25 years later

Bret Easton Ellis' 2010 release Imperial Bedrooms, inspired by Elvis Costello and the Attractions' album Imperial Bedroom, catches up with the characters of 1985's Less Than Zero. The novel opens with Clay recounting the last 25 years: he and Blair have broken up, he is now a big time screenwriter, and life's disappoints have continued to follow him. Far more grim than it's prequel, Bedrooms sheds bright light on the dirty backdoor deals Clay makes in order to ease his sexual frustrations and avoid any difficulties he comes up against. Bedrooms lacks the adolescent innocence and likability Less Than Zero possessed, drawing some of the bloody violence seen in American Psycho. However there is a plus: Ellis cleverly conveys his negative thoughts on the 1987 movie version of Less Than Zero, using the characters commentary after viewing it. Though I'm glad to have read Bedrooms, and have a deep admiration for Ellis' style, I would not necessarily recommend it. Three stars.

Disappear Here

In 1985, California-born writer Bret Easton Ellis debuted with Less Than Zero, a satirical drama (titled after Elvis Costello's song of the same name) that follows Clay, a wealthy college student who has returned home to L.A. for Christmas vacation. With a drunk mother, separated parents, bratty sisters, a failing relationship, sexually promiscuous acts, heavy drug usage and MTV, Clay's life is a rollercoaster of problems and disappointments. Throughout the novel, he finds himself in many negative situations and consistently distances himself from his friends. After he and his friends find a dead body, and he later witnesses the gang rape of a twelve year old girl, Clay packs up and leaves L.A., his on-off girlfriend Blair and his heroin-addicted/prostitute friend Julian.

Two years later, the book was made a movie, which in my opinion is painfully overwrought and does not do the novel justice.

It's broken beyond repair

This past week, I fell in love with James Frey's

A Million Little Pieces. Despite some untruths of the work, I found Frey's telling of his stint in a rehabilitation facility beautifully disturbing. Though not a book for the faint of heart, you won't be able to keep from becoming emotionally attached to James and the cast of misfits he calls friends.