Less than zero book plot

Prompted by editing this essay about the less than zero film and by fortuitously coming across a copy of the novel in a thrift store, i decided to reread bret easton elliss debut book, less than. This coolly mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. Ellis was viewed as the voice of a new generation and critics dubbed the book as the first mtv novel. As the story begins, clay, the protagonist of the story, has just been picked up at the airport by his girlfriend, blair.

The film stars andrew mccarthy as clay, a college freshman returning home for christmas to spend time with his exgirlfriend blair and his friend julian robert downey jr. Less than zero is a 1987 american drama film very loosely based on bret easton ellis novel of the same name. Rereading bret easton elliss less than zero as an adult. Here are 12 facts about less than zero, both the book and the film. The story follows a group of collegeage characters, beginning with protagonist clay in part 1. Nearing the end of the novel, clay becomes isolated and alienates. I had some reservations about the book, but was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the prose and the characters. Calling mister oswald with the swastika tattoo there is a vacancy waiting in the english voodoo carving v for vandal on the guilty boys head when hes had enough of. There isnt much of a plot to the book, which works in some respects and. Dec 29, 2011 less than zero is as slippery as the characters that haunt it. With andrew mccarthy, jami gertz, robert downey jr.

Clay is 18, home for christmas break from college in new hampshire. That inescapable fact is at the bottom of less than zero, a movie that knows cocaine inside out and paints a portrait of drug addiction that is all the more harrowing because it takes place in the beverly hills fast lane, in a world of wealth, sex, glamor and helpless. Less than zero makes many references to popular american music of the early 1980s. Less than zero is a 1987 film based on the book of the same name by bret easton ellis, starring andrew mccarthy as clay, jami gertz as blair, robert downey jr. Less than zero is very fast paced and divided into brief scenes much the same way mtv is fragmented into short videos.

Mar 25, 2016 less than zero is a novel more obviously filled with human pain, perhaps, than ellis later novel, where the pain is certainly there, only more coded, buried inside violence, surface and image in an even more complex way. View the study pack view the lesson plans study guide. Introduction author biography plot summary characters themes style historical context. What kind of music do elliss characters listen to, and why are these references important to the meaning of the novel. Elvis costello less than zero lyrics genius lyrics. Ask the students what the title of the book might mean. Bret easton ellis booklist bret easton ellis message board. Like ellis other books, less than zero is flawed but like his other books save for the the vast majority of the vile american psycho the charms of the book far outweigh its weaknesses. Apr 01, 2011 in 1985, bret easton ellis shocked, stunned and disturbed with his debut novel, less than zero. If were to believe the ads, the mere fact that the film is even loosely based on the book should indicate the films impending controversy.

This book works as a drug book a cocaine counterpart to the heroin trainspotting, as an eighties book, and as novel about stumbling into adulthood. Mar 26, 2019 lets start with the symbolism and then discuss meaning. Learn more about this period in american music history. Less than zero is as slippery as the characters that haunt it. George carlin was once asked how cocaine made you feel, and he answered. Less than zero is a haunting indictment of a spiritually bankrupt youth culture, a culture where the right clothes, the right car, the precise tilt of ones sunglasses are the only statements. The book less than zero was very loosely adapted into a movie in 1987 by 20th century fox in title only. Additionally, the characters of the novel refer constantly to songs and artists. Apr 01, 2011 less than zero is the authors first novel published while he was a college student. The movie is based on the 1985 novel less than zero by bret easton ellis. How realistic were the characters and lifestyle in less than. This novel is a work of fiction, but its sense of time and place, of a wayward.

Explain to the students that you will be teaching a lesson based on a story titled less than zero. Throughout the novel the protagonist moves from one club to another, one penthouse to another, one party to another all the time gathering a terrible momentum which takes him to worse places, worse situations, worse people. It draws us in only and precisely to the extent that we share its inability to care about anyone within its pages. Aug, 2018 less than zero is the authors first novel published while he was a college student. Plot summary for less than zero 1987, plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. The overfamiliar emptiness and superdecadence of l. Less than zero is the authors first novel published while he was a college student. In the film, clay is an antidrug crusader who returns home from college to try to rescue his friends from their various. The dreamlike nihilism of bret easton ellis less than zero. Titled after the elvis costello song of the same name, the novel follows the life of clay, a rich, young. Apart from the setting and the names, the film has very little to do with bret easton elliss book by the same title on which it was based.

Dive deep into bret easton ellis less than zero with extended analysis, commentary. In the novel the main character, clay, appears to be incapable or unable to have meaningful emotional connections with those people who used to be a part of his social circle. Ending spoiler for less than zero 1987, plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. Twentyfive years on from less than zero, we pick up again with clay. It starred andrew mccarthy as clay, robert downey jr. As the story begins, clay, the protagonist of the story, has just been picked up. An 18yearold kid named clay describes his alienation from the. The only real development in the book is clays gradually evolving disgust as he moves like a wraith through an endless round of casual sex.