Rating: 
Summary: Rules of wild
Review: 'The Rules of Attraction' is the second Bret Easton Ellis novel that I read --the first one was 'American Psycho', that I liked but I had too many troubles reading it, not for the violence, but for all those brands and names of cool places that pop up in every single line. I found 'Rules' much better written and interesting than 'Psycho'. Ellis writes as someone who knows what he's talking about --and he does know. Growing up in the early 80s was not easy, and the generation who had to face it grew up a very messy one. We're talking about coming-of-age in the time when individualism was the international order -- live for yourself, and forget the others, no matter how much celebrities clamed 'we are the world'. Nobody really cared about the other, in that time the term 'Politically Correct' meant nothing. And in this enviroment Ellis brings some of the most interesting characters of his literature: a group of 20-something who is discovering life. Yes, above all, they are getting in touch with their inner selves, and that's why they are so 'dirty' and mean. Actually there are no rules when it comes to have sex, everyone does it with everybody --people weren't very aware of AIDS (it was a 'new' disease) so the characters made free love. Everyone is seeking everybody, and it doesn't really mind with whom they will go to bed, as long as they don't go alone. But, you know, there is still some hope. Love may happen when we less expect, but it may not get along well with sex --at least in Ellis's world-- and every character suffers its consequence. I highly recommend this book, because it is a fun reading. It is impossible to be offended with it, its characters and events -- and it is also impossible to let them go after you finish the book. I'm always wondering what happen to them, and who they are nowadays... this is a question that nobody can answer -- maybe not Ellis himself.
Rating:
Summary: This is not Sweet Valley University ... thank god.
Review: A dark look at higher education at small liberal arts college in New England in the 80's. The title of the novel is alsmot a joke because at this college, there are no rules for anything. Everything is fair game, and identity, sexuality and emotions blur and bend with frightening intensity. There is no real accurate way to describe this novel except by saying that the summary on the back of the book in no way can convey the mastery of narration and flow that Ellis has achieved. Stream of consciousness, multiple narrators, unreliable narrators all mesh together to form one of the most convincing portraits of the go-go 80's. It's amazing Ellis actually did write the book in the 80's as one could dwear he was throwing in references and all to sweeten the period feel, a la The Wedding Singer. But I know for a fact that this book came out in the 80's because not only does the copyright prove it, but I remember seeing it on book shelves back then. The characters all emerge as very interesting people. By allowing them to all recite their stories in their own voices, you're able to clearly see their own failures and strengths and complexities. Ellis often shows the same version of events from 2 different viewpoints and the result is a hilarious mix of misunderstandings and mixed signals. At the same time, it made me feel rather uneasy and I thought, "Is this how life is too? We all fool ourselves into believing what really isn't there?" This book is a great and absorbing read written by a masterful author who seems as if he was at the premature top of his game. This novel will most likely need to be read a few times... but that's no chore. Look for a brief throwaway line about Classics majors not attending a party. This line clearly anticipates Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" which has a similar setting ... not surprising as Tartt and Ellis were college mates and friends at Bennington College in Vermont.
Rating: 
Summary: Love Triangle At A Pseudo-Bohemian College
Review: IT'S 1985, FALL, NEW HAMPSHIRE. Lauren's a pretty, virgin-type, yet she's not as chaste as she seems. Born with good looks and great money, Lauren is focused on what major she should choose and why the heck her boyfriend, Victor, won't call her--even if he's in Europe. Lauren's ex Paul's bi--sensitive, lovable, and sensible getting over his lost love, Mitchell--while looking at Sean. Semi-junkie and alcholic Sean's no one's ex, but sure would love to be with Lauren, who's like an angel to Sean, even though he does everyone he basically wants--which is almost half the school. I found this book so funny and so interesting and so realistic. It's like something I would love to read. I read Bret Easton Ellis's first book, Less Than Zero, and fell in love with it. Then I picked up The Rules of Attraction, 'cause I heard it was an OK movie and I hadn't seen it, so I decided to read it. It's amazing how someone can make a love triangle at an unconvential college seem so tasty and real. I wonder what his secret is. Anyway, get this book! It's amazing, raw, different, smart, realistic, fresh, and edgy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as his others.
Review: I recommend Ellis's "Less Than Zero" over this one, hands-down. In my mind, they covered very similar subjects (college kids who drink and drug and sex too much), but LTZ was more convincingly-written. I did like "The Rules of Attraction"'s narrator-swapping (see: TRAINSPOTTING) and the fact that because you saw the same events from several points-of-view, you never exactly knew what was really going on.... but even that lost my interest after a while. In short: If you're interested in Ellis's books, you're probably going to read this anyway; if you're looking for a place to start, pick up "Less Than Zero" before you get this one.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect emotion
Review: Bret Easton Ellis has created a masterpiece in literature with this book. It is perfect. Driving us deep into the lives of three college students living out there lives as young adults and caught in a love triangle.
The chapters are all written in the first person point of view and by a different characters. It reads in cycles, for instance, chapter one: Sean, chapter two: Lauren, chapter three: Paul etc. and each is written like a journal entry, letting you know each characters deep thoughts on life. Yes, we all know Ellis' style.
Drugs, sex, alcohol, and more sex bring us back to college and young life, bringing back memories of young love and pain. This is not a book for the feminist type or anyone that is offended by any of the three things above. Ellis was a young man when this book was written, giving the book a very real feel. His second book, written soon after LESS THAN ZERO, but there is no sophmore slump here, we are drawn into it faster than his first book and you get gripped even tighter.
Because of Ellis being young when this book was writen helps the writing a lot because he was roughly the age of his characters This book actually takes place at the same college that the main character of LESS THAN ZERO goes to, and he makes an apperance or two as well. We tread through parties, cafes and dorm rooms throughout most of the book.
To me, I find this work of Ellis' to be the center of all his other works. Why? because almost all of his other novels wrap around the characters of "Rules" is some way.
If you havent seen the movie yet, hold off until you read this first, you will get a much better grip of it.
This book is a Masterpiece, plain and simple. You will not put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Remember the experience of college? This book does.
Review: I read The Rules of Attraction while a junior in college, and it captured more than anything I've ever seen or read the FEELING of being in college. The requisite partying on any given night, the random hookups, the isolation even while surrounded by people, even the smallest details like the game of speed quarters. It was neat to know that in 1987 they were doing the same stuff we are now. I know Ellis's satire hypberbolizes some of the situations for maximum effect, but it's all in the name of capturing what it feels like to be in college and be confused and reckless and think you're smarter and more independent than you are. It was a snapshot of college in the 80s, and captures the experience now, and I think it will always connect with anyone who's been through college or just their early 20s. A wonderful novel.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE MASTERPIECE
Review: I read this book for the first time this year and loved it. Multiple first person narration has been done before, but I've never seen it pulled off as well as Ellis does it, and the book is hilariously dark. Read it!
Jason Starr, author of Tough Luck, etc
Rating:
Summary: Connecting All The Pieces in the Camden Equation
Review: Bret Easton Ellis seems to have caught the literary world by storm, holding their attention as he churned many a work out and forcing many to either praise him in the highest regards or to senselessly pummel everything he writes. This acclaim isn't without merit, either, because his satirical style and his sense of both the characterization and the timelines these embodiments of derelict souls drift through come off flawlessly on many an occasion-or at least when he seems in the mood to douse the pages with a life of their own. Such is the case with Rules of Attraction; a story riddled with Camden College's finest as they drift through saddeningly sadistic lives in search of "something" (or, in many cases, that someone) that always seems to elude them and the reader that looks on with entertained amazement. This leads them to hollowly substitute the things they love for things they seem to crave, opting out of anything meaningful in the streaming pages of the lives they lead. We get to see some bright spots on the moral ladder while looking on, too, with the ever-enriching Sean "Rock and Roll" Bateman (the brother of the nefarious Patrick Bateman), Paul Denton, and Lauren Hynde shining like stars in a heaven filled with drugs, a wondrously convoluted love triangle that seems to defy all involved, and a story lacking the strain of morality that makes Ellis such a genius when he's hard at work. The style of the piece itself is odd, with breaks that don't come between paragraphs and sentences that seem to drift on forever. At first this was something of an obstacle to overcome, but it became easily translated as time moved forward and I became accustomed to the figures being laid out before me. Were it any other writer doing this, I'm not certain they would have been able to pull this off with success, nor am I certain I would have stuck it out. Ellis, however, suffers no such dilemmas in the skill or my patience departments, making this reader clench his books tightly from beginning to end in what could amount to a literary one night stand.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot, anyone?
Review: Warning: I'm not going to put much time into this review. I did not love it or hate it enough to craft a perfect review. I completed The Rules of Attraction today, and I must say, it is an interesting book. Through a collection of voices, Easton creates a portrayal of decadent college life. The voices, however, begin to drone on as the novel progresses and no growth has occured nor plot has developed. I understand that Easton could have been trying to create a snapshot of this period and not be real concerned with plot, but there is no excuse for a snapshot to be 283 pages. Easton gets his point across at page 150-- and after that, we really don't need the repetition of casual sex and misinterpreted relationships. By then, we get the point. I may have read the book too quickly, and missed important details/scenes, but as far as I can tell, readers are drawing conclusions from personal experience- and not from Easton's writing. This book is described as showing the death of romance. I mean, yeah, it shows relationships without romance, but there is nothing profound about that. The major theme of this novel is basically "this is a lost generation. probably lost forever." we can figure that out pretty quickly, and the novel runs out of purpose much too soon. Easton is a talented author- able to create believable characters and set moods effectively. If he can apply this skill to a specific destination, he'll be all set.
Rating:
Summary: Savagely funny and sad
Review: You either love him, or you hate him...that seems to be the overall reaction people have to Bret Easton Ellis. However, I think I fall somewhere in between. I was enthralled by "Less Than Zero" when I read it in high school back in '85, was tormented by "American Psycho" -- both by its brilliance and audacity -- couldn't get through the first 100 pages of "Glamorama", and "Rules of Attraction"? -- I grew to love the characters over time as I find myself relating to them more than I ever thought I would. Savagely funny but incredibly sad, on its surface, "The Rules of Attraction" may not seem like it has a lot to say, but by the end of it, the reader (at least this reader) was left exhilarated and depressed by how much I liked these characters despite their apparent lack of any redeeming qualities and moral vacuity. Ellis' writing is alternately laugh-out-loud funny, barbed, and subtly poignant. He never hits you over the head. I was disappointed, though, by the last thirty or so pages, which felt like Ellis was running out of steam. But nonetheless, this ranks as one of his best. ...and despite the bad reviews, the recent film version is extremely well done in its own right, though the screenwriter takes certain liberties with time and sequence of plot. James van der Beek plays a great Sean Bateman. Worth seeing.
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