The Curator: the audacity of Bret Easton Ellis
and why his new book 'The Shards' proves he hasn't changed a bit.
Bret Easton Ellis is too toxic male for twenty-twenty-three. For the decade. For anything but the 1980s.
But you should still read his work.
I can hear the hollers - What is this reverse sexism??? [not a thing]. Let me explain.
Culture is constantly changing and shifting, we know dis. Authors and their books exist in the cultural and political landscape of the time, both written and received within that context. While it’s safe to say art often pushes boundaries and challenges dominant beliefs, it’s also true that art can be a response to cultural changes already in action.
As a participant in book related matters, I’ve noticed that book trends tend to echo the prevailing *liberal-ish cultural feelings of the moment, such as pushing female, LGBTQIA, and POC authors who may have been ignored in the past. Whatever your qualms about the authenticity and effectiveness of these trends in actually making a difference in marginalized lives, you can’t deny we are seeing a movement in literature toward inclusivity and expanding the discourse beyond old dead white people. Consumers are no longer limited to what they can find at the local bookstore, and therefore choose accordingly.
[Then of course there is the counter culture that screams all our books are harming children we must lock them up or everyone will dress in drag if they see a trans person. I know these people must exist on the internet but I stay far away from wherever that is.]
Bret Easton Ellis (BBE), as an author and a cultural icon, doesn’t really fit either narrative.
[This is the audacious part].
He’s “old”, he’s white, he’s privileged. His books are shocking and self-indulgent, violent and graphic. His work has been called misogynist, offensive, and death-threat-worthy, apparently1. Yet he’s so Gen X it’s impossible to hear him over his playlist of glaring indifference. His novels are a literal nightmare of apathy.
What a combo! So WHY am I dedicating an entire newsletter to this man’s work?
Well because I like it. He pushes the limits and I love that. He challenges me to think about what “good” writing is. Nobody else captures the absolute unconcern of privileged young adults like his narrators. I often wonder what type of drugs he’s on and if I could have some.
I also think it’s very important to keep space for uncomfortable art. Art in general can be many things (a warm hug, a thrill, etc.), but it would be a disservice to eliminate anything on the edge simply because it might be offensive to someone somewhere (the argument of whether his work holds artistic value is for another day).
Now whether or not you ENJOY his art is a different story, and even I had trouble with some novels. Regardless, I like keeping controversy alive, so here are all of BBE’s works in one sentence. You can decide if you’re willing to go there:
Less than Zero - a neo-noir LA American Gigolo but with teenagers, apathy, drugs, and [more] death.
The Rules of Attraction - Reality Bites but college, a satirical black comedy that documents a love triangle gone absolutely bonkers.
American Psycho - a wealthy New York investment banker moonlights as a serial killer and Phil Collins savant.
The Informers - a series of linked short stories, this one is all about relationships and (surprise) murder.
Glamorama - Zoolander on speed, a male model “becomes entangled in a bizarre terrorist organization composed entirely of other male models”2.
Lunar Park - an author Bret is haunted by his fictional characters and an unknown evil lurking in his home.
Imperial Bedrooms - the sequel to Less than Zero, imagine the hard-partying college kids are now a haggard middle-age but still struggle with narcissism and sadism (fun!).
The Shards - a wealthy LA high schooler in the ‘80s becomes obsessed with the new guy at school he believes is a serial killer, set to a killer soundtrack.
If you do decide to join the Bret party, I highly recommend reading in order. Test the waters with the first two, see if you can stomach the third, and from there you can handle anything (and MIGHT even enjoy it! Or throw it in the trash. Either way).
FURTHER READING 💻→
The NY Review of Books discusses BEE’s nightmarish dreamscapes.
Regardless of BookTok, GQ thinks we’re still living in BEE’s world.
This throwback to 1991 when BEE discussed the reaction to American Psycho.
Hear BEE himself discuss why Gen X wanted to be offended.
BOOK REVIEW📚→
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
If you know anything about Bret Easton Ellis’ work (beyond what I have just described above), you already know what this book is like. The plot may be a mystery (until I tell you about it right now), but the vibe is quintessential BEE - shocking, disgusting, enthralling, ambitious, and seductively confusing. The Shards will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about good writing.
Ellis returns to his favorite decade once again in this autofictional crime story about an unstable teenage boy who suspects the new hot guy at school is a serial killer. As always, Ellis is the center of the narrative, this time as his teenage “self” Bret. In an increasingly psychotic narrative stream, Bret takes us from the days of summer trying to play hide the snake with his secret best buds to the traumatic school days of senior year at a private prep school in LA - all while narrating every single freeway taken and every. single. song. that ever played, ever. It’s like an episode of the Californians
[My face was seriously very often like this while reading.]
There is a part of me that asked, “is this actually bad writing?” for about the first 50 pages - it’s borderline stream-of-consciousness, obsessive, strange, and detailed in a way you might imagine someone with OCD would catalog things to feel calm.
But then Bret the narrator pulls you into his psychosis so expertly you forget that you might have been questioning his creator’s talent and the opinions of millions(?) of people who read his books. The pieces come together and it’s like there was no other way to write this story. THIS is the story. The Shards is a menacing LA fever dream that you cannot escape.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what others on the internet think about The Shards…
My favorite 5 Star Review of this book on Goodreads is from OutlawPoet:
There are some authors who have a voice so unique that their books simply couldn’t be written by anyone else. Bret Easton Ellis is one of those and this is one of the most Bret Easton Ellis books I’ve ever read lol.
I say this because if you’ve read him before and hated him, you’ll hate this. If you’ve loved him, you should love this one.
COULDN’T AGREE MORE OUTLAW.
My Favorite 1 Star Review of this book on Goodreads is from Maureeen:
A whole lot less time writing about jerking off would have been helpful. Way too much filler that did not add to the story.
ALSO NOT WRONG MAUREEN. NOT WRONG.
In response, I give this a The Audacity 5 Stars.
****
To wrap this up, in true Natalie fashion [since I too make sense of the world by cataloging, organizing, and collecting things], I present The Shards: An ‘80s Spotify playlist, containing every song mentioned in the book. It is a public playlist that you can enjoy, right now, from the comfort of your own earbuds. If this playlist doesn’t get you amped up to read about freaky teenage drama, I don’t know what will.
Happy listening!
READING 📖→
I finally finished Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and I feel depressed. I was not ready for the abject poverty and male misery behind this crime story. I’m still gonna watch the movie though because the cast ::shrug::.
I switched from the terrible, horrible, no-good audiobook Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros to the utterly delightful read-with-your-eyeballs version and that was the RIGHT choice. The audiobook lady was clearly strapped into some contract bc they forced her to read it with a clearly audible COLD and just eww.
WATCHING 📽️→
We watched The Boogeyman (based on the Stephen King short story, directed by Rob Savage) over the weekend and my fiance shouted F*CK so loudly the entire theater laughed. I have to say watching jump-scary movies in the theater with a bunch of strangers is such a bonding experience… Check out the trailer below.
BOOK NEWS 📰→
Since we’re already on the topic, let’s talk about banned books.
First, The Washington Post broke the news that only 11 parents are behind over 60% of book bans last academic year [I read about it on LitHub here where there’s no paywall]. If that isn’t the strongest argument for the loudest few making the largest impact, I don’t know what is. But it ALSO means that anyone else can easily be the squeaky wheel, which leads me to…
An NYT news article about parents in Utah who successfully had both the Bible and the Book of Mormon banned in an apparent coup and to prove the failure of book bans to protect literally anyone. There are now competing requests to both ban, restrict, and keep the Bible available in schools. Who will prevail?
To keep our spirits up, PEN America’s an beautifully illustrated analysis of all books banned in the US shows book bans, while terrible, are mostly concentrated in just three states - Texas, Florida, Missouri. Is anyone surprised?
LET’S CHAT☺→
This week: leave a comment with your favorite book that has caused a lot of controversy - be it something freaky or just a challenge to the status quo.
Or per ush, let me know what you’ve been reading in the comments. I’m always game for a good rec (or warning, grievances, etc. ). If you tell me your favorite TV show or movie lately, I’ll give you a book recommendation.
In Case You Missed It 🖤
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See you around the bookshelf!
Natalie
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/06/books/bret-easton-ellis-answers-critics-of-american-psycho.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Easton_Ellis
Well written as always, NM. And yeah, banning books n such. I understand and applaud taking down statues of (maybe in hindsight) evil people, but we still keep that stuff for posterity because of the ‘time and place’ reasons you so well expressed. But that practice of moving history out of the parks and into museums doesn’t translate to books IMHO. They are already “stored” in places where the reader has to go and get them, right? Close to the surface, granted, but not in your face as you go through your day to day. I’ve been reading some satires from the 1800’s lately - some are pretty cringey but certainly still worthy when read in context. That’s all.