The celebration of the thirty-fifth wedding anniversary of Russell Calloway’s best friend, Washington Lee—the least likely monogamist of his acquaintance somehow having become over the years a model husband and father, at the Odeon in the Spring of 2020 sparks an at once funny and moving autumnal reckoning with mortality as the specter of the Covid-19 virus spreads. In this moment of unprecedented upheaval—frantic and fraught real-time response, piercing personal and political impact—the Calloways find themselves and their marriage tested in ways they could never have anticipated as fatal consequences ensue.
See You on the Other Side by Jay McInerney will be published April 14, 2026. Knopf Publishing provided an early galley for review.
In a story that started in Brightness Falls (1992) and continued in The Good Life (2006) and Bright, Precious Days (2016), McInerney completes the tetralogy with these characters. As a fan of his since Bright Lights, Big City (1984), I was curious for this upcoming release. Plus, how cool is that cover image? Very!
The writing is exactly what I have come to expect from the author, full of complex and descriptive sentences as well as snappy, natural patter of dialogue. He really has a way with language. Being the same age as the main characters at this point in their story seems to have helped get me past whatever issues I had with the first two offerings in this series (which I only considered "okay" for some reason). Might have to revisit them along with reading the one I missed.
I had to smile when the characters mentioned a number of books I myself had read in 2020. The ending also managed to summon up some emotions as I was certainly moved by it. That's what a good book should do, after all.
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