Richard Gardner

The Rules of Attraction (Brett Easten Ellis’s second novel) is a richer and deeper exploration of the nihilistic themes he covered in his stark debut. Whereas Less Than Zero concentrated on the empty existence of rich, hedonistic Camden student Clay (covering his drug-showered return to LA one holiday), The Rules of Attraction follows three — similarly pampered and self-obsessive/self destructive — students (this time at Camden college itself).

It is more of the same, really — none-stop partying, drinking and references to popular 80s youth culture; the characters making no attempt to do anything constructive with their lives — and in some ways is a much better novel. It is funnier (Ellis is sharper and more comfortable when swinging his satirical axe — though his humour is still muted in comparison to American Psycho); it is more complicated (not just in there being three protagonists, but also in scale (the college drug sex social mess is realistically constructed) and greater covers the effects that their bohemian lifestyle has on their purchased souls). You are also left with an even bigger void of hope at the end of it all (despite the somewhat flowery title, this is no romantic comedy).

I didn’t really enjoy it as much, though. I guess, because it wasn’t new to me anymore. I think I was hoping for a greater shift towards the naked satire of American Psycho. More of this novel is filled with the same empty observations and dialogue that made Less Than Zero so effective. This isn’t a bad thing, but it takes greater effort to get into (getting to intimately know three characters instead of one), a little longer to read and doesn’t really reward you with enough new ideas.

Anyway, that is only a surface disappointment: more of Less Than Zero is a good thing and I did enjoy reading this. Fans of his first novel will feel at home here. If you haven’t read that, then I recommend that you should read it first–it is a slightly more focused and fluent example of Easton Ellis’s early work.