Less Than Zero (novel)


Less Than Zero is the debut novel of Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1985. It was his first published effort, released when he was 21 years old and still a student at Bennington College.

Plot summary

Titled after the Elvis Costello song of the same name, the novel follows the life of Clay, a rich, young college student who has returned to his hometown of Los Angeles, California for winter break circa 1984. Through first-person narration, Clay describes his progressive alienation from the culture around him, loss of faith in his friends, and his meditations on events in his recent past.
After reuniting with his ex-girlfriend Blair, and friends like Trent, now a successful model, Clay embarks on a series of drug-fueled nights of partying, during which he has one-night stands with both sexes. While partying, he tries to track down his best friend from high school, Julian, with whom he hasn't spoken in months. In between descriptions of his days and nights, Clay recounts a vacation spent with his parents and grandparents, during which he seemed to be the only person concerned that his grandmother was dying of cancer.
Over time, Clay becomes progressively disillusioned with the party scene as he witnesses the apathy of his friends towards the suffering of one another and those around them: at one party, he watches as the revellers joke and take Polaroids of his friend, Muriel, while she injects heroin; at another, he and Blair are the only two who exhibit revulsion when Trent shows a snuff film, which sexually excites several partygoers.
Clay ultimately tracks down Julian, who borrows a large sum of money from Clay. At first, Julian says that the money is for an abortion, but Clay doesn't believe him. Later, when Clay asks Julian to pay him back, Julian brings him to meet his abusive pimp, Finn. It is revealed that Julian has become a heroin addict and turned to prostitution in order to pay off a debt to unnamed drug dealers. Believing what he has been told, yet still feeling an empty desire to witness this awful scene for himself, Clay accompanies Julian to a rendezvous in a hotel room with a married closeted businessman from Indiana, where he is compelled by the john to watch the man and Julian have sex for several hours.
After attending a concert with his friends, Clay accompanies them to an alleyway, where they stare, fascinated, at the corpse of a young man, presumably dead by overdose. Afterward, Clay follows the group back to the home of his drug dealer, Rip, who wants to show off his latest acquisition: a twelve-year-old sex slave whom Rip has been keeping drugged in his bedroom. When Clay tells Rip, "I don't think it's right," Rip says, "What's right?" Clay leaves, but Trent decides to stay so that he can participate.
Now feeling completely isolated and with winter break coming to an end, Clay reflects on the brutal nature of his surroundings as he returns to college in New Hampshire.

Background

Ellis began work on what would become Less Than Zero in 1980. He cites his major influences as Joan Didion and Los Angeles noir, but he was also inspired by the moral ambiguity of American Gigolo.
Less Than Zero was to become Ellis' first attempt at a proper novel, following much roman à clef juvenilia. Its first draft was incredibly emotional and overwrought, and in the third-person. Ellis's creative writing teacher, novelist Joe McGinniss, advised that he return to the first-person style of roman à clef and Ellis stripped it back, from there evoking the minimalist style for which it became famous.
In the former child actor Danny Bonaduce's 2002 autobiography, Random Acts of Badness, Bonaduce notes the striking similarity between the fictional high school in Less Than Zero and The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, where Bonaduce, recording artist Michael Jackson, film actor Christian Brando, and other children of wealth and celebrity went to school together. In commenting on the novel, Bonaduce notes, "When the book Less Than Zero came out, all my classmates were pissed. Not because it was an exact portrayal of our school – but because we failed to get any royalties."

Characters

Less Than Zero has an extensive cast of characters; the ones listed play major roles throughout the novel.
; Clay
; Blair
; Julian Wells
; Trent Burroughs
; Rip Millar
; Daniel Carter
; The Handsome Dunce
; Kim
; Alana
; Muriel
; Finn Delaney
; Clay's family

Film adaptation

The book Less Than Zero was very loosely adapted into a movie in 1987 by 20th Century Fox in title only. It starred Andrew McCarthy as Clay, Robert Downey Jr. as Julian, Jami Gertz as Blair, and James Spader as Rip. A then-unknown Brad Pitt also appeared as an extra. In the film, Clay is an anti-drug crusader who returns home from college to try to rescue his friends from their various narcotics addictions.
Due to all the liberties taken, Ellis refused to see the movie. In a recent interview with Amazon.com, Ellis stated that he has warmed up to the movie, and appreciates it visually as a snapshot of a particular time. Ellis claimed that there was no connection between the book and the movie, except for the title, the location of Southern California and the names of the characters.
A long-running rumor in the film industry is that Quentin Tarantino has been interested in filming a new version of Less Than Zero. His workmate Roger Avary adapted The Rules of Attraction, in 2002, and since both he and Tarantino like the works by Ellis, Tarantino has been eyeing the possibility of adapting Less Than Zero. Ellis stated in an interview for Vice Magazine that Quentin Tarantino has been "trying to get Fox to let him remake it." At a Q & A at Harvard Book Store in 2012 Ellis stated in a reply to a question of whether Less Than Zero will be remade that Tarantino "has shown interest" in adapting the story. This Q & A filmed by WGBH Forum Network is called Bret Easton Ellis: Imperial Bedrooms and can be seen on YouTube.

TV adaptation

On July 31, 2018, it was announced that Hulu had ordered a pilot for the series. Bret Easton Ellis is set to executive produce alongside with Craig Wright who is also the series developer and Brett Morgan is set to direct the pilot. However, Hulu chose not to produce a series based off the pilot

Sequel

Ellis announced in 2005 that he would be writing a sequel to Less Than Zero: a story following the same characters, set in the present day, that focuses on their lives as they approach middle age.
In January 2008, Ellis announced that his forthcoming novel Imperial Bedrooms would be the sequel to Less Than Zero. In keeping with the original, the title is taken from the title of an Elvis Costello record. The book appeared in 2010.

Reception

The author stated:
Upon the release of Imperial Bedrooms, Details commented on Less Than Zero and its original reviews, stating: "Years ago people could have read some of your books and said, "Oh, this is just nihilism. These people don't exist! There's nobody that rich and stupid and narcissistic!"". Ellis remarks "surprise!". They also credit him with "In a way, Paris Hilton and Spencer Pratt and the Kardashians."

Cultural references