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Less Than Zero

bret easton ellis

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Set in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, this coolly mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation that experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age, growing up in a world shaped by casual nihilism, passivity, and too much money.

Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern college and re-enters a landscape of limitless privilege and absolute moral entropy, where everyone drives Porches, dines at Spago, and snorts mountains of cocaine. He tries to renew feelings for his girlfriend, Blair, and for his best friend from high school, Julian, who is careering into hustling and heroin. Clay's holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs, and into the seamy world of L.A. after dark.

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1,1985
Places
los angeles california, california, 

This edition

Format
208 pages, Paperback
Published
June 9, 2010 by Vintage Books
ISBN
ASIN
Language
English
Characters More characters

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About the author

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bret easton ellis

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Bret Easton Ellis is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a writer, is the expression of extreme acts and opinions in an affectless style. His novels commonly share recurring characters.
When Ellis was 21, his first novel, the controversial bestseller Less than Zero (1985), was published by Simon & Schuster. His third novel, American Psycho (1991), was his most successful. Upon its release the literary establishment widely condemned it as overly violent and misogynistic. Though many petitions to ban the book saw Ellis dropped by Simon & Schuster, the resounding controversy convinced Alfred A. Knopf to release it as a paperback later that year.
Ellis's novels have become increasingly metafictional. Lunar Park (2005), a pseudo-memoir and ghost story, received positive reviews. Imperial Bedrooms (2010), marketed as a sequel to Less than Zero, continues in this vein. The Shards (2023) is a fictionalized memoir of Ellis's final year of high school in 1981 Los Angeles.
Four of Ellis's works have been made into films. Less than Zero was adapted in 1987 as a film of the same name, but the film bore little resemblance to the novel. Mary Harron's adaptation of American Psycho was released in 2000. Roger Avary's adaptation of The Rules of Attraction was released in 2002. The Informers, co-written by Ellis and based on his collection of short stories, was released in 2008. Ellis also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film The Canyons.

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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
StarmineJam
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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My random musings on Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis.

I'll start off this review by informing anyone who may read, or listen, that this book is a terrible idea for a vacation book. Why my deranged mind chose this novel of all things to bring with me is something I may need to see a psychiatrist for.

In my opinion Less Than Zero is Catcher in the Rye meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Firstly, there is the unlovable main character, Clay, who indiscriminately sleeps with everyone while sticking any substance he can find into his body and judging everyone else for being as ceaselessly chaotic as himself. A complete train wreck, he is.

Now normally I would love this dark, twisted expose on human thoughtlessness but it was hard to empathise with Clay while in Mexico. When everywhere you look there are people finding - happily - a way to make impossibly small wages work for them. It's hard to care about a group of rich, drug-numbed teenagers who think they are entitled to everything..... everything that is except for responsibility.

Now I know what Ellis is getting at with this novel, the hallowness, the nothingness but I just don't care. Clay is an idiot who is creating his own downhill spiral out of sheer boredom with his overabundant life.

And yes, it shocks the reader and gives a few quick hooks to the guts. It is good. Just a poor vacation book choice. Meh.

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Darfy_Doom
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Less Than Zero is the debut novel of author Bret Easton Ellis, who is most famous for his book American Psycho. After finishing this story, I feel one thing above anything else: n  impressed.n
Ellis started writing this book when he was a teenager, which is astonishing to me. I'm sure many authors would be proud to call a book like Less Than Zero their greatest achievement, as it's incredibly well written and screams "sophisticated contemporary fiction". The fact that he wrote this at such a young age is impressive beyond words.

The story follows Clay, a rich student from L.A., as he returns home from New Hampshire for a month during the school break. Clay and his friends are addicted to cocaine, and the abuse of it and numerous other substances is an every-page event over the course of this book. The book is heavily satirical to the point of ridiculousness, with all the characters being young teenagers that somehow own their own cars, snort cocaine and have their own drug dealers, in addition to smoking, drinking, and partying constantly, combinations usually only seen in people years older than they are. I think this was Ellis' way of satirizing L.A. rich youth culture as "a bunch of kids addicted to coke and enjoying adult extravagances from a laughably young age", and in this he is very successful.

The book tries to show how pointless, repetitive, empty, and vapid such a life is, and to this end the book is just an endless repetition of the same types of events over and over again: the characters go to parties, snort cocaine, drink champagne and wine and other alcoholic beverages, go to each other's apartments, go to movies, gossip, sleep with everyone they lay eyes on (both their same sex and the opposite sex), and just generally drive around and aimlessly drift through life, not really doing anything of consequence and apathetic to absolutely everything.

This is probably the book's greatest success but is also its greatest weakness, as by the end of it it all seemed completely pointless, and was tedious to read about at times due to the extreme repetition. I'm also not the biggest fan of heavy drug use in books that I read, and there was a really disgusting scene near the end of the book where an eleven-year-old girl is tied up, drugged, and gangbanged, and that just didn't need to be there. It tainted the book a little, and was noticeably out of line compared to the rest of the story.

Overall, Less Than Zero is an incredibly impressive achievement, especially for a debut novel written by a teenager. It flows perfectly, and even in spite of its repetitive, depressing story it always manages to hold your attention. I don't think it's a book I'd ever reread because of the heavy drug use and aforementioned nature of the story, but it's a book I'd definitely recommend checking out.

3.5 stars
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Lord_Lucas
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Less than zero-- the rating I give this book. The worst thing I've read in years.
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Futureisbest
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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n  It's Christmas morning and I'm high on coken

Avendo già letto e amato Le regole dell'attrazione, successivo, temevo di rileggere lo stesso libro scritto peggio. Il tema in effetti è il medesimo: adolescenti degli anni '80 vuoti, senza emozioni o aspirazioni, totalmente indifferenti a tutto e a tutti, alla ricerca del brivido, dell'orrore, dello shock. O di una qualunque altro spiraglio che possa, almeno apparentemente, salvarli. Anche la scrittura è già inconfondibile, in effetti. Eppure non mi ha mai dato quel senso di déjà-vu che temevo.

Perché, ecco, questo romanzo per me ha un grandissimo merito, inevitabilmente raro: coniuga argomento, stile e struttura. Il vuoto siderale dei personaggi, infiniti (manichini con un nome, totalmente vuoti però di un carattere reale: il carattere s'è ormai prosciugato) e la monotonia ossessionante delle loro azioni (party, canna, sesso, party, canna, Mc, repeat) si riflettono nella scrittura, che è asciutta, tendente al polisindeto ("[...] so I turn the radio off and stare out across the Valley and look at the canvas of neon and the fluorescent lights lying beneath the purple night sky and [...]"), istericamente monocorde. La monotonia dei gesti di questo ciclo infernale, che dura solo un mese ma che pare non finire mai, diventa monotonia della voce narrante, cantilena grottesca. La struttura anche fa parte di questo gioco: nessuna divisione in capitoli ma un unico grande spazio, dove però troviamo paragrafi spesso molto brevi, dalle coordinate spazio-temporali sempre distinti ma concretamente privi di una reale continuità. Una trama nel senso tradizionale, infatti, è sostanzialmente assente: non c'è uno sviluppo, non c'è un aiutante, un antagonista, un momento di massima tensione, uno scioglimento ecc. Perché non può che essere così.
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buttouch-kun
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Menos que cero o de la aceleración del exceso

1. Crónica de una generación fallida

Menos que cero se presenta como una radiografía brutal y desoladora de la juventud californiana de los años 80. La novela sigue a Clay, un estudiante universitario que regresa a su hogar en Los Ángeles durante las vacaciones navideñas. A través de sus ojos, Ellis retrata una generación atrapada en la apatía, la superficialidad y la decadencia moral. Los personajes están inmersos en un vacío existencial, sin propósito ni dirección, reflejando una sociedad donde los valores tradicionales han sido reemplazados por el hedonismo y la inmediatez. Esta crónica de una generación fallida expone la desintegración de las relaciones humanas y la pérdida de identidad entre los jóvenes.

2. Contrapunto y excesos en Los Ángeles

Ellis utiliza Los Ángeles no solo como un escenario físico, sino como un símbolo del exceso y la decadencia. Los contrastes son palpables: las fiestas lujosas y las mansiones opulentas se yuxtaponen con la alienación y el vacío emocional de los protagonistas. Los excesos en drogas, sexo y violencia son comunes, reflejando una sociedad que ha perdido sus límites morales.

3. Los años de desenfreno: EEUU en los años 80

La novela captura la esencia de los años 80 en Estados Unidos, una década marcada por el consumismo desenfrenado, el auge de la cultura de la celebridad y una creciente desconexión social. La novela se inscribe en este contexto histórico, reflejando los valores y la mentalidad de la época. Los personajes viven en un estado perpetuo de exceso y superficialidad, con una falta de propósito que resuena con el clima cultural y político de esos años. Ellis no solo describe la cultura del hedonismo, sino que también critica las consecuencias de una sociedad obsesionada con la imagen y el consumo.

4. La escritura de Bret Easton Ellis

El estilo de Ellis es directo y desapasionado, reflejando la apatía y la indiferencia de sus personajes. Utiliza un lenguaje conciso y una estructura narrativa fragmentada, que imita la desorientación y la desconexión emocional de los protagonistas. La prosa minimalista y el diálogo lacónico contribuyen a la atmósfera de vacío y superficialidad. Ellis se enfoca en los detalles sensoriales y los momentos cotidianos, creando una sensación de inmediatez y realidad cruda. Su escritura no moraliza, sino que presenta los hechos de manera fría y objetiva, dejando que el lector saque sus propias conclusiones.

5. Vecindades (referencias con otras obras literarias)

Menos que cero se puede relacionar con varias obras literarias que exploran temas similares. Se conecta con El gran Gatsby de Fitzgerald en su retrato de la decadencia y el vacío de la alta sociedad. Encontramos ecos de El guardián entre el centeno de Salinger en su exploración de la alienación juvenil. La novela de Ellis comparte elementos con su célebre novela American Psycho, en su análisis de la superficialidad y el hedonismo de los yuppies de los 80. Además, su estilo minimalista y desapasionado recuerda a autores como Joan Didion o Raymond Carver, quienes también exploraron la desilusión y el desarraigo en sus escritos.
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Wannasauna
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Ningún autor consigue transmitirme ese aire de apatía emocional y hastío con la vida como Bret. Se nota la influencia de este libro en su futura novela "Los destrozos", por eso mismo lo he devorado.

Lástima de una escena hacia el final del libro que casi me hace tirarlo por la ventana.
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redlittleriding
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I would give this book Less Than Zero stars if I could.

I picked up this book for multiple reasons. But the main reason was because it was in the bargain bin at Books-A-Million for $5.97. Mr. Ellis was my age when this book was published, so I thought I’d get great insight on troubled young adults against the back drop of Los Angeles, but instead I got a bunch of obnoxious teenagers with drug problems.

Here's what's wrong:

Writing Style
One of the main issues I had with this book was the writing style. The writing was cringe-worthy at best, and downright atrocious the rest of the time. I literally felt like I was reading a story written by a fourth grader. A fourth grader with an obsession of drugs and alcohol, but a fourth grader nonetheless. 80% of this book was telling, not showing. The scenes were never fleshed out, every other paragraph was a new scene, jumping from place to place. Not only that, the sentences were all run-ons! I think one page (or at least most of it) was an entire sentence! And when Mr. Ellis finally did decide to start a new sentence, it was always with “And.” And and and.

Also, there were so many characters in the book. Almost too many to keep up with. Clay, Spin, Trent, Blair, Jared, Julian, Rip, Daniel, Finn, Kim, Muriel – just the ones off the top of my head. This wouldn't be issue if these characters were well developed, but since all were basically just given was a name, it was just hard to follow. Another fun fact is that we’re told any character descriptions. Not even a little detail like hair or eye color. They were all just names on a page.

(“Overall, I was pretty shocked. It was pretty good writing for someone who was 19. I was pretty surprised by the level of writing." – Mr. Ellis after reading Less Than Zero 20 years later.

Are you kidding me, Mr. Ellis? I would be horrified if I wrote and published this! I thought time would change you, make you realize the error of your ways!)

The narrator
Another issue I had with this book was our main character, Clay. Clay was devoid of any emotion or feeling. He simply existed. Telling us his story in the blandest way possible. We never got into his head or his heart. Having a character so detached from his own story was entirely draining to read about. Mr. Ellis could have delved into Clay’s sexuality and his family, but instead he just skimmed the surface. We were never given any insight to the characters. We had no reasoning for what drove them or why the behaved like they did.

There's no plotline...
There was no substance to this book. No plot. I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. There was no goal set for our character, no reason for me to root for him. I just don’t see how an entire story could have absolutely no direction.

-----

I had to force myself to finish this “novel” because of the bland characters, awful writing, and lack of plot. If you like whiny books about self-absorbed rich kids, then look no further. I could see how this book would get published in the eighties (just mention coke and sex enough and it’s iconic), but nowadays I just don’t see the appeal. The shock factor wears off twenty pages in.

I get it, the rich kids of LA are spoiled, shallow addicts. Moving on.
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4BitsComic
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I liked it quite a bit but also found it pretty boring... I can see how Bret Easton Ellis could get really really good in his later books though, as it's like the seeds of American Psycho are sprinkled throughout (which I feel like I've read... but I haven't... just one of those pop cultural things that seems so ingrained on a meta level). I would like to read his books in chronological order, the order they're written, and really get into the thought process and creative drive etc.
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