Less Than Zero

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (Vintage Contemporaries) ISBN: 978-0-679-78149-3

Plot Summary

Less Than Zero follows Clay on his Christmas break from college in New Hampshire.  Clay's adventures and the people he meets blur into one another for the reader.  Much of the novel is set at a surface level; the characters seem to compete with their brand and band loyalties.  And the song from which the novel takes it's name seems to describe the weight of the action in the story: "Everything means less than zero." To test this, Easton Ellis shows the disaffected manner in which Clay reacts to sex, his ex-girlfriend Blair, seeing a friend shoot heroine, seeing a dead body in an alleyway, and much worse.  Threading through the narrative is a flashback to the summer spent in Palm Springs before the death of Clay's grandmother.  Easton Ellis is careful not to didactically connect the two threads, and it's unclear how exactly we are supposed to read the death -- as the result of Clay's problems, as a further indication of them, or as a longing for things that can no longer be.  Even when the most terrible events of the novel occur, Easton Ellis writes so bloodlessly about them, that they seem to matter as little as if they hadn't happened at all.  It's a harrowing read.

Critical Evaluation

Despite it's 18 year old narrator and it's descriptions of the same L.A. club scene that one finds in Weetzie Bat, Less Than Zero is not really the kind of novel, you'll find yourself suggesting to teens.  It's much more likely that they would gravitate towards it themselves after seeing some of the films based on Easton Ellis books (American Pyscho; The Rules of Attraction -- and it's been speculated that Roger Avary, who directed The Rules of Attraction, would also adapt its sequel Glamorama).  The book is austere and disaffected.  It is of a piece with Don Dellilo's White Noise.  Like that book, the characters in Less Than Zero cannot seem to connect to the people around them.  Clay's mantra from the opening page of the novel is "People do not merge."  To drive this point home, Easton Ellis increasingly raises the level of depravity in the novel: a snuff film, Clay watching a friend act as a prostitute, and then looking on as friends rape a kidnap victim.  

You aren't going to shelve this book in the YA section.  But this brings up some core issues of librarianship: namely intellectual freedom and censorship.  This book is of a kind that teens are likely to read, and it is not without its literary merits.  It paints a bleak picture of an era of excess. As librarians, we ought to be prepared to talk to teens who have sought it out or read it or other similar books (some perhaps featuring even more depravity with less writer-ly skill).

Reader’s Annotation

Clay is a disaffected, drug abusing teen.  He spends his Christmas vacation from college going from party to party, wondering if he'll be ever be able to feel again.

Information about the author

From the publisher's webpage:

Bret Easton Ellis is the author of five previous novels including, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama, and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers.  His works have been translated into twenty-seven languages.  Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, and The Informers have all been made into films.  He lives in Los Angeles.  (Random House,  2013)

Genre

Realism; LGBT. 

Curriculum Ties

It is highly unlikely that this book would be used in a highschool; it's content is the stuff of a college (or graduate school) seminar.

Booktalking Ideas

It's extremely unlikely that a teen librarian would choose to do a booktalk on this book.
However, in the rare case that they did, they would really need to spark a discussion about the topics the book deals with.  What do you do when you see someone raped or watch your friend perform acts of prostitution?  It would also be appropriate to discuss the impact of drugs and discuss how they influence the narrator's attitude.

Reading Level/Interest Age

17 years old and higher (like the R rated film adaptations of his novels this book really pushes the envelope).

Challenge Issues

There are many: gay relationships, immense drug use, physical and sexual violence, language, sex, amoral characters.

While I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend the book to a teen or place it in the YA section of the library (though if a teen were looking for read-alikes or view alikes for The Rules of Attraction or American Pyscho, I would likely mention this book and the film adaptation) I believe it is a patron's right to read what they will, and a parent's right to police their children.  I would openly greet any patron who presented a challenge to the work, giving them ample time to detail their complaint.  I would listen attentively.  To respond to these challenges I would have some reviews of the work on hand.   I would be prepared to explain that as a public institution libraries "cannot limit access on the basis of age or other characteristics" (ALA, 1999).  I would have copies of the library's collection policy on hand.  I would be prepared to politely discuss that parents can control what their children are exposed to by coming to the library with them and examining books they check out.  If the Teen Advisory Group had written reviews of the work I'd have them handy.  While it may be of little comfort to certain parents, I would also be prepared to discuss my staunch support of intellectual freedom and abhorrence of censorship.  As a last resort, I would be sure to keep copies or a reconsideration form on hand.

Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?

Several of Easton Ellis' novels -- including this one -- have been made into films starring actors that teens might easily relate to (Robert Downey Jr., Christian Bale, James Vanderbeek, Rosario Dawson).  I also wanted to acknowledge that teens will not restrict themselves to materials deemed worthy of teen reading or works with a YA sticker on them.  The whole library is open to browsing and teens may very well check out materials like.  Also, the book deals with issues similar to those raised in Pink and in Weetzie Bat, but in a far more adult manner.

References

American Library Association. (1999). Strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips 


Random House. (2013). Imperial Bedrooms by Brett Easton Ellis: Author bio. Retrieved from http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/eastonellis/#/author-bio