Rating: 
Summary: Found it shocking
Review: I'm normally not shocked or sickened by things, but this book got to me. While there are gross parts in _Tropic of Cancer_, and I can see why it was banned when it was first published, this book is a completely different issue. What bothered me most is the lack of concern, ethics, and morals of the main characters. They feel no compulsion to report that they've found the body of a young man who has overdosed. Instead, they view the body as something to look at in wonderment. There are also references to women being sexually abused that I found disturbing. The entire novel takes place over the main character's winter break from college. F. Scott Fitzgerald's generation was called the lost generation; the characters in this novel are a lost generation with too much idle time, too much money, and drugs galore. I was the same age as the main characters when this novel was written, so it has a personal meaning to me. Lastly, I don't care for Ellis' writing style. I think that bothered me more than the plot of the novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Started a new era in literature
Review: Gatsby-esque. There is no other real comparison to this book. Ellis takes a certain time, a certain crowd and makes his reality-nightmare; our reality. Frighteningly beautiful. Even scarier, it was his first novel.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting concept, could be better
Review: I kinda like Bret Easton Ellis. I like American Psycho. Most people will argue that Ellis' books are usually pointless, and have no plot, and go nowhere. At first, I thought this same thing. But after finishing Less Than Zero, I have come to realize his intention was not to have a definite plot, solid characterization, or a grand climax. He writes exactly as real life usually goes. He is a satirist, not a fiction novel writer. In the instance of the book, real life is pointless. These kids do drugs, have sex, party, get stoned, and repeat. It's a never ending cycle of nothing. And they feel like they have it all. They have become so disillusioned to it all that they feel nothing anymore. Clay, on the other hand, comes upon the realization that the life in LA IS empty. There's a lot of little, tiny symbols scattered throughout the book, which make it interesting. Despite there being no plot, I kind of liked how Ellis portrayed this life of college kids in LA. It really makes me glad I'm not part of those sheep. By the way, don't listen to what the back of the book says about it being Catcher in the Rye for the "MTV generation". It's far from it. It's insulting to Catcher to call it that. It's a quick read, maybe 3 hours. But don't read it expecting any sort of drastic character transformation or some sort of revelation to be discovered. I almost threw it out the window half way through, but decided to plow through the rest of it.
Rating:
Summary: "The Catcher in the Rye" on crack. literally.
Review: This novel - written and set in Los Angeles in the 1980's, so be prepared not to understand many of the pop-culture references if you're much younger than 30 - details four weeks in the life of eighteen-year-old Clay, who returns home from college halfway through freshman year for a month-long Christmas vacation. He spends most of his time hanging out with his friends from high school, going to bars and nightclubs, having sex, and doing drugs. So what's the big deal? Booze, sex, and drugs might be fun to *do* for four weeks, but reading about them for 200 pages sounds like it might get old. And it does. You begin to lose track of the characters, because there are so many of them. You begin to forget where Clay was this morning, where he was last night, what day and what time it is right now. You begin to stop caring how much crack he smokes or how many other drugs he mixes it with, whether his sex partners are male or female. You stop worrying that his parents might catch him, that he'll have a bad trip, that - even in 1985 - he'll get HIV. And that's the point. The book is less a narrative than an experience. The manic highs and desperate lows of Clay's existence will blur together and you'll grow confused about the purpose of your own life. The 200 pages of this book - with large print, and broken up into easy-to-handle page-long vignettes - will become 200 minutes of ebb and flow, the swell of a wave under which you, because you aren't the one doing all those drugs, will never become trapped. Be aware that this book can be frustrating. The central conflict is an internal one, and only vaguely delineated, and never really resolved. The book seems to end not because it is finished with the story it tells but because it has reached the end of its allotted span. Do not read this book if you are looking for something pleasant, or something gripping, or something sweet. Do not read it for humor or suspense or an interesting plot. Read it if you read "The Catcher in the Rye" in junior high and didn't quite understand. Read it if you're nostalgic for futility. Read it on a train or a bus or in an airport, to contribute to the timeless, anchorless feel of the book. Read it quickly, in as few sittings as possible, and then leave it somewhere - in the pouch where they keep the barf bag, on the end seat of one of those long, featureless rows, on the counter in a public restroom - to keep company with somebody else, on some other journey.
Rating: 
Summary: Dont be fooled by the obvious
Review: I have no idea why people are so enthralled and drained from reading Bret Easton Ellis books. People think they are profound and raw, but really, they are only blatantly obvious and just trying to shock. Well, i've read this book as well as American Psycho. All of Ellis' books have the same theme: indifference, no feeling, vanity. Who cares! He could have written than with one book. Can't his mind stretch a little farther to include some more topics? If you were fooled enough into thinking this book was a work of art, you're probably one of those grunge people who like to impress everyone that you're reading "serious" stuff. I'm incredibly open-minded when it comes to reading and movies. This book was just incredibly boring.
Rating:
Summary: All of the Ellis elements...
Review: Bret Easton Ellis seems to be a real love-him or hate-him kind of writer. People either go along with him or wind up reviling him. This is his first novel, and to be honest, if you're new to Ellis, I wouldn't start here. I believe his best novel is American Psycho, by far. Less Than Zero shows the promise he would develop in his later work, and so it's strengths lie there. It's not a great book at all and shows the immaturity as a writer (he was only 20 when he wrote it). But all of the important elements of his fictional world are present. The characters are empty people who search for something resembling joy in their decadent world of too much money, drugs, fast cars, absent parents, and a general zoned-out removal from the surroundings. Ellis taps into an aspect of depression that is very powerful--the sense of no feeling, of nothing mattering anymore. I don't think you can underestimate his ability to transport you effortlessly into these worlds. However, it certainly isn't to everyone's tastes. Scenes of grotesque violence are present in all of his works, and their appearance is often depicted as routine as the designer labels of the characters. There is a beautiful understatement to his prose sometimes. Again though, this is not Ellis' finest hour. Read American Psycho or even The Insiders before checking out his beginnings and you'll see that he has developed. Ellis is an author worth reading at least to form an opinion. He is too often attacked by those unfamiliar with most of his work.
Rating:
Summary: the book of a genreation
Review: This was the book of my generation. I remember reading this book when I was in my 20's and I felt aghast at the casual nihilism. Everyone was talking about this book and passing it on. It is still as fresh today as when it was written.
Rating: 
Summary: Conceptualizing Beyond Capacity
Review: In "Less Than Zero" one can truly see an author that has conceptualized beyond his writing capacity and ability. The fundamental issues of emptiness and the inability to return home are both powerful and relevant; however, it seems that all too often Ellis falls short of articulating what is truly going on in his mind. Sadly, rather than chase and battles these demons to force them onto paper, Ellis appears to become frustrated and to just throw in concrete actions to explain ideas that belong in the conceptual realm. Thus, the reader is faced with scenes of depravity just thrown in to disturb, where they should be in the all the more disturbing world of the mentality that goes on behind such actions. Sadly, this aspect of Ellis' writing is present in all of his writing (especially "American Psycho"). The need to disturb through horrible physical actions rather than disturb through the understanding of a mind that is capable of such actions is an issue that Ellis appears to always be grappling with. Unfortunately, more times than not, he loses and resorts to such vicious parlor tricks in order to avoid jumping in to the depth that he appears to so desperately want to achieve. Thus, even though Ellis does a powerful job of developing the general atmospherics and character outlines to his novels, they inevitably come across as hollow and empty. Perhaps Ellis is trying to state that actions speak louder than words, but when one becomes obsessed with actions, one sacrifices a certain power that can only be achieved through truly delving into the mind of a character. The ultimate feel when reading "Less Than Zero" is that one is confronted by Ellis' frustration rather than that of his characters. Brimming frustration such as this gets in the way of several concepts that, if they had been developed properly, would have created a stunning book. In the end, a failed attempt...but at least it is an attempt.
Rating:
Summary: More realistic now than then
Review: This book is incredible. It is probably the first book I have read cover to cover without taking a break. Yes, it is entertaining, but is is also quite insightful. I think that anyone my age (21) will be able to relate to this book. Sure, it is based in the 80s, but in my opinion, these scenarios are less shocking and even more believable in the year 2002. I attended a # 1 college prep high school here in FL. Most everyone there had very wealthy parents, and drug use was quite common. The car lot was filled with BMWs (I even have one), Mercedes', Lincoln Navigators, a Lotus, even a DeLorean. Many people were 'getting high' quite frequently, at school, home, or parties. Acid, pot, and Ecstacy were the favorites. But now all of the people from this school attend places like Boston College, Duke, Georgetown, UF, FSU, and UCF. They have told me that cocaine is very popular around Boston, and my friends from Gainesville use every drug mentioned in "Less Than Zero." Pretty much everyone I know at the FL colleges are like the characters- they do whatever they want, and can afford to. They have orgies, screw whoever, whenever, for whatever reason. They are all nihilists and atheists- their lives are aimless.
Just like the book, school is the least important priority in their lives, but it doesn't matter, because they are smart enough to ace every class, if they feel like it. I, too, watch the religion stations on TV with a blank stare. My friends and I roam the streets from around 12am to 9am, sitting stoned in Famous Amos, tipping the waitresses $10 for orders of biscuits and gravy because their lives are so sad. All I can say is that aside from the vicious rape scenes, I or my friends are exposed to everything else in the book frequently, so don't take comfort in the fact that this book is in the "fiction" section and don't assume that if you have children that they aren't in some way involved in such a lifestyle.
Rating:
Summary: The Real World, LA
Review: The worst part about this book is that it didn't depress me. It sounds a lot like my life... but me aside, this is the book for the more debauched of the MTV generation. Ellis's style is representative of the instant gratification and aimless wanderings of American youth with attention deficit- and let's admit it, that's most of us.... our culture teaches us to be dissatisfied and bored, here's a picture of one of its results. If you want to understand Los Angeles- read this.
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