less than zero book review

Set in Los Angeles in the early 1980's, this mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. They live in a world shaped by passivity. The place lacks feeling and hope. Three high school buddies, 2 male and 1 female, venture down very different paths after graduation. Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern College and re-enters a landscape of …

…way. Spoiled, unlikable characters pitifully indulging themselves with too much of everything and an insipid lost narrator makeup the text. As I kept reading I became aware of a weird sensation, a perverse, almost vicarious need to keep reading. Ellis is wonderful at creating a mood and infesting the reader with it. This book left me examining my outlook on life, friends, and drugs. I will also remember the lessons learned from reading this book.