The books combines both the Ellis of American Psycho(AP) and the Ellis of the Less than Zero (LTZ). American Psycho is one of my favorite books because of the sheer weight of all the description. The colors of everyone's clothes, the makeup of the food they are eating, and the brand names of every shower product. Here is a sample of the writing. For setup purposes, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is getting ready to got out on date at a posh Manhattan restaurant.
"I worked out heavily at the gym after leaving the office today, but the tension has returned, so I do ninety abdominal crunches, a hundred and fifty push-ups, and then I run in place for twenty minutes while listening to the new Huey Lewis CD. I take a hot shower and then afterwards use a new facial scrub by Caswell-Massey and a body wash by Greune, then a boday moisturizer by Lubriderm and a Neutrogena facial cream. I debate between two outfits. One is a wool-crepe suit by Bill Robinson I bought at Saks with this cotton jacquard shirt from Charivari and an Armani tie. Or a wool and cashmere sport coat with a blue plaid, a cotton shirt and pleated wool trousers by Alexander Julian, with a polka-dot silk tie."
Of course, then there is the sheer action. For those of you that haven't read AP, the violence in it is sheer pornographic. It is the first book to ever make me un-comfortable and is certainly not for the faint of heart. Particularly vicious scenes, with a gruesome obsession of violence against women and animals. I won't include a sample of any of those snippets, but you can find some descriptions online and can always read reviews. The movie is, surprisingly, an excellent interpretation of the book.
However, unlike a weaker writer, unlike me, Ellis never uses the exposition as a crutch. He combines it with his satirical sense to lampoon the yuppy 80's culture of getting rich and looking good while doing it. Of course, I am biased. Ellis received numerous death threats and negative reviews when AP came out in the early 90's. I see everything as Ellis does through the fan lense, which means, everything is satirical, everything attacks our celebrity culture.
Then there is the Ellis of LTZ and all the other :going nowhere" kids. Descriptions are actually very low key here, but Ellis never fails to portray these characters as empty or unlikable. He satirizes the yuppy culture, the LA nihilism, and the selfishness not through violence, but through portrayal. He makes airheads scary, because, well, they really are.
When I finish Glamorama, I would have read every Ellis book yet. Makes sense. In Glamorama, Ellis paints every aspect of posh Manhattan celebrity culture brightly, but never fills it in. Maybe the empty, pretty boy model protagonist will learn something by the end of the book, which would be the ultimate attack on celebrity culture. That it can grow and change. Like we are all supposed to do.
Before I go, I must say that I adore the covers that Vintage Contemporaries puts out for the recent runs of Ellis' books. The hazy, empty image of a city or bed over a white background. There are no people in these shots, which adds to the haunting feelings. We expect someone to be in the bed or milling about in the city, but they are hollow. Vintage recently put out a new printing of The Informers, a collection of Ellis short stories. It is a personal favorite, and I, unfortunately, could not find a picture. However, imagine the LTZ cover pictured except its a creepy metallic gray and the picture is a hotel pool with lounge chairs and striped beach umbrellas. Incredibly evocative for an Ellis book about several LA kids back from college on break.Peace!
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