Brightness Falls

Jay McInerney. Vintage Books USA, $14.95 (432pp) ISBN 978-0-679-74532-7

While the strengths of McInerney's writing are in evidence, the characterizations in this well-plotted generational portrait of late-'80s Manhattan yuppies fail to convince. A BOMC alternate and a three-week PW bestseller in cloth. Author tour. (Apr.)

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