That's one of the best opening lines of all time, right? It's from "Less
Than Zero" written by Bret Easton Ellis, the poster child for 80s excess and
Gen X nihilism. When I read this book in high school, it spoke to me very
loudly (used to stare at the cover all the time too). It was a book that had a whole new voice- much the way past generations had
"Catcher in the Rye", so did we have Clay and his displeasure with the
commercial trappings of wealth and the conspicuous consumption of the 80s.
His use of imagery from fashion and music of the time was super vivid- can't
seem to get that image of Elvis Costello's Trust poster (the title of the
book is a Costello song) that hung over Clay's bed in the book. A
contemporary of Jay McInerney and Tama Janowitz (arguably the first to
reveal a "Sex and the City" type character in Slaves of New York), these
literary lovelies were cooler than cool and were my heroes for their brave
take on pop culture, youth, debauchery, and everything in between. Easton
Ellis went on to write books like "The Rules of Attraction" and "American
Psycho"- also amazing but no other work in his canon could sum up his
generation like this book. It is a raw look at youth feeling the effects of
video games, punk, drugs, advertising, and boredom. Most likely you have seen the film version with a young Downey (kind of
playing himself), McCarthy as Clay and and a cute and young Jamie Gertz
(Also not to be missed is a very creepy James Spader as a drug dealer/pimp).
But if for some reason you missed out on this book, it's worth picking up.
XO to Bret for writing this as a very young man and nailing this time in
American youth culture. Will always remember this book as one of the greats.
Than Zero" written by Bret Easton Ellis, the poster child for 80s excess and
Gen X nihilism. When I read this book in high school, it spoke to me very
loudly (used to stare at the cover all the time too). It was a book that had a whole new voice- much the way past generations had
"Catcher in the Rye", so did we have Clay and his displeasure with the
commercial trappings of wealth and the conspicuous consumption of the 80s.
His use of imagery from fashion and music of the time was super vivid- can't
seem to get that image of Elvis Costello's Trust poster (the title of the
book is a Costello song) that hung over Clay's bed in the book. A
contemporary of Jay McInerney and Tama Janowitz (arguably the first to
reveal a "Sex and the City" type character in Slaves of New York), these
literary lovelies were cooler than cool and were my heroes for their brave
take on pop culture, youth, debauchery, and everything in between. Easton
Ellis went on to write books like "The Rules of Attraction" and "American
Psycho"- also amazing but no other work in his canon could sum up his
generation like this book. It is a raw look at youth feeling the effects of
video games, punk, drugs, advertising, and boredom. Most likely you have seen the film version with a young Downey (kind of
playing himself), McCarthy as Clay and and a cute and young Jamie Gertz
(Also not to be missed is a very creepy James Spader as a drug dealer/pimp).
But if for some reason you missed out on this book, it's worth picking up.
XO to Bret for writing this as a very young man and nailing this time in
American youth culture. Will always remember this book as one of the greats.
