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 during the early 1980s. 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 attempts to renew 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 four events. Eventually, these events lead him to leave Los Angeles, possibly intending never to return. It was first published in 1985 by Simon & Schuster.
Review
Ellis was viewed as the voice of a new generation and critics dubbed the book as "the first MTV novel". Less Than Zero is very fast paced and divided into brief scenes much the same way MTV is fragmented into short videos. Additionally, the characters of the novel refer constantly to songs and artists. Songs provide additional meaning to the novel, like, for example, an Elvis Costello song, which is the novel's title. Like the novel the song conjures up an atmosphere of a world out of joint, pervaded by mass media, drifting towards ultimate chaos.
This novel links to my play as it explores teen relationships and some of the more extreme problems that were experienced in the 1980s.
My play focuses on teen problems today, but teens attitudes towards relationships and their families were similar in the 1980s and this book has given me ideas about teen relationships which has enhanced the characters in my play.
