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Stalking Bret Easton Ellis: A Novel in Two Parts
Stalking Bret Easton Ellis is a novel comprised of several vignettes detailing the lives of a handful of young college students in New England and Los Angeles. They are living the life that we all dream of-or maybe it's the life that we think we want to live. They struggle to find their way and yearn for acceptance and meaning in their superficial, empty, post-modern lives where money and beauty call the shots and indecency and nonchalance run rampant. Despite living on opposite coasts, the central characters' lives intertwine in "that way that people with million-dollar houses" have lives that intertwine. They are connected by an unspeakable code of skewed ethics and a lifestyle that dictates the necessities of the high life - a life they all struggle to belong in, whether already there or not. The fight to be part of the in-crowd is undermined by the pure emptiness of the lifestyles of the rich.
196 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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May 14, 2024(Originally posted on my blog, The Reader's Commute):
So, I'm a huge Bret Easton Ellis fan. I think I've written about it before. As a writer, he's been one of my main inspirations since high school. Shaking his hand at a reading remains one of my life's highlights.
I've certainly tried to emulate Ellis's writing in my own work; he was one of my initial inspirations for my senior project (a novella). However, Weiss and Wallace's writing moves past emulation and sort of runs into a place that gives me weird plagiarism vibes. Is this the "stalking" at work? Is this "rip-off" intentional?
This is marketed as "a novel in two parts." There's no physical division in the book noting where one part ends and the second part begins, but the division is easy to determine. The first "part" of the book is set in an east-coast liberal arts school (a la The Rules of Attraction), and the second "part" is set in the mansions of California (a la Less Than Zero).
So, what did I like about this book?
The vignettes were very short (some were only a paragraph). Each vignette focuses on one character. While I did find it hard to keep track of all of the characters (plus, their voices were all pretty similar), I enjoyed the continuously-shifting points of view. The short length of each vignette also allowed me to pick up the book in a spare minute and read something that felt like a complete thought.
The character of Sadie. Sadie is introduced as a "notorious virgin." I thought she stuck out in this environment where people have sex more frequently than they have conversations.
Similarly in the character vein, I loved the fact that Andrew Hampton is the only character to have a last name.
(It should also be said that I enjoyed reading about the characters in the first part - college setting - more than the second part)
The incorporation of footnotes when discussing music. The music discussion was an Ellis-inspired move that I enjoyed.
What did I not like about this book?
The frequency of lyrics and music discussion. Including them in almost every vignette? Sort of overkill.
The sheer number of characters. The same story could have been told with fewer characters. There was a long span of book time where I thought Carson was a female?
The inclusion of actual Bret Easton Ellis references. In one scene, a bunch of friends do drugs, lounge in bed, and watch American Psycho on TV. They talk about Christian Bale playing Patrick Bateman. Too weird.
In general, I felt that Weiss and Wallace did a decent job of "stalking" Bret Easton Ellis, but I really wish the material were more original. What it comes down to is this: next time I want to read Ellis, I will just pick up one of his books.
So, I'm a huge Bret Easton Ellis fan. I think I've written about it before. As a writer, he's been one of my main inspirations since high school. Shaking his hand at a reading remains one of my life's highlights.
I've certainly tried to emulate Ellis's writing in my own work; he was one of my initial inspirations for my senior project (a novella). However, Weiss and Wallace's writing moves past emulation and sort of runs into a place that gives me weird plagiarism vibes. Is this the "stalking" at work? Is this "rip-off" intentional?
This is marketed as "a novel in two parts." There's no physical division in the book noting where one part ends and the second part begins, but the division is easy to determine. The first "part" of the book is set in an east-coast liberal arts school (a la The Rules of Attraction), and the second "part" is set in the mansions of California (a la Less Than Zero).
So, what did I like about this book?
The vignettes were very short (some were only a paragraph). Each vignette focuses on one character. While I did find it hard to keep track of all of the characters (plus, their voices were all pretty similar), I enjoyed the continuously-shifting points of view. The short length of each vignette also allowed me to pick up the book in a spare minute and read something that felt like a complete thought.
The character of Sadie. Sadie is introduced as a "notorious virgin." I thought she stuck out in this environment where people have sex more frequently than they have conversations.
Similarly in the character vein, I loved the fact that Andrew Hampton is the only character to have a last name.
(It should also be said that I enjoyed reading about the characters in the first part - college setting - more than the second part)
The incorporation of footnotes when discussing music. The music discussion was an Ellis-inspired move that I enjoyed.
What did I not like about this book?
The frequency of lyrics and music discussion. Including them in almost every vignette? Sort of overkill.
The sheer number of characters. The same story could have been told with fewer characters. There was a long span of book time where I thought Carson was a female?
The inclusion of actual Bret Easton Ellis references. In one scene, a bunch of friends do drugs, lounge in bed, and watch American Psycho on TV. They talk about Christian Bale playing Patrick Bateman. Too weird.
In general, I felt that Weiss and Wallace did a decent job of "stalking" Bret Easton Ellis, but I really wish the material were more original. What it comes down to is this: next time I want to read Ellis, I will just pick up one of his books.
August 3, 2011
Wow, this book was awful. It seems that two high school students got together and decided to rewrite Bret Easton Ellis' past novel Less Than Zero. Whether they were trying to pay homage to him is irrelevant because the book is written in their own awful immature high school prose that attempts to be passed off as something like Ellis'. It is an awful imitation! I am not sure if there is some sort of irony that is suppose to permeate the pages but I will tell you it does not and probably was not even the intention. Rarely have I attempted to read a book and been so put off by its awfulness I did not finish it. This is one of those books. You have been warned!
February 15, 2010
"Stalking Bret Easton Ellis" tries a little too hard to imitate Ellis' "Rules of Attraction" and "Less Than Zero", especially in the L.A. chapters of this 'novel in two parts'. Nevertheless, even though I occasionally felt that it blurred the lines between homage and plagiarism a little, I did enjoy reading it. The characters in the West Coast parts in particular were fascinating and the writing was good, with the odd moment of brilliance.
July 6, 2012
If you like BEE you would mostly enjoy this. I read his stuff when I was younger and thought it would be cool to go out in a blaze of glory, you know never trust anyone over 30? But now? It's just not as entertaining. It just makes me feel.......hungover.
July 25, 2009
THE best novel I've read since BEE's last masterpiece. Right up my alley and it sucked me in. 20 hours was all I needed to finish this great book and I'm reading it all again.
November 19, 2009
Real life for many, thankfully not for me. Makes you appreciate what you have or "have not".
December 29, 2009
Holy Christ that was awful. Why would you besmirch BEE's good name like this? So suckers like myself will spend money would likely be the answer.
June 1, 2013
I wanted to like this, but t was written so badly, I put it down just a few pages in. Blech.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews