THE GOOD LIFE

Switching gracefully between the echoing authority of the all-knowing narrator and the mortals who inhabit his world, Robertson Dean gives a fine performance. Two families are living "the good life" in lower Manhattan. The men cook, the women model or write screenplays. You need to own a jet to be rich. Move to the country? Never. John Cheever would be alive and well (albeit 94) if he'd only eschewed the suburbs. September 11th and then nothing looks the same. Police and firemen are so handsome that strangers kiss them on the street. But why live in the bull's-eye? Why am I married to this person? The exquisite lives unravel. And then ravel again. The lights are still burning in McInerney's beloved big city. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 06]