Dopers who have read American Psycho, Glamorama, Rules of Attraction, Less than Zero, or The Informers, I’d like to know your thoughts: Is this stuff great or what?
I’ve heard from both camps (I’ll add that I’m a fan, in case the phrasing of the question didn’t do it for ya), but only from a relatively narrow societal niche. I’m very interested to hear what a larger/more diverse population has to say…
I’ve only read American Psycho.
I didn’t much care for it. Basically all the pretentious rattling on about what suits everyone was wearing and what shee-shee food everyone was eating really just got on my nerves. But maybe that’s because in real life, someone like that would bug me.
I don’t think I’d choose to read anything else by Ellis, unless someone gave me a glowing review.
scout, I get that response a lot…his use of nameplates and such is far worse in Glamorama, and I think that’s my favorite of the bunch. Most of his writing appeals to me as a former east-coaster (living between Philadelphia and NYC), which I guess I can attribute to his complete and total understanding (not the correct word…grasp?) of the zeitgiest in the city at that time (is that redundant?). I don’t know if you’re from SoCal, but I imagine that if his characters bug you, so would many New Yorkers (I swear I’ve met someone who fits every character in Psycho to a “t”.
I think it’s a device, much like Mamet uses profanity…
I have read Rules of Attraction and American Pyscho. I liked both of them, though RoA was very strange. I don’t think I’d call Ellis a genius, but the stuff is not garbage.
I would like to read more of his stuff, maybe you can recomend something. I did enjoy AP, it was intersting to see how he thought someone like that would be. I’ve also had a hard time find his works. I got lucky and found RoA in the used book store, AP I got new but the rest are no where to be found.
I’m pretty sure you can get all 5 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-keywords=bret%20easton%20ellis&bq=1/102-9130928-5501700), thats where I got all but AP. Less than Zero was very good but depressing as all hell, The Informers freaked me out for 2 days, but Glamorama hooked me. I think that’s the gem of the rest (AP was my fave). If you appreciated what you’ve read, and can tolerate his writing style (if you thought you got tired of the “Oliver Peoples glasses and Zenga suit” remarks, wait until you get involved with characters that are supermodels), you’ll like Glamorama.
Having been born in the 70’s, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the 80’s as an adult (yay, math!). I guess his stuff gave me some insight…
Oh no! I’m a NY hater and I didn’t even know it!
So does that mean that lots of people walk around talking about brand name this and that back east? Or was it just like that at the time?
And yep, I grew up in Southern California, and have never been to NY.
I’m currently reading The Informers and I gotta say it’s just not doing it for me. I’m near finished, as well.
It’s written so that every chapter is from a different person’s point of view and I’ll admit that I get a bit confused (I’m not the best with names, so remembering which characters are which and which characters did what is pretty rough) at times. Some of it I find interesting, some of it bores me to tears. I’d say the only part that really affected me is the chapter of letters from Anne to that guy out east. That was pretty depressing.
Overall, at this point (page 200 of 225), I’d say this is a thumbs down.
Colin
I’ve only read American Psycho. He writes well enough for me to stick with the book 'til the end, but boy it was irritating - like a combination novel/menu/men’s wear catalogue. I’d love to get an electronic copy of the book and edit it down to the short story it is - just cut out the product references.
Mod stuff
This seems peculiarly (snork, snork) well suited to Cafe Society. LIT-ya-choor, and all that, doncha know.
TVeblen
I read American Psycho. At first the listing got to me, but you get used to it. Pretty soon you find yourself skipping the lists and feeling guilty since Easton took the painful time of writing them down. If you get past that, though, AP really is a good read. There are some very depressing aspects of it, mostly towards the end when things really start descending for the main character. A great beginning and a great end to it, as well. Many endings to books stink, but this one was really awesome. I recommend it.
Huh? The whole obsession with vacuous detail is part of the character, not inevitable for Ellis’ writing (compare American Psycho with Less Than Zero). The characters in American Psycho and Glamorama are so empty than all they can focus on is names and brands.
I can see how it might be tedious after a while, but I found it a rather interesting way of illustrating character.
Huh? The whole obsession with vacuous detail is part of the character, not inevitable for Ellis’ writing (compare American Psycho with Less Than Zero). The characters in American Psycho and Glamorama are so empty than all they can focus on is names and brands.
I can see how it might be tedious after a while, but I found it a rather interesting way of illustrating character.
I think the clothing lists were essential to the characterisation of Bateman in the book. It was to reflect his obsessional concerns with surface treatment, his complete shallowness. It showed he only truly cared about the appearance, never even considering or remembering the person underneath.
His books are indicative of an attitude in certain circles in 80’s American (new York) life, and as such cannot be dismissed easily.
Love them or hate them they invoke a reaction which is really the point of literature.
The consant listing is a very efective way to illustrate Bateman’s 1. shallowness 2. obsessiveness 3. fear. Another note in AP is Bateman’s reviews of music. I think most people miss the humor aspects of this book. Actually, I know I missed it the first time I read it. Not only are these characters shallow and conceited, they are pretty much just plain stupid. Everything in their lives comes from a review, article, column, even down to what they eat.
I’ll put Ellis in a list of good writers. Haven’t read any of his stuff in a long time, maybe I’ll check out some more. Thanks for reminding me.
I’ve read all of Ellis’s novels, and I have to agree with the OP that Glamorama is the most comprehensive performance of Ellis’s themes and preoccupations: celebrity, wealth, greed, social status, drugs, kinky sex (random, distanced fucking and never making love), vacuosity, violence, conspiracy, and urban angst. American Psycho is simply a satirical critique of 80s consumer culture in America, with Bateman the cannibalistic serial killer functioning as a central metaphor for more and better. I sort of like Ellis’s use of recurring characters through his novels, like the focus on Sean Bateman–brother of Patrick the serial killer–in Rules of Attraction, Allison Poole (who Ellis “borrowed” from fellow writer Jay McInerney’s Story of My Life, and Victor Ward, dim-witted male model from Rules of Attraction and Glamorama.
A little SPOILER, maybe:
Favorite part in Glamorama? When Victor and entourage meet Patrick Bateman at a party, notice he has weird stains on his jacket sleeves, and someone comments, “I hear he has a coat of arms.” Heh.
brondicon, et. al., glad to see that I’m not the only person who saw past the violence and product placement at (what I believe) is fairly good writing. My brother got me started in this genre (I’m now reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History which has the same, if a bit more reserved, detached view of society. My favorite parts, as brondicon points out, is all the unintentional hilarity. I also treat the idiocy of protagonists (can we call them that?) as a device; we are forced to look at the world through the drug-addled, moronic eyes of Victor Ward/Sean Bateman/etc. It’s like adding a chemical filter to the prose.
I find a very east vs west slash palm trees vs The Palm mindset in all Ellis’ work, and it actually flows over into the writings of just about everybody that 1) went to Bennington or Sarah Lawrence and 2) is published on the Vintage Contemporaries label. thanks BK. I find that most who don’t like Ellis prefer a more lyrical writing style, perhaps with more plot (Ellis himself thinks that Glamorama is the only title with even a semblance of a plot) or actual character development. To each his own, I suppose.
Ohmigod, eschew, The Secret History is honestly one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life. Tartt has a new book coming out in October called The Little Friend; I eagerly await its arrival. There’s also the straight-to-video release of American Psycho 2 to possibly avoid (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0283877) and Rules of Attraction now in post-production, with James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman, and Faye Dunaway, Shannyn Sossamon, and Eric Stoltz in the supporting cast.
I’ve only read “American Psycho”. I saw the movie version first. I thought the book was ok, but not something I’d recommend to anyone. Some of it was funny, some was creepy, some was just plain disgusting, some of it was boring. It’s not a bad book, IMHO, but it’s nothing I’d consider a personal favorite or Great Literature.
(But I loved the movie, so maybe I was a little biased when reading the book.)
And for the record, I’m from Minnesota - I hate New Yorkers and Californians equally. 
Faye Dunaway as Paul’s mom? No, that won’t work.
The way I understood it, Paul’s mom was only about twice his age or a very little more. Maybe even less. She was probably a cute young chickie when she married his father, and is still beautiful and stylish, but not enough so to avoid being recycled. It’s her first divorce (haha), so she’s confused and insecure. In the scene with the two of them in the dining room, she’s trying to get support from him. I’m judging, I know, but if they cast Faye Dunaway, I can only assume that Mrs. Denton is being portrayed as a castrating harridan.
[pet peeve]Why are mother/son relationships almost always portrayed that way?[/pet peeve]
What I remembered long after reading The Informers was the artful subtleness with which the identikit Beverly Hills 90210 characters changed into evil, rotten to the core, psychopathic vampires.