Ten years on from Brightness Falls Russell Calloway is still a literary editor although in a diminished capacity; his wife Corrine has sacrificed her career to watch anxiously over their children. Across town Luke Mc Gavock a wealthy ex-investment banker is taking a sabbatical from making money struggling to reconnect with his socially resplendent wife Sasha & their angst-ridden teenage daughter Ashley. These two Manhattan families are teetering on the brink of change when 9/11 happens. The Good Life" explores through the lens of catastrophe that territory between hope & despair love & loss regret & fulfilment. But ultimately this is Jay Mc Inerney doing what he does best presenting us with the life of New York City in all its moral complexity."