Easy Money [Hardcover]

Barbara Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995

After her father gambles away her college money, eighteen-year-old Jacqueline "Jay" Winbourne flees to New York City, determined to make it on her own, only to fall in love with a young man much like her dissolute father. A first novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jay's memories of her mother are vague and fleeting. Growing up with her widower father in Denver, the heroine of Wright's first novel has had to take on the role of homemaker in their dilapidated Victorian duplex. When her father, an ex-playwright with his head in the clouds, loses their fortune on options trading, Jay, 18, realizes that she must look out for herself and so moves to New York to make her mark. There, two very different men begin to shape her life. One, a beautiful, self-destructive jazz musician who becomes her lover, sees Jay as a steadfast innocent. The other, a blind Korean academic who lives by measurements and rules and hires Jay to assist him in transcribing his third novel, gradually becomes a springboard for her intellectual awakening. Through Wright's understated and softly poetic prose, Jay's resolute character, with all its ragged edges, comes easily to life. Equally impressive is Wright's ability to describe simply and believably the emotional intricacies of developing relationships. Narrative shifts between Jay and her father's perspectives can be jarring, but this structural bumpiness doesn't detract from the strength of Wright's prose and insight.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a quirky coming-of-age novel that loses its focus about halfway through. Jay and her father have lived alone together since her mother's long-ago death. Although still in high school, Jay is the responsible party, paying the bills and trying to stay one step ahead of creditors. Her father, a former playwright, now dreams of get-rich-quick schemes as a marginal stockbroker. When her college money is blown on one of his schemes, Jay takes off alone for New York. There she lands on her feet with a job assisting a blind gentleman and finds a dangerous older boyfriend. Jay is well portrayed, and her story is mostly involving, but the novel never quite jells. Recommended for larger fiction collections.?Ann Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 390 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; 1st edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945575637
• ISBN-13: 978-0945575634
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,035,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars an easy, enjoyable read, August 15, 2011

By 

maryjanefan (new york city) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Easy Money (Hardcover)

I had looked forward to Barbara Wright's novel after reading Plainspeak, which I loved. The characters were developed enough that I did care about them but the story was not as intriguing, or as beautifully written as her other work. It is a good coming of age story and includes the lessons we all learn of heartbreak and acceptance.