter in a nightclub called Nells in early 1987, although the circumstances of our first meeting seem to be in dispute (see below). In my defense I can only say that events of that decade are not always as clearly etched in memory as we might wish, and neither of us was living a very sober or reflective life back then. At that time Rielle's name was Lisa Druck, and when she wasn't out at nightclubs she was taking acting classes. We dated for only a few months, but in that period I spent a lot of time with Lisa and her friends, whose behavior intrigued and appalled me to such an extent that I ended up basing a novel on the experience. The novel was called Story of My Life, and it was narrated in the first person from the point of view of an ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year-old who was, shall we say, inspired by Lisa. I certainly thought of Alison Poole as a sympathetic and ultimately endearing character. One of her most striking traits was her obsession with truth-telling and her horror of being lied to, something that I certainly took directly from Lisa. When Lisa moved to Calfornia and got married I lost track of her, though I was reminded of her whenever someone would ask me, at book signings and lectures, what I imagined happened to Alison Poole after the book ended—whether I saw her as turning her life around or not. Through the grapevine I picked up occasional reports from the West Coast. I heard that Lisa had changed her name to Rielle, that she'd gotten divorced, and that she was increasingly engaged in various spiritual quests which she attempted to explain to me when I finally ran into her; all I could tell for certain was that she was a far happier person than I remembered. Recently she returned to Manhattan and one sunny afternoon in Washington Square Park, attempted to enlighten me on the subject of her own enlightenment."</blockquote></ref> The fictional Alison is originally from ] and lives in ], ] where she is involved in several sexual relationships and is aspiring to become an actress. She falls in love with bond trader and ] expert Dean but soon they betray each other. | |||
| ==Critical comment== | ==Critical comment== | ||
Revision as of 01:55, 3 August 2008
Story of My Life is a novel published in 1988 by the American author Jay McInerney.
Plot and Characters
The novel is narrated in the first-person from the point of view of Alison Poole, whom author Jay McInerney describes as, "an ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year old." Alison is originally from Virginia and lives in Manhattan, New York where she is involved in several sexual relationships and is aspiring to become an actress. She falls in love with bond trader and Shakespeare expert Dean but soon they betray each other.
Critical comment
"Jay McInerney has proven himself not only a brilliant stylist but a master of characterization, with a keen eye for incongruities of urban life." —New York Times Book Review
"McInerney's talent for capturing the nuances and idiosyncrasies of our culture in Bright Lights, Big City is even more powerful evident in Story of My Life... Underneath Alison's hip, party-girl exterior and flippant vernacular is McInerney's disturbing depiction of a young woman caught in the traumatic reality of her times." —San Francisco Chronicle
"McInerney's Story of My Life is quite as brilliant as Bright Lights, Big City and a lot funnier." —The Sunday Times
"There are some quick, funny portraits of club denizens in this volume, and some satiric renditions of the stoned dialogue that can accompany the ingestion of chemical substances. In the end, though, none of this makes us care about Mr. McInerney's characters. It simply leaves us depressed at the shallowness of these people's lives, and at the author's failure to find a worthy showcase for his talents." —The New York Times
Relation to other novels
The character of Alison Poole has also been featured in the novels of Bret Easton Ellis, including American Psycho (as having been sexually assaulted by the protagonist Patrick Bateman) and Glamorama (dating the protagonist Victor Ward).
Notes
- McInerney, Jay. "Interview between author Jay McInerney and Rielle Hunter". Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- Michiko Kakutani, Gold Cards, Parties and Late Rent, New York Times, August 20, 1988