Less Than Zero is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1985. It was his first published effort, written when he was just nineteen years old. Image File history File links Lessthan01st1. ... Image File history File links Lessthan01st1. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ...

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 the winter break. He spends much of the novel going to parties and doing drugs with his friends. During this time, he must decide whether or not he wants to restart a relationship with Blair, for whom he is uncertain about his feelings. Meanwhile, Clay has one night stands with a few men and women on the side while his relationship with Blair goes downhill. At the same time, he renews his relationship with his best friend, Julian, who has become a prostitute and drug addict. Throughout his descent into the netherworld of the L.A. drug scene, he loses his faith in his friends, and grows alienated with the amoral party culture he once embraced. He is greatly disturbed by three events: first, his friend Trent shows a snuff film at a party and he seems to be the only one bothered by it; later, he is forced to sit in a chair for five hours to watch Julian sell himself to a businessman from Muncie, Indiana, in order to get money to support his heroin habit; finally, he meets friends at a concert, only to leave and not only find a dead body that everyone wants to see, but a 12-year-old girl who is naked and tied to the posts of a friend's bed, and once again his friends are attracted to it. Eventually, these events lead him to leave Los Angeles, possibly (as the ending seems to suggest) never to return. There are certain remarks about Elvis Costello in the novel that strengthen the theme of "Less Than Zero." Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus August 25, 1954 in London) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. ... Less Than Zero is the eighth track on Elvis Costellos debut album My Aim Is True, and the first Costello single that Stiff Records released. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State California County Los Angeles County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... One Night Stand is an HBO Stand-up Series that first aired February 15, 1989. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... Drug addiction, or dependency is the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. ... A snuff film, or snuff movie, depicts the killing of a human being - a human sacrifice (without the aid of special effects or other trickery) perpetuated for the medium of film. ... Muncie (IPA: ) is a city in Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... Heroin (INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ...

Literary significance and criticism

The novel is sometimes criticized for its journalistic style, loose plot, and minimal character development. However, others argue that this is an important device in telling the story, in that it shows the aimlessness and emptiness of the characters.

The author on his own novel: "I read it for the first time in about 20 years this year—recently. It wasn't so bad. I get it. I get fan mail now from people who weren't really born yet when the book came out. I don't think it's a perfect book by any means, but it's valid. I get where it comes from. I get what it is. I know that sounds so ambiguous. It's sort of out of my hands and it has its reputation, so what can you do about it? There's a lot of it that I wish was slightly more elegantly written. Overall, I was pretty shocked. It was pretty good writing for someone who was 19. I was pretty surprised by the level of writing." [1]

Characters

Less Than Zero has an extensive cast of characters. Listed below are the main ones who are prominent throughout the novel.

• Clay- Protagonist, student at Camden College in New Hampshire, who comes home to Los Angeles for Christmas, and meets many of his old friends while going to parties, concerts, and just navigating the city. In the novel, Clay is bisexual, he has at least one affair with a man during the course of the book, but he still longs to be with Blair. These events, which span four weeks, disillusion Clay with the people and the city, and he leaves for New Hampshire at the end, possibly never to return.

• Blair- Clay’s girlfriend, Clay is unsure of his feelings for her throughout the novel, and it’s made apparent through the story that neither has been very faithful to the other. By the end of the book, it appears she still wants to be with Clay and pleads with him not to go, though it’s uncertain whether or not Clay feels the same way. She’s a student at USC. She is also discribed as being Jewish.

• Julian- Clay’s friend from grade school and high school, who Clay spends much of the book looking for and finding out what he’s doing. He turns out to be both a prostitute and a drug dealer. The character is made more tragic through Clay's recurring memories of Julian and himself as small children.

• Trent- Another one of Clay’s friends, he’s a male model who attends UCLA. He’ll say things to Clay that Clay doesn’t understand, and Clay gradually becomes disheartened with him as the story progresses. Trent is made increasingly more unethical throughout the book until, in the last scene with him, he rapes a twelve year old girl.

• Rip- Clay’s dealer. Sporting a fedora and a penthouse on Wilshire Boulevard, Rip is also a DJ, but feels his fund from selling coke “might never run out.” At the end of the story, he shows Clay a 12-year-old girl naked and tied to his bed to be a sex slave.

• Daniel- Daniel is another student who attends Camden and is from Los Angeles. Many of the characters think he’s gay. In his earlier appearances, he was worried he had gotten a girl from Camden, Vanden, pregnant, but then doesn’t seem to care. In his final appearance, he tells Clay he won’t return to Camden, opting instead to stay in LA and write a screenplay. (Vanden, who isn’t seen in the book, later appears in American Psycho as well as The Rules of Attraction, in which she and Clay are briefly "involved".)

• Kim- One of Blair’s friends. During the course of the book she’s never sure where her mother, a film producer, is at, and only knows based on what she reads in trade papers.

• Alana- Another one of Blair’s friends.

• Finn- A pimp who helps Julian when he has a debt to pay. In public, he acts kindly towards Julian, calling him “his best boy” and often showing him to all his clients, but in private he can act very mean, forcibly giving him heroin shots and calling him ungrateful and would even abuse him sexually.

• Clay’s family- Clay has two sisters, who are 13 and 15. His parents are separated; his mother occupies their house while his father lives in an apartment. His mom has no job and lives off of her ex-husband's large alimony payments, and his dad is “in the film business”, with an office in Century City. In flashbacks, Clay talks about his grandpa, proprietor of several hotels, and his grandmother, now deceased.

In addition to these characters, there are also many, many others who only make one appearance in the story, and there are also several who are only mentioned and don’t even appear. Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,359 sq mi (24,239 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 3. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... The Trojan Shrine, better known as Tommy Trojan located in the center of University of Southern California campus. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Binomial name Ucla xenogrammus Holleman, 1993 The largemouth triplefin, Ucla xenogrammus, is a fish of the family Tripterygiidae and only member of the genus Ucla, found in the Pacific Ocean from Viet Nam, the Philippines, Palau and the Caroline Islands to Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Christmas Island), and the... A fedora, which in this case has been pinched at the front and being worn pushed back on the head, with the front of the brim bent down over the eyes. ... Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile District, looking east toward Downtown Los Angeles Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, looking east toward the Millionaires Mile Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California. ... American Psycho is a 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis. ... The Rules of Attraction is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis published in 1987. ... In many countries alimony, maintenance or spousal support is an obligation established by law that is based on the premise that both spouses have an absolute obligation to support each other during the marriage (or civil union) unless they are legally separated, though in some instances the obligation to support... Century City is the name of: A neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA. See: Century City, Los Angeles, California. ...

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

DVD cover

Main article: Less Than Zero (film)

Less Than Zero was very loosely adapted into a movie in 1987 by 20th Century Fox. 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 [2]. The movie focused on a strong anti-drug message, rather than the emptiness of the characters' lives as displayed in the novel. 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 and the names of the characters. Image File history File links Less Than Zero DVD cover Source: Amazon. ... Image File history File links Less Than Zero DVD cover Source: Amazon. ... Less Than Zero is a 1987 film based on the novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... Andrew McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor who appeared in several films during the 1980s. ... Robert John Downey Jr. ... Jami Gertz (born October 28, 1965 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress of Jewish descent. ... James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as sex, lies, and videotape (for which he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival), Stargate, and Secretary. ... William Bradley Brad Pitt(born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. ...

Sequel

Ellis announced (in a Danish television interview available at the network homepage[3]) after the release of his most recent novel Lunar Park that he may write a sequel to Less Than Zero: a story about the same characters set in the present day and focus on thier lives as they appoach middle age. Lunar Park is a combined semi-autobiographical novelization of the life of Bret Easton Ellis and is a ghost story in the vein of Stephen King. ... Middle age is the period of life beyond young adulthood but before the onset of old age. ...

Trivia

The opening track of the most recent Bloc Party album A Weekend in the City, named Song For Clay (Disappear Here), is inspired by this book.[4] Bloc Party are an English indie rock band. ... Alternate cover Special CD+DVD edition A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by Bloc Party, which was released on February 5, 2007. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

John Skipp's story "Less Than Zombie" is written as a horror-fiction tribute and send-up of Less Than Zero. John Skipp is a bestselling author and screenwriter whose eleven books have sold millions of copies and are reprinted in nine languages. ...

"Less Than Hero" is the title of an episode of the cartoon Futurama. Less Than Hero is the fourth episode in the fourth season of Futurama. ... Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, also the creator of The Simpsons, and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ...

External links

• Less Than Zero at the Internet Movie Database