Imperial Bedrooms in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 08, 2010 Jason rated it really liked it

I have been an Ellis fan since starting college, so that was over ten years ago now. Many times in the past four or five years though, I would try to distance myself from Mr. Ellis's work. It seemed to me that having the same favorite author all this time shows a lack of scope, a lack of vision, and maybe even poor taste on my part, as Ellis appears to be kind of a one-trick pony at times.

With that said, his status as Jason's favorite author has just been reconfirmed with this new one.

Imperial B I have been an Ellis fan since starting college, so that was over ten years ago now. Many times in the past four or five years though, I would try to distance myself from Mr. Ellis's work. It seemed to me that having the same favorite author all this time shows a lack of scope, a lack of vision, and maybe even poor taste on my part, as Ellis appears to be kind of a one-trick pony at times.

With that said, his status as Jason's favorite author has just been reconfirmed with this new one.

Imperial Bedrooms is a fast, terrifying, moody piece. It lingers in your mind long after you read it, and I actually enjoyed this new outing more than Lunar Park, which I felt kind of fell apart in the the third quarter only to pick up again in the last few pages.

When we revisit Clay here from Less than Zero, it took no time at all to acclimate to his new lifestyle and catch up with all his old pals. The tone and voice of the novel are both very reminiscent, but also older and more narcissistic. It's a fresh look at an old narrator. Clay has gone from a wholly apathetic youngster to a selfish, alcoholic, misanthropic screenwriter. In this novel, he doesn't just lurk around LA as in the first go-around, but quickly gets involved with a no-good actress by the name of Rain and finds himself embroiled in shadowy conspiracies and unscrupulous, shady characters. The dialogue is sharp and the pace never lets up for even a minute. I read this novel over the course of one evening, and all I want to do now is go back and read it again.

You can tell Ellis took a cue from Raymond Chandler, and that's fine by me. It works well for this quick, furiously paced novel.

Now to close, about that sex scene at the end...was it necessary for this book? No. I personally felt it to be a tad shock value appeal, and almost out of character for Clay. Then again, maybe that was the point. Clay is the most unreliable narrator in an Ellis novel since Pat Bateman. It was rough, but also passes by fairly quickly, and it's pretty tame compared to much longer violent passages in Glamorama American Psycho.

I'm going to give this four stars because of the superfluous sex scene near the end. Other than that, I felt this was another triumph for Ellis. Great stuff! ...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Kiri rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed

A string of superlatives benefits no one, but I did enjoy this immensely. Ignore the reviews that pan this because if you enjoy Ellis' work you'll enjoy this. Pick it up, pour yourself a drink, and dive on in. ...more

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