Glamorama

Rating:
Summary: Surreal, ambitious, messy, brilliant
Review: Many more words could describe "Glamorama," Ellis' biggest, most complex novel. Victor Ward's life consists of sleeping with two supermodels, overseeing the opening of an exclusive nightclub and schmoozing with every New York celebrity imaginable. Victor is a successful model himself and an aspiring actor, and he lives an incredibly enviable lifestyle. But then things fall out of his control, the world begins to seem very surreal to him (he's not sure if the terrible things that happen are real or if they are part of some movie, and neither is the reader) and he is forced to go to Europe in search of a young woman. Waiting for him there are corrupt government organizations, idenity thieves, brainwashing organizations and international terrorists. It doesn't all make sense, but it doesn't intend to: Ellis is attempting to connect satirical celebrity obsession, international terrorism, idenity confusion and nationwide conspiracies. "Glamorama" does not spell everything out for the reader, and it is close to impossible to make sense of it all. Like "American Psycho" (which I am a passionate defender of) the narrator is unreliable and we are never sure what is delusional and what is factual, and whether or not the hero is being honest with himself. Contrary to popular opinion, Ellis is one of the two or three greatest writers of his generation, and "Glamorama" is a step in a different, more ambitious direction than his previous novels, which were loved by me but hated by many other others. Although it is at times messy (and even frustrating) "Glamorama" is a tour-de-force of ambition and unpredictability. Those who connect strongly to Ellis' work (like I do) will love it, those who don't like his other books will hate this one most.

Rating:
Summary: 'Glam' according to Ellis
Review: Glamorama, a first person narrative, is a very dishelving novel, a tour de macabre, in which Ellis relentlessly rails on the lifestyles of the rich and famous through his poignant satire. Bret Easton Ellis, author of Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction and others, scares me-not in the run-into-mommy-and-daddy's-bed-because-a-monster (in the form of blowing tree leaves) moves-about-outside-my-window way, but in a questioning humanity's depravity and pondering societies' moral existence sort of way. His writing is perfection of the English language. He picks the sublime words and expressions to describe situations and uses the perfect pop culture allusions to demand your presence in every scene. This is a profound literary feat, but at times you find yourself in racy, sexually explicit, and often deranged atmospheres, (i.e. manage-a-trois ending in mutilation,) which are uncomfortable-to say the least. Victor Johnson/Ward is the main character and not necessarily a 'model' citizen. He attends photo shoots, poses for magazine covers, parties with the social elite of Hollywood, and is as empty as a pauper's wallet. He treats women with an uncaring heir of arrogance-as if they merely exist for his entertainment-and drops them like last season's leather pants as soon as he finds someone better. His conversational skill is-"um"-limited as well. The moment some controversy or depth in topic arises, he immediately spouts out, "Um...baby, you look-er-Uma-ish, totally sexy." This is usually followed by a "thank-you Victor, you look great yourself," or an abrupt exit by either party (moving on to something/someone better.) Thus, Victor is the avatar-the physical embodiment-of self-centrism. His motto is, "The better you look, the more you see," very rich. Ellis is making a statement about the lives and superficiality of Glam-America, the models, movie stars, fashion savants, et al, and how they seemingly sleepwalk through existence. Where a normal satire stops, Ellis begins. After you taste the shallow fruit of Glamorama, Ellis intrigues you with a perplexing and very mysterious plot. With its abrupt turns and miss-leads, as a labryinth, the plot leaves the reader fingernail-biting nervous, fashed, and eager to find a way out. Unfortunately, ending on the same note as Ellis' controversial book, American Psycho, "this is not an exit." Pick up Glamorama because Ellis is incredible; because when the show stops and the director calls "cut" (you'll understand the director reference in good time) you will cheer for an encore, however, with sweaty palms and a somewhat shaky smile.

Rating:
Summary: Ellis loses track of the plot, subplots
Review: I just finished reading this a second time and while the humor was more prevalent, "Glamorama" ultimately ended up being a puzzling, "why bother?" novel loaded with superficial, self-centered characters, contrived situations, and perhaps THOUSANDS of minor details and subplots that have no payoff.

For a while, it's a relatively funny, fresh spit at the life of a morally vacant fashion model named Victor Ward. But after the chaotic, faux-opening of a trendy Manhattan club, he's shipped off to Paris (London? I can't remember) to bring Jamie Fields--an ex-flame--back to the States. Eventually Victor falls in with a terrorist group headed by an ex-male model and "Glamorama" goes into darkness that isn't as disturbing as you might think, because the protagonist is so clueless. (I understand that's Ellis's intention, but COME ON.)

And that description is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many characters and tiny bits of information encased in Ellis's run-on sentences it's obvious he wanted to go all out and make the most convoluted conspiracy thriller of all time. I guess he succeeds in that respect, but too many scenes (the photos altered on the computer, the long 3-way sex scene, etc.) just seem there to take up space and don't lead to any real payoff. Adding to the confusion is the "French film crew" that follows Victor around and confers with him about certain scenes, an aspect that intentionally trims down the impact of the novel.

With "Glamorama," all Ellis proves is that you can watch enough TV and movies and crank out a slick yet ice-cold conspiracy thriller and still be taken seriously as an author. The last hundred pages basically consist of fraudulent explanations & lies being heaped upon one another until nothing makes sense and it's clear Ellis had no idea how the conspiracy would ultimately be resolved.

As an author, I admire Ellis, and this isn't bad if you go in with your expectations low. The connection between the fascism of 'American beauty' and the fascism of terrorism is indeed an interesting theory, but there's nothing within these 546 pages that offers insight of any kind into that.

Rating:
Summary: I just don't get it
Review: This review contains spoilers! Okay, this book started out with potential. It was funny, and right-on, and current. The dialogue was quick, and witty, and there were a lot of undercurrents of social commentary. The story even started to get intriguing and suspenseful as Victor's European travels began. Now maybe I'm just not sharp enough to understand the plot(i always did have trouble with figuring out what was going on in complicated police/crime/drama movies), but I found the ending of this book completely baffling. I had so many questions, and no answers, and it really frustrated me. I felt like i spent all this time reading the book, and for what? What was the deal with Palakon anyway? What was Jamie Fields' real story? Who was Lauren Hynde, and what was her signifigance in the plot? Who were those two guys Victor killed in his apartment? What was the deal with Davide getting killed in the end? I didn't understand the broad idea of the whole scandal with the father. I thought I got it, but then something would happend that would make me not get it. If I had an explanation of the plot's outcome, the book would have gotten a better review. I liked reading it right to the end, but it was a struggle to follow. As for B.E.E., i thought his writing style was interesting. I thought the run-on sentences were appropriate for the subject matter and characters, and i liked it. The sex and voilence was graphic, but I guess it fit in with the feeling of the whole book. But I felt like he was playing an "i'm too hip and edgy and cryptic" joke on me, the reader. It was like he didn't care if the readers understood or not, he just wanted to write this really confusing, weird book. He could have made it a little clearer. Maybe it's just me, maybe everyone else who read this understood what happened. I did get certain things out of it, certain messages, morals. But if it ever gets made into a movie or something, i hope it's a little clearer.

Rating:
Summary: Post-Modern Hell
Review: Quite a long time ago that I read a really good novel like this, that makes the reader join in creating it. It's written in a fine style that makes you read every sentence with pleasure. The book is comparable to 'American Psycho' (with a brief appearance of Patrick Bateman), but more funny and entertaining, with great comic dialogue. The first part is a clever satire of the shallow and conceited world of 'celebs'. Then a transition to a virtual reality made up of every phobia and obsession of the late nineties, where we have completely lost our footing and sense of what's real and what's not. Of what's important and what's not. It may be that Victor Ward has died and gone to hell, his boattrip through the mist is like a crossing to the nether world. But maybe we are all going there. Reality is warped on the other side. The Japanese try to take over the world by altering reality, sponsoring terrorism, and replacing people in influential places with body doubles, and others are working against them. But to work against them you have to work for them, so what's the difference, and it's all just a movie anyway. It doesn't really matter. There is no point. Everybody reads from a script and is being filmed, but if you haven't read the script, or read the wrong one, you miss out on what's most important. And at some point the movie ends, and then what?

A big minus is of course the cruelty and bloodshed. It's a sign of the times that apparently such things cannot be suggested anymore but have to be explicitly described in realistic detail to make an impression.

Rating:
Summary: Brett Easton Ellis goes to Hollywood
Review: This is the revenge of Brett for the endless torture he endured while the movie "American Psycho", adapted from his book, was in the making. He became so involved in the making of the movie that he began to confuse truth and reality, which shows in his book, where fantasy and real life of the actors are inextricably intermingled. This is a great book for the virtual world that is coming, where you have many identities and begin to wonder which facet of you is the real one. You never know who the hero really is: a gigolo, a band leader, an actor or the son of the future president? I will not bore you with pseudo-philosophical and sentimental thoughts, but that is an interesting question to ponder for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: You have got to be kidding me.
Review: Ellis passes off run-on sentences as "style". The characters have no depth (and please don't bother saying that that's how it's supposed to be. As Victor Ward would say, "Spare me." Great fiction invariably features deep characters. Period). The story is ridiculous: terrorist models? oh my god. (shaking head incredulously.) Not only that, but the particulars of his ridiculous story are the products of a mind still in Creative Writing Workshops, i.e., the blunt symbolism (cold, confetti, bad smells, camera crews [as in, is it Real or a Script?]), the attempts to shock (8 pages of degrading, gymnastic sex, gratuitous scenes of torture) . . . in other words, teen-angst quality writing. Mucho navel-gazing, as well. Literature for the Post-Literate set, i.e., those who think "graphic novels" {read: comic books) are serious works of art, that *The Matrix* was a deep film . . . so forth.

Piece of advice for Ellis: please stop writing. You're embarrassing yourself even more than you're embarrassing your readers. Dude -- "taking on" the fashion industry is like taking on . . . mimes. Also: it helps to NOT adore the milieu yer satirizin', goodbuddy. . . .

Rating:
Summary: Bret Easton Ellis continues
Review: It's almost hard for me to write a review about the characters in Glamorama. At first glance, they're just like the characters in any of Ellis' novels. In fact, read them all and you'll realize they all know each other...in the Rules of Attraction, you have chapters narrated by Sean Bateman, brother of American Psycho's serial killer Patrick. Characters from previous novels make cameos or get mentioned in Glamorama as well, creating an interestingly small Ellis world where high fashion, lots of drugs and sex, and wonderfully shallow minds prevail. Glamorama starts like any other Ellis novel about relationships and life. With his trademark attention to shallow detail, Ellis quickly defines his characters: who's sleeping with whom and who else he/she's sleeping with, how they all know one another from the same Ralph Lauren party, how they dated so-and-so...what is always interesting and curious is to see Ellis work in fictional models and stars with real Hollywood performers, blurring the lines of fiction. I often stop and wonder, "Is Skeet Ulrich really like that?" These blurred lines really "up the ante" on the stakes in Glamorama as you begin to see just how empowered some of these shallow people might be...and how easily it is to overlook someone in favor of the obvious choice. Ellis is constantly called a satirist but I fail to see it. What he does is so accurately portray that shallow sense of what's important that is prevailant in today's society that we think he's poking fun at it. In reality, I think he's hitting on a certain truth: There are people in the United States who are exactly like the Victor Wards and Lauren Hyndes, and they're capable of anything and everything that Ellis writes.

Rating:
Summary: Uhhh?
Review: When I read this book, I could not put it down- until Victor left New York for Europe. After that, I could not piece together what was going on, I was having to reread the book, as I read I was constantly thinking "did I miss something, or is part of my book was missing?" I didn't "get" what the whole "living in a movie storyline" meant. Or the rooms being really cold so "steam" came from their breath. Or Victor's foot/body falling asleep. And what about these clones of people? Are the real ones so fake, any imposter can pretend to be them and noone notices? I REALLY loved this book, BUT I think there were WAY too many loose ends that I would have been happy to see tied. And WHY did Bret Easton Ellis allow Hollywood to make a horrible satire on American Psycho....

Rating:
Summary: A practical review for BEE fans
Review: If you're a BEE follower, this is a must read, but I don't have to tell you that. I believe it's his best work yet, and interestingly, it ties together characters and storylines developed in previous books . . . so much so that it made me re-read, or at least flip through AP, ROA, Informers, and LTZ. BEE has an uncanny way of crafting shallow, pretentious, unlikeable characters that you end up liking quite a bit. I'm not convinced when he plays the moralizer in interviews, and from what little I know through friends and accounts of his youth, there seems to be a lot of him in his books.

Now, more interestingly, if you liked this and you're looking for other good reads, you might try the following: Donna Tartt, A SECRET HISTORY; Douglas Rushkoff, ECSTASY CLUB; Coerte Felske, WORD (not quite as biting, but still a good LA genre story); Hemingway, THE GARDEN OF EDEN (one of my favorite books ever); Umberto Ecco, FOCAULT'S PENDULUM (somewhat off the topic, but an incredible book if you haven't read it).

On another note, I'd love to hear from other BEE fans on their recommendations for books, or about good LA genre books like Less Than Zero, The Informers and Word. [e-mail].