Back To Bret Easton Ellis...But I Promise...I Am Almost Done With Him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    If I really had nothing to say, and/or did not care at all about my readers, I would just glibly write this post in a style parodying Ellis', and leave it at that.

                                      It would be so easy.  But I would not be doing my job with you, and, as anyone who knows me can tell, I have never been one to keep my mouth shut, in all senses of that phrase.

                                      So, here we go--

                                       The perfect awfulness of "The Rules Of Attraction" (which is that there are none!) can stand alongside "Less Than Zero," even though, surprisingly, in very minor ways, this "second novel" is just a wee bit better than the first, which is generally not the way with up-and-coming writers.  Both are pieces of shit, but even I have to honestly admit "The Rules Of Attraction" is slightly better.

                                        What makes it so, or, at least, relatively interesting, is that, while he still creates characters who do not do much, stuff happens--though not much--in this book, and he raises the bar on his level of pretension.  The novel is structured to open and end with no punctuation or capitalization, like "Finnegan's Wake," and the prose style throughout is mostly Joycean, which demonstrates Ellis mistakenly equates himself with that Irishman's genius.  Another is an entire page where the whole thing is in French.  Now, Bret, you fancy yourself Proust, hmmmm?   Don't kid yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            For sheer gimmickry, nothing equals page 268, which is simply this--

                                            "LAUREN

                                                                        ".  Can you imagine?????????????????

                                          There is an abortion, a suicide, and character named Richard Jared, whose scene with his mother is the most refreshing thing in the book.  Also of interest is, as one studies the Literary Brat Packers, how incestuous they sometimes are.  Appearing throughout the book is a character of sexual indecisiveness named Sean Bateman, whose elder brother, Patrick, makes a minor appearance.  Yes, dears, THAT Patrick Bateman.  Camden College here stands in for Bennington, as it did, I believe in Jill Eisenstadt's "Far Rockaway," where mention is made of it.  Clay from "Less Than Zero" makes a brief appearance here.   Jill Eistenstadt seems to follow whatever Bret Easton Ellis does, as far as publishing goes.  Now, pay attention.  The most astute line in the novel is when a drug dealer says, to a character named Julian, who is being pimped out to pay off drug debts,  "I did not make you a whore.  You did that to yourself."  The guy might as well be talking about Ellis himself.

                                     Mention too is made of this "weird group of people studying Classics," which is a reference to Donna Tartt's "The Secret History," where the professor there is named Julian.  Except Hampden College, there, stands in for Bennington.  See?  In the Brat Pack Universe, everything is connected.

                                       Despite these glimmers of interest, which are few and far between, the writing style and lack of characterization, or the reader's caring about them herein, are consistent with "Less Than Zero."  I actually had to force myself to stay awake reading this, ecause the monotony of tone and narration were truly sleep inducing.

                                        And yet this was generally well received at the time.  But not enough improvement for me to take Ellis seriously.  At least here, he includes some gay characters and action, even while other straights express disdain for such.  Talking out of both sides of the hat, Bret dear?

                                        Let's face it, and here it comes. girls, Bret Easton Ellis is more a phony, and less a Brat Packer.  In actuality--

                                        He is a great, big fudge packer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        And he piles it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!