Bright Lights, Big City

The narrator of the novel has been characterized as an anti-hero. Do you agree with this characterization? Why, or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your opinion.

Which characters in the novel serve as foils for each other? How does the opposition between them illuminate some of the novel’s key themes?

The narrator and Tad exist within rarefied, privileged worlds and they are, arguably, insulated by the privileges of being white, male, and upper-middle class. How different of a novel might this have been if the lead characters were of different genders, races, or of different class backgrounds?

What is the possible source of Megan’s empathetic response to the narrator? What about their personal histories is similar?

Jay McInerney uses a second-person omniscient narrative throughout the novel—a narrative technique that is not often used. Why do you think that he employed this technique? How might the novel have been different if it were narrated in first-person or third-person omniscient voices?

What do you think of the portrayal of women in the novel? Could one make the argument that Clara, Megan, and Amanda represent feminine archetypes? Why, or why not?

Though Bright Lights, Big City remains McInerney’s best-known novel and is a prominent fixture on reading lists, some of the book’s content is indicative of its time and, in certain places, would read as politically incorrect. Can you indicate such places in the novel? Do you think that these moments of political incorrectness would make the novel less appealing to a contemporary audience? Why, or why not?

At several points in the novel, the narrator comments on posturing and the feeling of not being his authentic self. How does this persistent feeling of phoniness impact his behavior? Consider other generation-defining American novels in which this has been a theme, particularly The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye. Why do you think that authors, particularly those from the 20th century, have fixated on this problem about authenticity?