Critics have identified Bright Lights, Big City as a generation-defining novel. How is it representative of the decade in which it was written? Why do you think the novel has remained relevant?

The narrator of the novel has been characterized as an anti-hero. Do you agree with this characterization? Why, or why not? Use evidence from the text to support your opinion.

Which characters in the novel serve as foils for each other? How does the opposition between them illuminate some of the novel’s key themes?