Letter:, March 24, 1986

The Jay McInerney papers consist of personal correspondence, professional and publishing correspondence, photographs, and other papers relating chiefly to the publicity for his novel Bright Lights Big City. The collection includes manuscripts of McInerney's other published and unpublished writing, and drafts and screenplay drafts of Bright Lights Big City. The collection also includes videocassettes and audiocassettes, fan mail, two scrapbooks (dissembled) that chronicle the personal life and professional and literary presence of Jay McInerney and Merry McInerney, ephemeral items, photographs, and newsclippings.

Personal papers include letters and notes from McInerney to his wife Merry; photographs of them and their wedding; material regarding travel, particularly in Africa; incidental diary fragments; and financial and business records. Correspondents include Raymond Carver and Tess Gallagher, McInerney's editor and friend Gary Fisketjon of Random House, and authors Richard Ford, Rust Hills, Paul Bowles, Julian Barnes, Tama Janowitz, Lorrie Moore, Tina Brown, Bill Buford, Gordon Lish, Tobias Wolff, and Mona Simpson.