Rating: 
Summary: left blank
Review: at its heart, this is a novel about depression; the depression of the central character, the depression that is present in wealthy, aimless young America. the symptoms of the depression appear to be twofold; a desire for non-existence, reminiscent of Larkin's 'beneath it all desire of oblivion runs', and represented most forcefully by the street sign that invites the character to 'disappear here'; and the idea that people don't merge, an idea the novel opens with - we begin in a car on a freeway that doesn't merge, and are later shown an act of sex where the central character isn't allowed to touch the girl, but both masturbate independently instead. Christian TV drones in the background, which the central character doesn't connect with. girls and boys are screwed randomly and without feeling. though the author attempts to draw some kind of moral at the end of the book, the attempt is half-hearted, and what we are really left with is an intense sense of desiderium morti. this is a very powerful piece of writing that weighs on the soul.
Rating: 
Summary: Vapid
Review: A boring look at boring vapid people. There is no purpose to this book, just as the characters have no purpose to their life. With so much excellent literature out there it is a shame to see this compared to Catcher in the Rye. I know the book is showing us what a wasteland LA is- the book is also a wasteland. This was better than American Psycho but only because it was shorter.
Rating:
Summary: The New Catcher in the Rye
Review: I first read this my freshman year of high school, I found it pointless and boring and left it on my shelf to forget about it. I'm a junior in high school now and having read all Ellis's books atleast twice now, I find Less Than Zero his best. It's really helped me through rough times and I really can relate to Clay, I agreed with a lot of his thoughts. Basically he reminded me of myself. Forget Huckelberry Finn, this is what high schoolers should be reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Empty
Review: Good, but not great. It does well by capturing the emptiness of the time in which it's set. But those looking for something more profound will probably be disappointed. It's not really shocking, as some have said. It's really just sad. It does raise a lot of societal questions about excess, commerce and family in a world driven by economy. It's worth the read, because it is does make you think and it's a quick read. However, check it out at the library before you buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: LTZ: Quick and easy, like most of the characters
Review: I read this book in only about five hours, pretty quick for a two hundred page book. That's because Ellis' first novel obviously appears just that...his first, and it shows.I've read American Psycho, which is ultimately a way way way better book, but this novel is not without its moments. I like it for its somewhat untraditional style, it doesn't dwell upon details and istead focuses upon a dreary, fuzzy existence. You really get the sense that Clay(the narrator) could actually have written this book, and his pitifully drugged out existence is so cloudy it transcends into the readers mind. Seriously after I read this book, I had half the mind to go around snorting cocaine and boning random chicks. Of course then I realized Ellis was telling us NOT to do that. Anyway, its entertaining enough for a quick and interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 stars*
Review: This book is fast paced, a short book. This novel seemed to be a story with no particular begining or end, more like a journal taken from a part of Clay's life. I was surprised at how interesting this book was even though it was, in my opinion, just a short description of someone's youth.
Rating:
Summary: no rose colored glasses here
Review: wow. this book shows la in its true light. bret doesnt mix words here. he tells it straight from the heart. very dark but still a good read.
Rating:
Summary: An Unspeakable Chasm of Emptiness
Review: Bret Easton Ellis deftly describes suburban L.A. as a an indefatigable moral vacuum that sucks any remaining semblance of morality away from the souls of his characters - namely Clay, Blair, & Julian. Ellis has aptly drawn from his influences of Hemingway(The Sun Also Rises), Fitzgerald(The Great Gatsby), and Elliot(The Wasteland) in delivering a tour de force that still resolutely resonates almost 20 years later. Although the singers(Billy Idol), video games(Centipede), cars(Fiat) have all changed since the writing in 1985, the central theme of disillusion and moral bankruptcy unfortunately still reverberates into the 21st Century. Ellis proves to be the master of shocking, eye-opening, outrageous, provocative, yet addictive and intoxicating prose that forced me to read until the book was finito. Ellis has been quoted as saying he distinctly loathes the movie seeing as very little of the script is taken directly from the book. Suffice it to say, the book itself is an achievement in literature that many have since copied, but none have duplicated
Rating:
Summary: LA: The only place that can be both beautiful and ugly!
Review: This book truly captures the absolute excess of Los Angeles during the 1980's. We are trasported to a world of High School graduates living in a world that is kept spinning by sex,coke(NOT the soft drink!),materialistic possestions, and MTV. In this story our main character "Clay" Comes home to LA for winter break after going to college in New England and sortly after touching down in LAX he is instantly swallowed back into the LA party scene however this time around he seems to have a diffrent mindsent. After being away he notices the shallowness and absolute excess of his former high school friends. He notices how they all seem to be living in this bizzare dreamwork of overindulgence. Because many of the different Characters (Clay,Trent,Blair,Julian,Griffin,Rip,Kim ex) come from very affluent california families they are abnle to continue living in this drug infested anti-reality exsistance.By the end of the novel Clay seems to be the only one who hasent compleatly lost his/her mind and realises that LA is truly a f,,ked up place. Without a doubt the best novel I can think of that truly captures the OverInduldence of the 1980's.
Rating:
Summary: Less Than Zero
Review: Less Than Zero is a book about a young man who grows up on the only things he has-drugs and his parents money. This book was greatly written but a little too much on the dark and depressing side. If you like hardcore drama, this is a great book, but even being one who likes to read disturbing books, I found this a little intolerable.
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