In this incisive collection of stories, Bret Easton Ellis returns to the moral badlands of 1980s Los Angeles
The Informers
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Review
"Coolly ferocious. . . . Truly unsettling."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Skillfully accomplishes its goal of depicting a modern moral wasteland. . . . Arguably Ellis's best."
--"The Boston Globe"
"Sparkles with a disturbing mix of humor and ultraviolence."
--"Detroit Free Press"
"Ellis . . . has a keen eye for dialogue, a sharp eye for the moral bankruptcy of modern life, and a vivid imagination."" "
--"San Franciscop Chronicle"
"Bret Easton Ellis. . . is an extremely traditional and very serious American novelist. He is the model of literary filial piety, counting among his parents Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, and Joan Didion."
--The Washington Post
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"Skillfully accomplishes its goal of depicting a modern moral wasteland. . . . Arguably Ellis's best."
--"The Boston Globe"
"Sparkles with a disturbing mix of humor and ultraviolence."
--"Detroit Free Press"
"Ellis . . . has a keen eye for dialogue, a sharp eye for the moral bankruptcy of modern life, and a vivid imagination."" "
--"San Franciscop Chronicle"
"Bret Easton Ellis. . . is an extremely traditional and very serious American novelist. He is the model of literary filial piety, counting among his parents Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathanael West, and Joan Didion."
--The Washington Post
Book Description
Dirk sees his best friend killed in a desert car wreck, then rifles through his pockets for a last joint before the ambulance comes. Cheryl, a wannabe newscaster, chides her future stepdaughter, 'You're tan but you don't look happy'. Jamie is a clubland carnivore with a taste for human blood. The characters go to the same schools and eat at the same restaurants. Their voices enfold us as seamlessly as those of DJs heard over a car radio. They have sex with the same boys and girls and buy from the same dealers. In short, they are connected in the only way people can be in L.A. - suffering from nothing less than the death of the soul. ‘A writer at the peak of his powers . . . The book takes us from the first to the seventh circles of hell, from Salinger to De Sade’ Will Self ‘The Informers is spare, austere, elegantly designed, telling in detail, coolly ferocious, sardonic in its humour; every vestige of authorial sentiment is expunged’ New York Times ‘A spare and hypnotic prose style which beats out these lives of quiet desperation with a slow pulse as gentle as it is compelling . . . Ellis has been compared to Fitzgerald and here we see why’ Modern Review
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
An interesting point that has arisen in previous reviews is that some people treat "The Informers" as a novel and others as a series of stories. I know how they both feel.
I first read it in paperback, where there is no indication whatever that this is not a novel. I tried to keep track of the different narrators and different characters until my brain hurt (this wasn't helped by the fact that all the male characters are 20 years old, blond with green eyes and adonis-like bodies - just how Ellis likes 'em, I guess - and all the women are middle-aged, wasted and strung out on tranquillisers.)
I loved it anyway for what the blurb calls its "impressionistic blur" of narrative. That's another way of saying it makes your brain hurt if you try to keep track of them individually.
Then I picked up a hardback copy in a second-hand bookshop and it made it quite clear that this was a collection of stories. I breathed a sigh of relief, but as someone who is never happier than when he feels there's something in a book he's not quite getting, "The Informers" felt slightly diminished as a result.
Read it anyway. It's cool, mature, bleak, hilarious Ellis.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Apparently this was writen before American Psycho but was held back because it wasn't thought of too highly by the publishers. After the overwhelming success of 'AP' this was given the go ahead some years later, the publishers certain that those who lapped-up his previous work would buy this without a second thought.
It makes me wonder: if this was his debut, what would we be saying about this author?
It makes me wonder: if this was his debut, what would we be saying about this author?
The Informers is a collection of short stories loosely held together by one or two characters who flit in and out of a few, and includes narratives from fading rock-stars, vampires, drug abusers, and characters in the mould of 'Clay' from Less Than Zero - angst-ridden, self destructing teens.
It is sometimes hard to follow and difficult to make the connections between the many characters, but often Ellis sucks you in and spits you out with a ball of low-life going-ons and and the care-free abuse of under-age girls - by Vampires, no less. Yes, like his other work, sometimes it is a little hard to stomach.
All in all I'd rank this in last place of all his 5 works, but the rest are of such high quality that this is no fair reflection on this dark, humerous and sometimes-grotesque read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Dead Celeb
Format:Paperback
I have to admit, when I first read this collection of short stories, having read a fair amount of Ellis other work, I thought 'Oh, here we go again, same old boring self obsessed rich kids doing drugs, Ellis is a one trick pony'. But this haunting book drew me in. Don't try and keep track of all the characters, one of the points is that they are almost anti-characters, losing their souls in a sea of Valium and vodka. The writing is masterfully minimal, giving as much if not more attention to designer clothes than the essential selves-if there is any-of the characters.
While some stories miss the mark-real life vampires?...This book contains some genuine sublime moments.
Reading this book is like viewing the world by flicking through 700 tv channels, showing the alternate horror and banality of the Western world. Cool and detached. Enjoy.
While some stories miss the mark-real life vampires?...This book contains some genuine sublime moments.
Reading this book is like viewing the world by flicking through 700 tv channels, showing the alternate horror and banality of the Western world. Cool and detached. Enjoy.
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3.1 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
you won't see it coming
This is clever. And nasty. And empty. And vacuous. Basically it's Ellis.
A series of vignettes take us through the standard Ellis tropes. Read more
A series of vignettes take us through the standard Ellis tropes. Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Amazon J
4.0 out of 5 stars
Short stories NOT a full blown novel...
Less a novel and more a collection of extremely loosely connected short stories set in L.A. The movie based from the book is pretty terrible, but from watching that it makes... Read more
Published 5 months ago by finalguy
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Informers
I came to Bret Easton Ellis by, probably, a fairly familiar route: saw American Psycho; read American Psycho; bought something else hoping for it to be another American Psycho (The... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Tom
3.0 out of 5 stars
A few diamonds in there...
I must admit, i am a bit of a Bret Easton Ellis fan so was very excited to be starting this after so long! Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2010 by Jnet
1.0 out of 5 stars
not my cup of tea...
this is pants...poorly written, lacking in wit, monotonous, and predictable after the first few pages.
Published on 25 Jun 2010 by Wimmers
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well-written if a bit bleak
If you like Bret Easton Ellis you'll probably like this. These are short stories though it does read a bit like a novel at first - clever the way the stories are linked so subtly... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2010 by noc
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for those who can't sit down and read.
At times in our lives we need to sit down and read a short chunk of prose that makes us feel as though we as individuals are not as bad as we could be, yet remind us that as a race... Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2009 by J. Staniford
4.0 out of 5 stars
A SUPERBLY PENNED VIEW OF THE DARK SIDE
When a cast of vacuous, narcissistic, bronzed Californians indulges in whatever brings them pleasure, Bret Easton Ellis is at his sardonic, cynical best. Read more
Published on 2 May 2005 by Gail Cooke
4.0 out of 5 stars
unconnected excellence
Ellis wanders all over the place with short novel and I was pleased I followed him. Like most of his other books this will make you laugh, cry, smile and cough! Read more
Published on 21 Oct 2000 by marty.mcfly@btinternet.com
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not exceptional
The Informers contains no real surprises really. Ellis stands true to his usual themes of immorality, depravity and essentially taking life down to it's lowest denonimator. Read more
Published on 16 May 2000 by jules.is@popstar.com
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