- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Picador (7 May 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330519042
- ISBN-13: 978-0330519045
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 160,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Less Than Zero
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Ellis...is always interesting...the beautiful one-liners are everywhere...the last line, which I will refrain from quoting, is terrific. It is also oddly satisfying - flattering, almost - to see the old Ellis magic applied to the popular culture of our era...Ellis remains a bold ignorer of literary boundaries. Imperial Bedrooms is but another unexpected swerve in a wonderfully weird career.'
--London Review of Books
--London Review of Books
Product Description
The cult classic re-issued to celebrate its 25th anniversary, three months before the publication of the sequel
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First Sentence
People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Where did Bret Easton-Ellis come from? I don't mean geographically. I mean how did someone in their early twenties write such a complete book? Less Than Zero is so accomplished it's incredible. It tells the story of the teenagers of the rich and famous, and their decent into decadence simply in search of something to do. These characters simply have nothing to risk. They are dead to the world and completely souless.
I think a lot of other authors wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to satirise the characters. Easton-Ellis looks beyond the shallowness of his characters and the result is a tragedy worthy of Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway. Unfortunately, Less Than Zero is not as entertaining as Vile Bodies or The Great Gatsby. It's on a par with The Sun Also Rises though.
I think as the years go by, this book will be seen as more and more tragic, and an extremely good record of 1980s America at it's most empty and decadent. When it was first released some reviewers misread it as some kind of nihilistic call-to-arms for young party people. There's even an excerpt on the back of the book from one reviewer who compares the characters to The Beat Generation and generally approves of their wild party antics. I think now that the dust has settled it's easier to understand the meaning of this book. There's no soul in this party.
I think a lot of other authors wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to satirise the characters. Easton-Ellis looks beyond the shallowness of his characters and the result is a tragedy worthy of Evelyn Waugh, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway. Unfortunately, Less Than Zero is not as entertaining as Vile Bodies or The Great Gatsby. It's on a par with The Sun Also Rises though.
I think as the years go by, this book will be seen as more and more tragic, and an extremely good record of 1980s America at it's most empty and decadent. When it was first released some reviewers misread it as some kind of nihilistic call-to-arms for young party people. There's even an excerpt on the back of the book from one reviewer who compares the characters to The Beat Generation and generally approves of their wild party antics. I think now that the dust has settled it's easier to understand the meaning of this book. There's no soul in this party.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The first book I have ever read by Ellis and I will be reading more as a result. I have just finished the book and it has become one of my all time favourites. Ellis writes about boredom and irrelevant conversation in a gripping manner. Hard to comprehend I know but the author summaries the 80's perfectly. Anyone in their mid-twenties onwards should be able to relate to this book and find it spot on and possibly even miss those times.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bret Easton Ellis is the Irvine Welsh of America - or is Irvine Welsh the....well never mind. The book is unnerving, unsettling and disgusting but thats because it talks to your very soul, it disturbes you at a visceral level. You want this and you want this bad but your mind cannot countenance your desires.
BEE has written the ultimate teen-angst book that makes Salinger look like Enid Blyton. The cool words and hip prose are only a cover for the savagery beneath that explains the heart of every teenager.
Read it back to back with Trainspotting for a truly gut-wrenching, stomach churning exhilarating experience.
BEE has written the ultimate teen-angst book that makes Salinger look like Enid Blyton. The cool words and hip prose are only a cover for the savagery beneath that explains the heart of every teenager.
Read it back to back with Trainspotting for a truly gut-wrenching, stomach churning exhilarating experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
First Bret Ellis
A bunch of crazies doing their thing, bizarre mid-life relationships and horrendous deaths.
Predictable, where the only thing keeping you on edge is the writer's ability... Read more
Predictable, where the only thing keeping you on edge is the writer's ability... Read more
Published 29 days ago by PandemicGander
What makes this book so good?
Bret Easton Ellis documents the life of Clay, eighteen years old, back home in LA for the holidays from his New England college. Clay does little. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Book Critic
DONT BUY THIS WASTE OF PAPER/BANDWIDTH
Unbelievable, I can't believe I have wasted hours of my life reading this rubbish, I'm sure it's supposed to be a 'Social Commentary' or some such, but seriously, don't waste your... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A. Sloggett
Less than Zero
This is the second book I've read by Brett Easton Ellis, the first being American Psycho. Like American Psycho, Less than Zero also tackles themes of hopelessness and relative... Read more
Published 3 months ago by BlahBlahBlah
Strange and attractive
I time-travelled to the '80s, to LA, at Christmas time. So dark, cynical and desperate, that eventually gets romantic. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dora
nothing
i really enjoyed american psycho & decided i'd give this a go after the good reviews i'd read, i did finish the book (more in the hope that it would get better) but thought it was... Read more
Published 8 months ago by P. Hall
Pointless
I was directed to this book by Amazon after reading all of John Niven's excellent novels on my Kindle. Read more
Published 9 months ago by ultimatebattlerampager
I Love L.A.
At one time Bret Easton Ellis loomed large as a polarising presence on the literary landscape, a provocateur inspiring hatred and devotion, though probably in not quite equal... Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Jenkins
The First Easton Ellis Shows Some Signs of Genius
`Less Than Zero' follows the Christmas break of Clay, a young rich kid with far too much money and time on his hands. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Simon Savidge Reads
You'll either love it or.....
...be highly confused as to what the fuss is about. I loved it.
This isn't a book with a message, as such (that I could see), it is simply an examination of the modern... Read more
This isn't a book with a message, as such (that I could see), it is simply an examination of the modern... Read more
Published 16 months ago by ric03
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