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Circa 1980, American writer Bret Easton Ellis began working on a story inspired by film noir and Joan Didion. The first draft, which he brought to his creative writing teacher for feedback, was incredibly emotional and overly written. At the advice of his teacher, Ellis reworked the novel and settled on a much drier, more minimalist style.
Five years later, when Ellis was just 21, his debut novel was published. Titled Less than Zero after the Elvis Costello song of the same name, the novel became synonymous with nihilism, the apathetic ways of the rich, and even, according to some, “disturbing.”
When reflecting on his own work after rereading it several decades after the fact, Ellis has said:
“There’s a lot of it that I wish was slightly more elegantly written. Overall, I was pretty shocked. It was pretty good writing for someone who was 19. I was pretty surprised by the level of writing.”
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Set in 1980s Los Angeles, Less than Zerofollows Clay, a rich, young college student who returns home for winter break. Clay is a relatively ambivalent young man who spends his days home from college partying and having casual sex and engaging in substance abuse. Throughout the novel, Clay is set on reuniting with his friend Julian, whom he hasn’t spoken to in months. While going through the motions, Clay reflects on the world around him, the apathy of those in his inner circle, and what “it all really means.”
25 years after the initial publication, Ellis published a sequel to Less than Zero following the same characters as they approached and/or reached middle age. The novel, which was titled Imperial Bedrooms and published in 2010, also took inspiration from the title of an Elvis Costello record. Response to the follow-up book was both polarizing and mixed.
Less than Zero, Imperial Bedrooms, and other works by Ellis are available wherever books are sold.
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