Occasionally a slight snobbery emerges from working in a bookshop. With all the books out there, not all are equally worthy of our time. Is every book amazing? Life changing? No, but if it’s enjoyable often that’s expressly what you want and need in a book.

And then there’ s the slight shame and delight associated with the deceptively simple story – how can I enjoy this so much when I am reading it so fast, consuming it like a candy bar? – it is tempting to assume the writing must be simplistic to a fault; but there’s real art and form behind a rollicking story, well-defined characters who resonate, who are alive in your mind as you read.

With Bright, Precious Days by Jay McInerney, I grappled with some of these questions. Gradually I found myself grinning as I read, drawn in. There’s no reason why the quintessential New York story can’t be compelling.

The easy languor of well drawn characters, Russell and Corinne Calloway and their rich or famous friends made for addictive reading. The satirical edge of their habits and conversations, the pattern of their lives – cheat on or be cheated on, get reservations at exclusive restaurants and speculate about real estate and charity functions – was, in some ways, predictable, but nevertheless, fun.

This is the third time McInerney has written about these characters, starting with Brightness Falls, The Good Life and now Bright, Precious Days – but each can be read independently. McInerney’s fondness and familiarity with the characters is evident, as we follow their daily exhortations in the lead up to the Lehman Brothers financial crisis and the election of Obama in 2008.

Just as Armistead Maupin did for San Francisco, McInerney does for New York: artfully weaving vignettes in concentric circles that radiate out from Corinne and Russell at the heart. We should coin a subgenre for this – the authors who substantiate and perpetuate the mythical qualities of these cities so that their fictions and facts become indistinguishable.

Anaya Latter