a critical analysis of modern litterature in" Bright Lights, Big City" by Jay McInerney

The novel Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney relates the tale of a young man working for a prominent newspaper in Manhattan by day, while visiting many bars and nightclubs during the night. He manages to accomplish this through the help of his use of cocaine, to which he is powerfully addicted. Throughout the novel McInerney employs the use of the Coma Baby, a current story in the New York Post, a local tabloid, …

…to improve its life, yet the Baby remains stubborn as does the main character in his own life. As the main character does not realize he is represented by the Coma Baby, he will continue to throw away his life and fortune in the pursuit of a good time. Only when he must peddle his brand-name sunglasses in order to buy food will he 'acknowledge loss, and possibly, to rediscover his better instincts.'