American postmodernist author of the mid 80'
s to the current day.
Ellis was one of the so called Bratpack of American authors of the 1980's along with Jay McInerney and Tama Janowitz.
Ellis writes exclusively in the first person present tenths,as if the character is narrating the book.
Ellis's first novel 'Less Than Zero'(published while still in College) was a critical and commercial smash. Dealing with the vapid lives of wealthy
California teens back from College for the
Christmas hollidays.
Ellis followed this up with 'The Rules Of Attraction' a college melodrama set in a thinly disguised Bennington college. It received less positive reviews. Then came
Ellis's most famous and controversial book 'American Psycho.' The shocking book detailing in gruesome detail the exploits of stock broker and psychopath Patrick Bateman, drew howls of outrage from critics, NoW, and
Ellis even received death threats.
What was lost in the furore was that
Ellis's book was a scathing satire on the 1980's and as the author himself has said, largerly a
feminist book.
Ellis didn't publish another full length novel (the patchy short story collection 'The Informers' aside) until the '99 novel Glamorama. A international thriller dealing with fashion model-terrorists and the increasing shallowness of society it was easily his longest book to date and the hardest to get into.
In 2005 Ellis released Lunar Park a so-called fictional autobiography with Ellis himself as the main character tormented by figures from his past,adjusting to married life in Suburbia copycat killings from AP. Many characters from his books are characters in this socalled autobiography, delighting his hardcore fans.
