Less Than Zero

This is simply an astonishing piece of literature. It follows the everyday lives of a seventeen-year-old boy, called Clay, and his many acquaintances. Written from Clay's perspective, the novel is set in L.A. over the Christmas period, yet there is little celebration within the book. The novel contains many very powerful insights of the lives of older teenagers with too much money and too much time.
Behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood producers and film stars lies a world of alcoholism, sex and drug abuse. This book shows no boundaries in the immense detail used in the narration of the drug abuse and dealing but is written in such a style that all this is totally normal which, unfortunately, is how drugs are in the world. This style of writing shows that Ellis has a huge amount of insight in this area and helps the reader get to grips with the truth of drugs while not glorifying them at the same time.
Clay shows some morals but the world around him is morally barren and ethically bereft. People, even children, are tortured and murdered, sometimes in the room next to the one he is in. His friends and the world he lives in think of death and murder as normality and that it would be odd not to have these things happen. To illustrate, within the novel Clay and his friends find a body in a back street ally and instead of being shocked or feeling curious, all they do is talk about it (while standing by the body!) in a chatty manner and even joke about it! Clay is the only one who seems affected and you get the feeling that he doesn't like the world he lives in. Less than Zero shows that behind the unethical films made in Hollywood lies a world that is as unethical as the films but in reality. This novel shows the terrible truth that money can never buy happiness.
Less than Zero is a book that normally I would have avoided. This is not due to the subject matter (which actually attracts me to this book) but due to Bret Easton Ellis's style of writing. Ellis cares more for effect and imagery than for the plot and puts a lot more effort into describing things like the scene, clothes (which he can spend pages on) and inanimate objects such as electrical appliances. In Less than Zero there are no less than 10 major characters and a seethe of boyfriends, girlfriends, psychiatrists, friends and families. This style of writing and use of an immense amount of characters would usually scare me off from reading this book and I would physically run from this book if I knew it was written mostly in the present tense and not the past. However, I am ecstatic that I did continue, for these features led to a fascinatingly intense read!

The only reason I bought/read this book was 'cause someone on a website said it ressembled Chuck Palahniuk's style; that person must've been on drugs... bad ones.
I knew I should've stayed away from the book as soon as I saw the "Catcher in the Rye for the MTV generation" review. It took me one page to realize I was reading an 80's remake of said book, plus drugs and some sex scenes thrown in for good measure. I hated "Catcher" and now I hate "Less than 0". The only positive thing I found about the book was the fact that someone with absolutely nothing to say and with a basic understanding of the english language can write a book and make some money from of it.
Can anybody tell me what's so interesting about this book, anyway? There's no beggining, no ending, no substance, no soul... no nothing! It's nothing but a bad, sorry, pathetic attempt to make the reader feel pity for a bunch of unsatisfied rich kids. I have no sympathy for rich kids, imaginary or real.
Avid reader, beware! Waste not your hard earned money on a silly book like this one, I learned my lesson the hard way. Do yourself a favor and read ANY book by Chuck Palahniuk, you won't regret it. Cheers.

This is the first book that I read by BEE and it is definitely one of my top five favorite books of all time. It is absolutely nothing like the movie and that's a good thing. I couldn't put it down. It was a very quick and easy read but heavy and dark in atmosphere with each chapter pushing the shock limit. If you love good things and not mainstream fluff, I highly recommend it.

pretty poor--it was written by a 20 year old and it reads like it. this book shows how in the real world connections are more important than talent. the symbol of a billboard that says "disappear here" could not have been used in any more of a juvenile way--read Gatsby again, Bret. he uses trembling hands to show the nervous state of his characters, but he uses it in every other line! All of the pop references are now, a little more than a decade later, so dated it's laughable. every character is "tan, blonde, white teeth." one character is even "pale beneath his tan." i know it's l.a. but come on. at a party a girl holds a joint in the back pocket of her jeans! anyone who's ever been around a youthful drug culture knows that stoners adore their buds and would never put a joint in the back pocket of their jeans. all of the narrator's male friends meld into one character. Blair is pretty cute though. she has potential if the author had worked on his stuff for about five more years. there are a few good lines in the book and the best part of it is the santa anta winds blowing off the lonely desert night--but since he stole that from his buddy joan didion, and she did it much better, it doesn't count. i'd bet a million bucks that old bret is emarassed by this book--pale beneath his tan.

Okay maybe its not the greatest novel ever written. It can be compared to Catcher in the Rye blended in with The sun also rises. Of course they were both written by great writters and who is to say Ellis is not. His language is vernacular and it shows you what our society has turned into what has happened to the meanings of people in this generation. Truth is our worst enemy but we must face it and this is book will show you it!@

Ellis has written a very light, easily readable novel with lots of "shocking" sex scenes and one-dimensional characters. He owes a huge debt to the likes of Sidney Sheldon ("The Other Side of Midnight"), Jackie Collins and their ilk. It's a simple formula: people love to read about the seamy side of the lives of the rich and famous. The same audience that devours Us magazine will be enthralled by this tale of rich LA teens and their debauchery. Set it in say, an upscale suburb of San Francisco or Boston, and suddenly the novel loses its allure- we're willing to belive certain things about Los Angeles because of its association with the entertainment industry. Reading the book is like watching a car wreck. Or Britney Spears, for that matter, We're shocked that these kids sleep with each other- regardless of sex (GASP)- that they become prostitutes- are ignored by their wealthy parents- indulge in drugs- and our seemingly intelligent narrator seems to take it all in stride. And like Sheldon and Collins, that is the allure- a look into a world most of us will never see. Reading LTZ for any perceived literary value is like claiming to read Playboy for the articles.

Someone below compared Ellis to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Uh, no.
Someone else below compared Ellis to Hemmingway. Yes, this book does resemble The Sun Also rises. Substitute Ellis's cocaine for Hemmingway's booze. But Zero is better only because he doesn't waste time on bull fighting and fishing. Instead it's watching pornography and scoring drugs.
Here, Ellis wins. And (to whatever joker wrote this below) Jake as a sympathetic character, get real. The guy's a drunken loser with no real observations or feelings. Oh, wow, just like Clay.

I have mixed feelings regarding this book. It wasn't until the final 50 or so pages that I saw any glimpse of humanity in these characters. Ellis does a good job of nailing their vacuous lives but it became reduntant and boring. At the end the narrator realizes the horror of it all and it ends on a hopeful note - though it is not a wrap-it-all-up happy ending, thankfully. Ellis' habit of describing wardrobe is seriously annoying and useless except to date the novel. And any comparison to "Catcher in the Rye" is laughable. Why would Gen. X need a "Catcher in the Rye" anyway? It already has THE "Catcher in the Rye."

The story shows promise of things to come, the demented nature of the story telling, such as events I'd care not to detail. But the book was good, interesting, if not at some points disturbing and grotesque, the book was adequately written, unique, a great and quick beach, or some kind of read that you'd do in one or two sittings, depending how you read. It makes you look at your own life in the proccess

This book reminded me so much of so many of my friends it scared me. Every teenager should read this, nothing has ever made sex, and drugs so mind-numbing, sad, and dull. It is dizzying yet completely dulling. It is scarey how this lifestyle turns these people into vacuums incapable of feelings. I cannot reccomend this book more. Engrossing, disgusting, terrifying, familiar, and honest. A truly great book.

It's been a while since I've read this book, but it remains the most memorable of Ellis' work that I've come across. From the first page, which rants about merging in LA traffic, you are caught up in the world of the main character, Clay. The general feeling of ennui is well presented and consistent enough to be believable. This is, for lack of a better description, an honest disturbance of the truth.

Bret Easton Ellis is the modern version of F. Scott Fitzgerald; while the setting is the West Coast in the 1980s instead of the East Coast of the 1920s, Ellis manages to write a book that is perhaps as appealing to Generation X and beyond as "This Side of Paradise" was to Jazz Age readers. Clay, the novel's protaganist, while living a lifestyle foreign to most of the novel's readers, still manages to relate to the general population through his demonstration of the meaningless of an empty, vapid, materialistic lifestyle. References are constantly made to how "pale" he is, but while he may not be physically tan compared to his friends, he has more of a personality, and is at least attempting to escape the alluring LA environment he grew up in by going East for college. His friend Daniel gets sucked back into the LA lifestyle, but Clay resists rather successfully by the end of the novel, making him a compelling protaganist. The 1980s pop culture references make the novel enjoyable to cultural fans of that particular era, and the prose style, that of a neverending monologue with some flashbacks is immensely appealing. This is Ellis' first and best novel, and it is amazing that he wrote it as a college student. If only I, a current college student could write as well as him....

This book hasn't a plot, deep characters, or an accurate desciption of what it tries to accurately describe (Gen-X, the 80's LA scene, etc.): everything is overdone, HOWEVER, by the end of the book, the overly-done affected me with a poignancy few books have been able to provoke (and in so few pages). I read _Less Than Zero_ a few weeks ago and certain passages are still haunting me like bittersweet (an admittedly cliched, but accurate word) memories of those rare emotions that are of no consequence to one's physical surroundings yet surface inside the mind like revelations. I highly recommend this book; it's a masterpiece despite its faults (and as somebody said, any book that is so utterly hated or utterly loved is definitely worth reading).

Personally I found this book funny at times and sad at others. The 80's were a time of a lost generation looking to fit in. The tunes (The Go-G0's and others) make me remember why it was a great time.
The drugs, the parties, the philosophy we all shared through the 80's is somewhat reflected through the pages between the covers but I must admint, as for it's literary counterpart, I found it to be poorly written and quite mundane at times.
However, this book is a 4 star rating to me. Not in-so-much for the way it was written but it's capture of a "LOST GENERATION" or yet better known as the "GENERATION-X".
B.E.E. is right on target with this one. The 1980's were a time of change and of question.

If there's ever been a book that made me want to kill myself, it was "Less than Zero"; and I mean that as a complement. In a dizzying trip through the world of L.A. in the 80's through the eyes of a young man, Ellis gives us the book of his lifetime. Though lacking a plot and any serious character development, this book is hard to put down. It's like one long drug-induced trip filled with meaningless conversations, sex, drugs, and the occasional violence. Brilliantly, though, Ellis let's the humanity of his main character come through in small passages scattered throughout the book that describe his recent past and especially a family trip to Palm Springs. The desparation of the book's characters and their futile search for happiness will leave you hopelessly depressed and pessimistic. If you haven't killed yourself by then, read Ellis's other, not so brilliant book, "American Psycho" which will make you want to kill somebody else for a change.

Very thought provoking, but not for the faint of heart. You should not read this book if you can't handle some pretty graphic imagery. Lots of reviewers have complained that there is no plot--and I'd have to disagree. The plot to this book is the downward spiral of Clay, the anti-hero. Sad, indeed--but very interesting.

Decadent, dangerous and debacuhed, Bret Easton Ellis' "Less Than Zero" is nothing short of unique. It's everything your local televangelist warned you against. The brutally honest glimpse at life beyond the glamourous veneer of Hollywood's young and privelaged is at once both hypnotic and disturbing. The autor wonderfully juxtaposes images as chic as lunch at Spago between the main character Clay and his father, with Clay's need to do a few lines of coke in the men's room just to get through it. It was these seemingly opposite images that ultimately facinated me (for instance, a person who has fallen so far into the depths of addiction that they must prostitute themselves to pay their dealer, driving around L.A. in a Porsche).

The frenetic pace of one event after another blurred together without any notion of time offers the reader a taste of the fast-paced lifestyle of the characters, while at the same time cutting right to the chase. There is no sugar coating, no silver lining in the lives of Clay and his circle of equally passive, painfully numb peers.

Haunting is the best word to describe "Less Than Zero" because it's not a book you'll soon forget.

What a book. Brief and spare in so many ways. I read Less Than Zero recently out of a sense of obligation more than anything. Though I'm ten years younger than Ellis and the characters in his 80s books, I still consider myself a child of the 80s much more so than the 90s. As such, Less Than Zero is akin to required reading.

Never had the pleasure of cocaine, but I saw its impact (and that of crack) around me in popular culture. Less Than Zero is reminiscent of American Psycho in the similarly detached self-indulgence of the narrator/main character in each. Though I have not seen the movie for Less Than Zero (perhaps a sin for someone who claims to be a child of the 80s), I have caught enough snippets of the movie through the years to see that it's not quite the same.

Good writing, though. Compelling story that probably appeals more the closer you are to having been in your 20s during the 80s and maybe it helps if you lived in Los Angeles for a while too.

Bret Easton Ellis was twenty when he wrote one of the new masterpieces of contemporary fiction, Less Than Zero. The novel is a chilling, disturbing depiction of a group of first year college students returning home to Los Angeles during the Winter Break. Although he may not be the most stylistically talented writer, Easton Ellis captures the aura, atmosphere, and attitude of Los Angeles and its wealthy, westside-inhabitants like no one else before him. Easton Ellis not only conveys the despair and disillusionment felt by all the charachters, but he is able to encompass the reader with the same emotions. All of his charachters are jaded, desensitized, and left numb by living in Los Angeles. All of the outlets they seek for solace and comfort wind up only driving them deeper into their downward spiral that is life. This is a must read for anyone. I am not sure if someone who has not lived in LA would be able to appreciate the book to the extent that an Angeleno would, but it is a quick read so its worth the try.

Ponderous, Banal, Pointless. . .
I ordered this book from the store, after seeing such comments as "the Catcher in the Rye" for this generation. Who are they kidding? Ellis is a one-note writer, who can't even play his one note well.
I went to high school in California in the early 80's. The drugged, existentialist haze this writer describes is not to be believed. Even in Los Angeles or Hollywood, this is the stuff of bad fiction.
The book is boring and monotonous to the extreme. At only 200 pages, it is 150 pages too long! I read the first 80 pages then put this book down in disgust. The story was already repeating itself with its boring dialogue and meaningless characters.
Books like these aren't worth the paper they're printed on. The main character just goes from club to club, takes drugs, and talks useless drivel over and over again. Pointless and meaningless. But then, there is no point to be made here.
I love books and I admire talented authors. That someone can achieve commercial success solely because of the sensationalist or exploitive subject matter of their books, and not talent or originiality, makes me sick.
Think before you read.

I had heard of the reputation of Brett Easton Ellis long before I stumbled on a Copy of Less Than Zero and later American Psycho. Let me warn anybody who is thinking of purchasing this book---this is one of those cases when a great writer's first novel bombs out and leaves you feeling ripped off. To think that a writer of Brett Easton Ellis's stature, capable of producing American Psycho, would waste his time on the boring story and pointless message of Clay's life in Less than Zero! It makes you choke with rage.

Fifty pages into the novel I was confused. I didn't know if it was Brett Easton Ellis or Clay that was the shallow, indifferent source of the depthlessness and futility behind every page of this book. Was the book shallow and meaningless because the author was shallow and meaningless or was the book shallow and meaningless because the world of the narrator was shallow and meaningless. By the end of the two hundred pages you are so sick of Clay and his world that you want to throw the book in the fire place and forget you ever wasted your time reading it.

By the end of the book the message is very clear. The rich live miserable, shallow lives. Money has not done them any good. They are miserble, materialistic little whiners, all style, no substance, no depth, who lead pointles lives, with no goals, no dreams, no aspirations--just an endless round of joyriding in expensive sports cars, eating in expensive resturants, and doing drugs in mansion---Miserable Boring. This story was so monotonous that when I finished the novel and put it down I had a creeping suspicion that I had read the same page over and over agin two hundred times. Nothing happens in this story. There is something so weak and impotent about Clay that it becomes a torture to continue reading this book.

Forget this Less Than Zero. If you want to read something cool by Brett Easton Ellis check out American Psycho. Ellis's talent shines in American Psycho. Brett Easton Ellis is a much better writer at 27 then he is at 19. Less Than Zero, as a novel, fais. It doesnt have anything interesting--no story, no plot, no memorable characters, no sharp dialonge, no emotions, and no deep thoughts. It just drags on, conveying the pointlessness of life for this group of people. Take my advice on this book. Less Than Zero??zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

I was surprisingly disappointed by Bret Easton Ellis' début - I expected so much more considering the attention this book gathered (maybe it was because a 21 year old wrote it?)

Throughout it felt like an 80s Kerouac... and I'm not a big Kerouac fan. Apart from the few excellent quotes, there is little that impressed me.

This is my favorite book of all time. It is not just a book about kids doing drugs and partying. It is much deeper than that and carries a lot of meaning. I love the description that Bret Ellis gives the reader about everything that goes on. Do not read this book lightly. It is a book about life and what we all go through. If you are someone who loves to read and enjoys a book that is not just straightforward and actually makes you think then I recommend you give Bret Ellis and his work a chance.

If you have the Vintage edition of 'Less Than Zero', your first and only warning is the first thing you see, the cover. The muted skyline of Los Angeles choking in a sea of white with sprawl unfolding towards it.

This is a book where you have to follow the anxiety ladened drumbeat to a concert you don't want to go to but that has already passed. A claustrophobic, tense fog will enter the environment you are reading this book in. It doesn't go away until you get rid of or finish the book.

'Less Than Zero' isn't verbose, it isn't even intelligent. It's startlingly simple in the way it tells its story, but there's nothing bare here. It's like a slow moving train through a forlorn metropolis, the passengers watching hills of bodies move pass with the foundations of skyscrapers being freshly constructed upon them. Here it is: 'Less Than Zero', verbose (no), intelligent (no), but fascinating (yes).

Everything that 1950s America tried to bury in the middle of the Earth can be found here plus some more. Want to know the thing that would tickle their bones? There's a constellation of characters complicit in it all. It's screw and kill or get killed and screwed right in front of the Televangelist hallway monitors.

If you threw this book out your window, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't hear it land. I often wondered what the characters could hear. I imagined it was a metallic-like scratch as Blair talked to Clay or when Rip talked to Julian. Or maybe it was just a big empty nothing.

If you choose to read this book to fulfill any self-satisfying purpose, it will elicit one and one only black hole of a response from me, and it is that;

You will go nowhere.

Now, would all those who raised their hands please disqualify themselves from further literary judgments. Less than Zero is less than bad. It's tenth-generation derivative California noir by a silly trust-fund amateur with great connections and no talent. In many cases, critics can disagree and still respect each other; but if you liked this book, you're hopeless. From the clumsy allegory of its first line, "Nobody knows how to merge in LA" to its slow, formulaic visits to the most predictable sites of rich-boy decadence (snuff movies! cocaine! Whooooo, scary stuff!), it's Didion writ dumb, Chandler without corpses--unless you count the readers.

This wasn't my 1980s experience but I'm guessing Mr. Ellis experienced something like it. Blonds having sex and doing drugs while trying to cope with alienation and being young and rich. It's very enjoyable and makes one yearn for that era as one might Paris in the 1920s.

Can I think of a more disturbing, more frightening novel than Less than Zero? That's a good question to ask, despite the fact that I'm behind it, but no, I don't think I can. Among others the antihero Clay is so empty, so dead inside that American Psycho's Patrick Bateman is nothing but a baby.
LTZ scared the frag out of me. No humor in it at all, nothing but empty people, indifferent, rich, young, empty Beverly Hills people. Not actually a joy to read, but outstanding nonetheless.

To keep it short; Ellis debut is a seminal achievement and is still his best novel. The bleak picture he paints of the youth of that time is precise and very disturbing. He knew what he was writing about and he did it in a way that captured the atmosphere very well. Unfortunately, Ellis seems to have lost the touch. Will he ever return?

This book is great for people who want a superficial and supercilious piece of "literature" to talk about in front of others to make themselves appear more artful. The book is a quick rush, it is indeed exhilarating and unrepentantly self-abasing, but the style is amateurish, there is little emphasis on characterisation, description, irony, or drama, and the intent of the author appears to be merely to shock, not to illuminate or enlighten as Art should. In addition it is devoid of any degree of philosophy or denouement. Perhaps this is the author's intent, and if it is he has accomplished his goal, but I would certainly hope that our culture could produce authors with much more noble literary aspirations. It's worth a read if you have two hours and don't expect too much.

This book isn't as bad as some people on this page might have you believe. Sure, the writing style is somewhat sophomoric--but you have to remember it's being narrated by an 18 year old kid. Two other novels which immediatley come to mind are "Far From Nowhere", by Deron Hamel, and "Basketball Diaries", by Jim Carroll. Both these books are VERY similar to LTZ, in that they both deal with a *troubled* young protaganist. But each is also unique in its own way, and they are both very good books. The point I'm trying to make here is that if you're looking for a book with a great deal of substance, then look elsewhere. If you want a quick and entertaining read, then by all means pick up this book and give it a try.

Written at only 23,It was said that Bret Easton Ellis's first book: Less than zero, lacked in alot of things, Character development,plot and so on... But in my opinion that is what makes the novel so brilliant. From the first sentance it had me captivated. Bret Easton Ellis's writing style is unique and gripping. Less than zero, is one of the first books I have read in some time, that touched me so much and so deep inside. I am suprised I was able to finish the book since by the last 60 pages I was sobbing after every page. Extremly disturbing, but more touching than anything else.

An honest look at the youth of the 80s. Ellis wrote this book when he was 23, not knowing that less than zero would make you feel less than zero. A depressing read that shows you what the disaffected youth of the 80s did. Coke sex and money was all that mattered. A truly unnerving part is on christmas morning when Clays father writes checks to his kids as gifts. the way its described is like its business as usual which is so sad.This book drags you into the 80s lifestyle with an amazing sense of reality.You feel like you are there. Bret Easton Ellis is a fantastic author

I first finished this book last summer, and clearly remember feeling robbed and violated. The protagonist is written as being tremendously apathetic, but carries absolutely no message. (For unfeeling characters with something to say, see Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", or Camus's "The Stranger.")Poorly written prose creates a text with literally no entertainment value, and hardly any redeeming qualities. Those of you reviewers who seem to think this novel speaks volumes about youth need to remember that very few of us are braindead richkids with no direction. For a writer with a talent, and a message to boot, I suggest you look up Chuck Palahniuk, and "Fight Club."

I laugh when people compare this to the Cathcer in the Rye. Umm ....no it's not even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath, although the formers influence is very evident in the book. As a piece of contempory fiction though it's not bad. It takes about an hour to read and you finish up feeling as hollow as everyone in the book. I think American Psycho was better, depsite its excesses at leats it was funny in places... this isn't.

If this is supposed to be literature, I'd hate to see what bad prose is like. The book comes across in a flat monotone, written by an author who apparently can't be troubled to draw any real psychological portraits of his characters. Anyone who would compare this to "Catcher In The Rye" is more messed up than the self-absorbed goofballs in "Less Than Zero."

I got right into Ellis after American Psycho and I'll say I didn't think this book as up to the same par as American Psycho.
Ellis still does a great job of explaining things in great graphic detail but this book was still missing something. I felt that it really didn't go anywhere. I kept waiting for the main character Clay to get into something but all he did was meet his friends and go to parties.
I will continue to read Ellis books but I don't suggest this as one of his reads.

Um, this is pretty much like every other Bret Easton Ellis book, except it was the first, so I guess they are all like this one. It's about a bunch of rich kids who became jaded about life too early on. They do a bunch of drugs. Have a bunch of sex and commit crimes that don't really disturb them, including raping a 12-year-old girl. It's pretty good up until the end, where the 12-year-old girl came in. That was a bit too much for me.

The thing I found interesting about this book is that it's based in L.A. and the people in it are exactly what I expect of the rich L.A. brats, even though the book was written in 1985. It's Laguna Beach, before Reality TV was invented. I seriously would have thought the book was written today, except for the references to playing the atari and putting movies in the betamax. That kind of dated the book a bit.

i read this book in one sitting. yes, it can be a bit trashy, and yes, i felt a little guilty indulging in characters that SEEM shallow, but this novel is very thought-provoking at the same time. i actually enjoyed pondering 1980s urban teenage angst. what makes it any less important than another period or culture? anyway if you want to at least be entertained and sucked into a story, this is an excellent choice.

From the very beginning this novel is obviously not the normal coming-of-age story: Through his spare prose style and unblinking first-person eye, Bret Easton Ellis paints a bleak yet poignant picture of the dissaffected youth of America. The natural contempt one feels for these rich kids with their fast cars and drug-fuelled lives soon gives way to a grudging sympathy as their pathetic, empty lives are mapped out for us. The spiral of sex, drugs and parties soon blurs into a desperate search for lost souls, a search that never seems to near fruition. Sad, disturbing, at times confusing, always touching. In short, brilliant.

The depravity of the characters in this novel is endless and entertaining. Ellis keeps the reader on the edge of their seat in wait to feel sorry or feel something for the main character Clay but Clay's attitude and choices makes the reader stray from liking him. There really isn't a character in this novel that is very likeable though. 3 stars though because it kept my interest and was well written. American Psycho was much better!

Consider this the forerunner to American Psycho, while reading I imagined Patrick Bateman growing up in an environment such as the one described in this novel.
The 200 or so pages are just dripping with cynicism... There obviously is less than a plot, but the words that Ellis has managed to spit onto the paper made me really depressed and there are not a great many books out there who have managed to get me depressed.
What Ellis is trying to get across to his readers in all of his novels is the emptiness of mass consumption society. Wether you like this novel or not, one thing becomes very clear: Ellis isn't too fond of American popculture...

I was in 9th grade algebra in 1987 when I first read the back of this book off a classmate's desk, and upon finding out it belonged to a mutual friend, asserted myself as next on the list to borrow it. I read it in two nights. The characters and events were that compelling. The movie adaptation does little justice to the book, which serves as a superior testimonial and a strict warning that could still send shivers down the spines of impetuous teens today. In any case, it's an exciting story for readers of all ages, children excepted. Buy it as soon as you can.

"People in LA are afraid to merge," wrote Ellis. Some New York Times types wrote that Ellis is crap. Less than Zero is the future on paper. MTV with substance via typewriter. Quick, one-plus page chapters. Floating images of characters that seem both jaded and unaware. The TNT of the Sex Pistols meets the nonhype, nonchalance of, well, someone before the dominant era of Hype. Just as the Ramones 2 minute chainsaw rock helped fall 70's schlock quadruple live albums with: 16 minute guitar solo -- check; 12 minute drum solo -- check; "I heard St.Louis likes to Party!" -- check, Ellis presents the spartan New Style.
I first read this book while living in off campus housing in Santa Barbara circa 1986 where the booze flowed and some students equipped cars with TV's, VCR's and porno tapes. The book thrilled and shocked as an exaggeration of the So Cal lifestyles of the freshly scrubbed and stoned I saw (and joined). 13 years later, this book reads as much less a microcosm of So Cal 'tudes and much more a tour de force defining for a generation the concepts of (wasted) youth, privilege, Western rootlessness, and modern disconnect. Less than Zero may likely become The book, and perhaps The Medium that best defines the 1980's for Post Boomers.

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.

"Less than Zero" explains life as a college eged person according to Clay. He is on his Christmas break and pretty much talks about all of his social encounters, going over every deatial no matter how disturbing it may be. For example the way him and his friends did drugs, got drunk, had sex and used F*** a lot. It even describes the disgusting details fo the sexual assult of a young boy and what they did to him. They have these huge parties and dont have a care in the world other then getting drunk, sex and drugs all on their Christmas Breaks. It;s scary to think that this is still true for some people.

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.

I didn't read this book in its prime--when it was de rigeur for would-be hipsters and those unable to resist the p.r. onslaught engendered by the "bad kid" trifecta of Ellis, Jay McInerny, and Tama "Check Out My Hair! It's Wacky!" Janowitz. Instead, I gave it a whirl after reading a positive review for its sequel (Imperial Bedrooms), thinking: "what the hell...I'm less of a snob now than in my early 20s, let's see what the unholy fuss was about." Well, let's just say that I don't feel I missed out on anything back then. "Less Than Zero" is just a boring, pointless exercise in shock-value writing. I didn't care for the leaden, simplistic characters, there was no verve, no color, no snap to the writing. Just short little puny sentences, ridiculous name dropping (clothes from Parachute and Camp Beverly Hills? they weren't stylish even when they were stylish...) and idiotic cliche`s about life in Los Angeles. It makes me wonder what kind of drugs were in the reviewers' drinking water at the time, because there has to be SOME reason this trifle made it to the top of the charts. Furthermore, Ellis took Elvis' name in vain (Elvis Costello, that is)...for this piece of dreck he shoulda just gone with the "Lady in Red" guy. I'm giving it two stars because it's not as bad as, say, "Eat, Pray, Love"...but barely so.

In Bret Easton Ellis's book Less than zero is a tale full of drugs and immoral acts. During and after reading this book i couldn't help feeling as strung out as the protagonist Clay, who through out the book needs a snort of coke to get through the day. After reading the book you may feel the same way. The amount of drugs that is taken by all the characters in the book is enough for ten people to OD. Strangely enough i couldn't help wondering after reading this well written book, whether to be affraid of LA or the people that inhabit LA? But any way read the book with a snort of coke.

I'll start off by saying the movie and the book are totally different. I don't know which one is better, they both don't have a plot. It's about some rich kids who are screwed up. That's it! But, it does have interesting story lines like Julien the prostitute.

Rarely does a movie improve upon a story told in a book; especially when the movie stars people like Andrew McCarthy. Yet even keeping that in mind, this book makes its film counterpart appear to be in the same class of cinematic achievment as "Lawrence of Arabia." I can honestly say that I have never read a novel with as little merit -- in terms of both style and substance -- as "Less Than Zero."
In attempting to point out the shortcomings of his characters, Brett Easton Ellis actually appears to sympathize with them -- never do any of the people in this novel realize how shallow their lifestyle truly is. Furthermore, he uses a ludicrous, staccato style of writing, which accomplishes nothing so much as making the work seem like an MTV video.
This book is the intellectual equivalent of watching Duran Duran videos while snorting coke.

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.

The plot of the novel is extremely disturbing. Bret Easton Ellis presents a sickening view of humanity in 1980's Los Angeles. This is not a book that I will read again, nor is it a book I would reccomend, although it is very well written and much too realistic. I found it far too easy to imagine the scenarios in the novel. This book is not for readers who cannot stomach the concept of twelve-year old children watching pornography, doing cocaine, or being sexually abused by rich teenage cocaine addicts. I wish I had never read the novel, as it is very depressing. Surely humanity is not as horrible as this....

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.

One of the most harrowing and haunting books that I have ever read. Clay's cool detachment from everyone around him draws us deeper in to his life, or lack thereof. I read this book for the first time when I was going to school in L.A., and it could be part of the reason I moved back home. True to its time, a snapshot of what it was like to live there in the 80's. If you like this book, but appreciate a novel with a bit more style and a bit more substance, try Donna Tartt's Secret History. You will see the groundwork that he has laid for her and others. Everyone from 18-22 should read Less Than Zero...and never watch the movie!

Less Than Zero was a book I knew going into that I may not like it. I'm not a fan of those books that add in the end of the sentence "...as they got in their new BMW". I just don't like reading about things like that when mainly I want to read a book to get away from those things. That is just my first complaint about the style of Bret's writing in this story.

The main character Clay seems to be a lot more intelligent when he is thinking in the story rather then his actions and what he ends up doing (like ditching Blair for a young hook up at a bar). I would've enjoyed this story a lot if Bret just would've added something more. The whole time I was enjoying reading the book, I was waiting for it to pick up. Everytime it was just sleep-in, Clay wakes up does some drugs after chasing his dealer all over hollywood trying to get some, then going out to some party he didn't want to go to, getting hit on 5 times then witnessing something strange and wrong happen or leaving with that nights hook-up. The story was very consistant like this till the end. I must admit it picked up a little before it ended, which I thought was leading somewhere, but when there were no more pages to turn I began to get angry and hate the book several days later after being pleased with it.

I don't care much for Rules of Attraction the movie, so I should've looked a little bit more when selecting a book to read instead of jumping on something like this book which sounded like it would be interesting. The cliche idea to the story really bothers me that people actually get paid to write this stuff, I feel as though it was a collection of rumors and gossip he knew when he was younger that he wrote about... and I could easily do the same without adding any creative twist or climax to my story.

Like someone said above this post, only read this in "as few sittings as possible", or when your on a long flight or something with not much on your mind (in order to handle the ever so long list of characters you will meet). I only give this book 2 stars because I enjoyed reading a book for the first time in awhile that I actually felt like I was going to finish.

This was the first Ellis book I read. I enjoyed it a lot. Ellis is has a unique style, and I'd consider him among the top contemporary authors. Less Than Zero took the college experience, and juiced it up a little. The only problem with the book is that there doesn't seem to have a conclusion, it just ends. Over all, I really enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to those who are somewhat facinated with the so called "drug culture." Bottom line... good book!

Although it was written about twenty years ago, Less Than Zero is still one of the best and most controversial books of all time. Bret Easton Ellis wrote this book knowing that it would make people think. It does just that. Less Than Zero is an adventurous story that provokes thought and inspires.
The main character Clay takes the reader into his private life. He describes what it's like to live in a wealthy community in California and have movie stars as friends. Ellis writes about the characters' heavy partying and cocaine usage.
Throughout the story the main character gives off a vibe that he's not happy with his life. Clay goes through the motions of partying and doing drugs but he isn't satisfied with his way of living. He feels like something is missing in his life. People can relate to this in their own lives. This is what makes Ellis such a good writer. He writes about things that other people can relate to.
The language Ellis uses lets the reader understand exactly what is going on. The reader doesn't have to stumble through unclear passages or have to reread sections to comprehend the message Ellis is trying to convey.
The book Less Than Zero has raised many issues in the literature community. The controversy of drugs and sex mixed with young people has raised questions about our society and why someone would write a novel like this. The point is to make people think. The point is to change lives. Ellis does a brilliant job of making this point. When Ellis wrote this book he never intended for it to be so controversial. He says it "was controversial, I suppose just because of how young I was
coupled with what was at the time graphic subject matter. I've never searched for controversy". Nevertheless Less Than Zero is a great book. It makes people think about their decisions and how it affects other people.

This is a good book, but certainly not great. One of the main problems is it is caught between two styles; all at once it is very basally thin on development but with long explained sentences of physical surroundings which were analogous to the story. This is especially at the beginning. What this brings is a superficial glazing over the character's lives which doesnt seem to go anywhere meaningful or exceptional. It is good for the quick read that it is, however, but a little more depth would have made it much better.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Definitely captures the essence of young adults' disillusionment. I felt the book was written honestly -- the indifference the protagonist feels for himself, his friends, his lifestyle and culture is laid out for the reader to see and experience.

This book is a quick read - so even if you don't agree with everything written in the book or with the author, you're not going to waste a lot of your time. On the other hand, I viewed the book and the author as a (personal) study of a narrow scope of society and found this a worthwhile read.

I have never seen the movie but I did have an idea of what this book was about. At first I was under the impression that it was merely telling the tale of what Clay's life was like a daily basis living in L.A. But towards the end I started to think about how when you expand your horizons (as Clay does when he goes the school in New Hampshire)it makes you see things differently. I enjoyed it. This is my first Bret Easton Ellis book. I am thinking of going onto "American Psycho".

The only good thing about this book is that it's short. There are a lot better things a person can do than hear about whinny, wasted kids that weren't beaten enough as children. As a member of "Generation-X", I'm pretty damnned insult with the alleged affiliation.

I was turned off by Less Than Zer0 when it became evident that Elias modeled his antihero, Clay, after Holden Caufield. Ellis disappointed me with this attempt at a different Catcher In the Rye. This book is no 'Catcher' and is just a waste of time. Clay and his freinds are a disgusting lot who have everything they could ever want but manage to mess it up in a world or drugs, booze, parties and fast cars. Much like the children of hollywood often do. (ie: Michael Douglas' kid)

Once again, this is simply a depressing and actually quite annoying novel, if you have the morals of a street bum and allow yourself to call it that.This book wasn't a waste of time, today's world demands sensless, mind-numbing, idiotic scribblings of the pen like these.To compare this to "Catcher in the Rye" is the greatest insult to "Catcher" that I can personally think of.Nor is it satirical, as some have said.By the third chapter, I was hoping that Clay would get in a car wreck while driving drunk, or possibly the book could just end and the rest of the pages could be blank.For God's sake, it doesn't even have one sober main character!Food poisoning is a greater joy than reading this shrill, insufferable, insolent, and downright intolerable book. It is, in short, quite possibly the worst book I have ever read.

As I feared, this is "less than zero", for me. All the stereotypes of the drugsaddicted, alcoholaddicted, promiscuous generation of American Westcoast youth in the 80's, you can find them all in here. In this sense you can call it a kind of documentary book. But after 20 pages of stupid dialogues, going nowhere, you get the picture (and it goes on for another 180 pages). Even from a literary point of view it barely equals the level of the chicklit-books my youngest daughter is digesting, at the moment. This is 'tristesse' made into cult.

I bought this because The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players listed it as required reading for anybody from outside the Thirty Mile Zone who wants to work in Hollywood so they'll understand where their future coworkers who grew up in the Thirty Mile Zone came from. The problem is there's no real story to it. It's just one long stream of college-age kids hanging out, watching TV, doing drugs, and having primarily gay sex in circa-1984 Los Angeles. Granted, it's a first novel written by a college kid, so I might be expecting a bit much from it, but it's just so bland to the point where the "Less Than Data" parody of it in Treks Not Taken: What If Stephen King, Anne Rice, Kurt Vonnegut and Other Literary Greats Had Written Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation? was more engaging. Forget the comparisons to The Catcher in the Rye, this is more on a par with Day of the Locust but without the social commentary.

This book is a clear example of a teenager's trying too hard to sound world-wise and blase. It's a book about detachment and nothing, in which rich kids do nothing but take drugs and sleep together and can't even muster up the effort to drive their clearly especially drunk friend home. Ellis, however, can't let the theme of detachment be subdued and understated, which might have made the book much better; no, he has to hammer it in constantly (for example, two characters decide to have sex but don't even touch each other).

Even worse, he doesn't write very well. He seems to be trying to sound like Hemingway quite frequently. Hemingway's long, unpunctuated run-ons, though, are elegant and hypnotic. Ellis's are just bad. He goes through different styles, too, seemingly trying to imitate other great writers and sounding only like a kid who hasn't figured out how to write like himself yet. Appropriate for an eighteen-year-old writing from the point of view of an eighteen-year-old? Maybe, but it's terrible writing and not worth the effort it takes to read (which is not much).

I am not criticizing the book based on its disturbing themes (drug use, alcohol abuse, eating disorders, gang rape, violent pornography, and prostitution). Done properly, this novel could be a fascinating and eerily disturbing book. The problem is that it isn't well written. We read this book junior year of high school, and I can honestly say that it's the worst book we read. There's just nothing to it. It's not a book; it's words on a page, and even more they're the wrong words awkwardly strung together.

I don't normally like to say this about a book, but in this case it is totally warranted. This book sucked. For starters, it was very obvious that the author was trying to be very Catcher in the Rye with this novel. I don't care for copycats.

Second, the entire novel is about a bunch of over-privileged teenagers who do nothing but get high and whine. I hated every single character in this boo, particularly the narrator, Clay.

When I closed the covers of this book, I was relieved to be finished but I couldn't help but wonder two things. How in the world did this get published and why do so many people think this is such an amazing novel?

I wouldn't recommend this book to my worst enemy, if I had one. Stay away.

Ellis captures Los Angeles in all of its self-absorbed and hyperbolic superficiality. Less Than Zero is a wickedly decadent look at people whose lives have been hollowed out by excess and boredom. Ellis' rushed style and choppy sequences add to the overall disengaged and surreal environment that the book is set. As essential a read as a Thomas Guide for any Left Coaster.

After reading so many positive reviews of this book and enjoying so many books that have been compared with this novel,I decided to read it . Upon searching everywhere I finally found this "gem of a novel".I dove into this book with enthusiasm but by the end I was more than a little disapointed .Not only were there too many insignificant characters, they were all completely flat and uninteresting .
As an avid reader I have never read a book with such a boring protaganist.With all the usual components of what i find to be a great read : glamorous , oversexed, and drugged up rich kids, somehow this book just dosen't work. Don't waste your time. If you want a similar but MUCH better read try TWELVE.

I found this book immensely interesting. Clay's semi-nihilistic narration presents a very cold, matter-of-fact ton for the depraved, awful stuff happening around him, and in turn creates a chilling atmosphere.

A depraved look at teen-somethings going from house to club searching for drugs and something to do to pass time. But it pulls you in and doesn't let go. Ellis' writing is relentless and gripping and above all paints a picture of flawed youth that is sinister enough to be one hundred percent enjoyable but at the same time ends feeling unfinished and hollow.

After recently rereading Less Than Zero, I thought I'd come onto the store and see what other people had thought of it. I've found, however, quite a few negative reviews by people who have obviously _completely_ missed Ellis' point. The book, like all of his books, is a satire of modern (well, not anymore) pop culture. The book is hysterical at times, overdone because it was _meant_ to be overdone. The book wasn't supposed to be the bible of a lost culture, it was supposed to poke fun at coked up rich kids. Definitely a recommended read.

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.

Ellis writes with a style, that in my opinion is far too descriptive. To me, this bogged down an otherwise good read. It's a disturbing portrait of wealthy teens who cant seem to feel or care about anything. Despite being somtimes slow this novel made me identify with it's protagonist, even when i didn't want too. As the novel progressed i felt truly disturbed...and hey when a book can make you feel half as much as this one does it's at least worth picking up, right?

Bret Easton Ellis is a writer with an undeniable place in American literature from the 1980's through the year 2005 (with his creepy, messed-up, first-person haunting account in Lunar Park). His debut novel, Less Than Zero, captures an important piece of history--the lives of 1980's club kids. I was shocked and titillated to read about the drugs, the decadence, the male prostitution, and so on. By the end of the novel, I was thoroughly disgusted with the mindless self-indulgence of the main characters, which was precisely Ellis's point in writing this novel. If you are looking for shocking violence, drug use, self-abuse, sex, and the like, this is the book for you.

If you enjoyed reading about the 1980's drug-culture jet-set crowd, try Jennifer Saginor's Playground: A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion. She was a contemporary of Ellis and her memoir is outstanding.

I do not care what anybody says- this was one of the greatest books I have ever read. People who hate it do not have the sense that it takes to understand it. Yes, the literature is not "perfect" or "correct". But isn't that what makes writing unique? There is no "correct" structure. This book deserves your time. Having lived in the greater Los Angeles area in the 1980s myself, I can say with truth that Ellis does a WONDERFUL job of describing the details and lifestyle. I HIGHLY recommend this book. Go to your local library or bookstore and pick this up - you won't be dissapointed!

Never in my life have i read a novel at such a clip. This book is too good to put down! It was assigned to me for my english class, and i read it thrice in the time we spent studying it. That is the first and the last time i ever read a school assigned book to completing, save Harper Lee's cliche' "favorite book". This is my favorite book, hands down. Plus, you have to love a book that mentions Elvis Costello's "Trust" poster.

Ellis perfectly describes emptiness and boredom with his typical cold blood and clinical style. You've got the impression that nothing happens in Clay's life until you feel caught in his nightmare. Of course don't take this gloomy book seriously, it describes an invented California full of rich, handsome and junky blond heroes. Ellis'story is horribly depressing as his characters are dead inside but his style is a new form of litterature by itself.

A lot of these negative comments are missing the point of the book. The characters not being developed is key to the story. These kids are so deep into a world of sex, drugs, and money that the only thing they care about are MTV, tans, and the latest rock groups. and yes, the story does lack a story line, but that is also done as a purpose. The kids are going nowhere. They live their lives numb to emotions, and live from one party to the next. This book shows the horrors of drugs, sex, and having everything handed to you.

A look into the life of a seriously disturbed rich kid. The ending doesn't reach a conclusion. Here's a news flash: all stories don't have a neat concise plot. That's called artistic writing. Don't read this story if you are under the age of 18; you won't get it.

I read this book when it first came out in the 80s. I actually read it three times. The first, because BEE was suppose to be the "new!" thing; the second, because I couldn't believe how bad it was and wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something; and the third, because I really had to make sure. I couldn't believe how terrible it was; I still can't. Please kids, take it from someone who was a young adult in the 80s, this book is not worth the time. Don't do it! Turn back now!
Additionally, the movie was no better. I saw a screening of it in a packed movie theater on Boylston Street in Boston in the 80s. By the end of the movie, when you were suppose to care for these characters, most of the audience was laughing hysterically. It was quite sad (and funny).

...is what my friends and I call this thing. Okay, perhaps slightly over 200 pages. Mind-numbing recital of brand names. Bratty rich kids. Sex, drugs, and presumably some rock-and-roll. Who cares? Someone recommended it, so I kept trying to read it, but I could not finish even half. Do NOT waste your time.

I picked this book up after recognizing the cover from my the store Recommendation's and they weren't wrong. You become about addicted to the book as the character is to drugs. You ride through his fast-lane life just as fast as he does without time to take a breath. It was the first book I've read by Bret Easton Ellis and I immediately fell in love with his words and style of writing.

I love Ellis. He's sort of a psycho writer. This book was relentlessly repetitive for me until the last 50 pages. When I saw the movie I was much more entertained by that, but after a while this book began to grow on me. I don't have any complaints about it now.

Okay the good stuff first: The charectors are great, and well thought out, the overall gloomy tone of the novel workd perfectly. As a resident of Los Angeles I would say he did a good job with the geography, and the charectors i can see as Angelinos and as no one else.
The bad: What was the point maybye i missed it. The charectors come in and leave the novel in the same way, nothing has changed.
The point is that there is no point, wich is a good point, (i did that on pourpouse), but having no point leaves the reader diss satisfied, wich could have been Ellises goal.
Worth reading, but not worth cherishing.

This is a very scary book! One of the earlier scenes in it has the protagonist hooking up with another man. (Both of the guys are drunk.)

After that, it's all about alienation (and drugs.) Clay's best friend from high school, named Julian, has become addicted to heroin and has to become a male prostitute to pay people off. In one memorable scene, Clay stays in a hotel room while Julian is hooking up with a man.

In another memorable scene, Clay is at his drug dealer's apartment and watches a snuff film, where two teenagers are raped and killed by a big black guy with a chain saw.

I read this book in one sitting mostly because the themes addressed pulled me in like so much quicksand. Anyone belonging to the so-called "Generation X" will relate to the hopelessness, futility and desperation we all feel collectively as a generation. BTW the book goes WAY DEEPER than the movie and doesn't have the typical Hollywood happy ending.

First of all, if you're looking for a clear-cut story, don't read this book. The only way it works is as social commentary, and that's only if you can take the characters seriously, which is really hard to do.

Ellis kicks the novel off by trying to bait you into being disgusted by his characters. Everything they do is so incredibly over the top that it just gets silly. I really don't believe that most high-class LA types lived like this during the 80s. I think the story is really exaggerated, and I couldn't take any of it seriously.

An awful book. It glamourizes the worst excesses of the 1980's: meaningless sex, rampant consumerism, drug use and youthful apathy. If whining rich kids bemoaning their existence sounds exciting, try this. If you want a well written and stimulating book, go elsewhere.

i'd hate to be one of these kids living this party all the time, meaningless life. this was a good book but i was distracted by all the ANDs there were in it. "and this and that and this and that" no kidding, at some points it gets that bad. other than that, i wouldnt change a thing. over all a good book

I don't know why I picked this up after hating American Psycho so much. I guess I wanted to give the guy a chance.
I mean, I get it - Clay has a completely pointless and wasted existence. So does everyone else in the book. And that's it. Nothing happens, it never goes anywhere; and you end up not caring, either. Reading the book was a total waste, too.

The words "precocious talent" could not be more aptly applied to Mr. Ellis and this book. His later work is a love/hate proposition, but this is a very good book about a not-particularly-well-documented (in literature) time and place that is written with the cool efficiency of a pro.

It is a great read for the younger crowd for sure. Older people will enjoy it but you really need to be born in the middle to late 70's - early 90's to really get a kick out of this book.

It is very well written as is all of Bret's books.

A+++ Read

Pick it up today!

When one is young, club life looks exciting and dangerous. But when one gets beyond the surface of club life, its true empty nature shows itself. No one has shown this more accurately than BEE in LTZ

I loved the movie when it came out in the 80s....I usually think that books are better then movies but this was certainly not the case when reading Less Than Zero!!! This author writes in short bursts of thoughts and occurrences...No chapters, no fluid movement...Choppy at best! The Back cover of the book was the best part! Really made me want to dig in! Breezed though this book in about a day....Paging through, thinking "it has to get better", only to find that it doesn't....The names of most of the characters are totally stupid..How the movie and this book even shared the same title completely amazes me!! If you loved the movie...DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!! You will be asking yourself why you wasted your time on 200 pages of dribble! This books rating should be truly less than zero!!!

208 pages of aimless drivel. About 3 over worked metaphors that stick through a vapid juvenile vocabulary like the ribs of a starved street dog. The endless redundancy of a spoiled teenage journal: infinite self indulgence, vanity, and apathy. No description, no plot, no knowledge, and no feeling. Undoubtedly, the author will say "That's the point." And indeed for sick and fatuous stupidity, this book is the top of the heap. If you want to feel like you spend an evening with people who are forgetful, careless, and empty, this is your best choice.

"Less Than Zero" is pure genious. It defines L.A. as a souless, lonely place. Ellis experienced it first at hand. Sex, drugs, debauchery, and more drugs is the only way to really describe this book. See Los Angeles through Clay's eyes as he gets through his days by using and abusing drugs, going to parties, and witnessing his friend Julian go through hell. From Hollywood to Malibu, this book takes you everywhere from glamorous parties to an alley off of Melrose. A fast, easy read, and highly recommended.

Empty and shallow! I understand that's the point, there's like a couple of good lines that get hidden in all the unamusing repetitive dialogue! Blegh! Read The Rules of Attraction or American Psycho instead!!

My book club chose this book and everyone in my book club had the same opinion....it was horrible. I don't understand why anyone would give this a high rating. It's depressing, boring, badly written, anti-climatic and some of the images actually gave me a nightmare. It seemed like the author was just trying to shock the reader because he had no talent.

What a piece of garbage. This is, without doubt, the worst book I have ever read. I would have given it zero stars, but the store.com didn't have a zero star rating.

"Less Than Zero" chronicles the experiences of Clay, an 18 year old living life in the 80's. Clay narrates the story in a way that basically reads: I went to a party at ________, with (make up a few names) where I had alcohol/cigarettes/speed/coke and ended up going home with some boy/girl. Now imagine reading that last sentence again and again for 200 pages and you have basically read this book. It's that repetitive and monotonous.

If you are expecting to read a novel that actually has a story, then look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you want to read a book with hundreds of indistinguishable characters, almost every one of them described as blond haired and well tanned, then this book is for you.

Oh, and did I mention Ellis' writing style? When he is not making up new cardboard characters or dropping pointless pop culture references, he is demonstrating his fondness for the word "and". In one sentence he actually manages to stuff that word in 24 times (pg. 110 of my copy). And the opening sentence of the book? "People Are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles." You call that an opening sentence!? That's the sentence that is supposed to draw the reader in! Grab their attention!!

Quite frankly, I am astonished that this book was ever published. This book is just plain terrible. Read at your own risk.

P.S. I am actually 23. This review is titled "A kid's review" because I couldn't be bothered filling in the details for a proper review title.

This book is so boring! I cannot believe that I wasted my time reading it. The book might deal with rich kids problems in Beverly Hills and the problems may be real but gee nothing happens in the book! It is like the book just goes around in circles forever. Would never recommend this book to anyone!

This book sucks. I officially don't like Brett. I've tried to read his works hoping he'd be like Welsh or Selby. You, my friend are no Irvine Welsh. I'd rather read War and Peace, again. This is the first book in a long long time I refuse to finish.

Yeah, I liked this book the first time I read it...when I was fifteen and when it was called "American Psycho." There's nothing wrong with having a certain style, Bret Easton Ellis (and tip an ear, Poppy Z Brite), but it ain't kosher to simply rehash the same exact plotlines. Yes, Bret, we get it, there's a seamy underground to the yuppie lifestyle. How shocking! Go for American Psycho instead, if you must read Ellis. At least if you get it in your head that it's written as a social satire rather than just for shock value, it's not too bad, and infinitely better than LTZ.