Books: The Rules Of Attraction

(Drivebycuriosity) - Bret Easton Ellis belongs to the stars of contemporary American fiction, albeit controversial. His novel "The Shards" (published 2023 ) creates a hitchcockian atmosphere and
pulled me into a sinister vertigo (my review )

His earlier novel "The Rules of attraction" (published 2010  amazon ) doesn`t have these qualities, even the author uses very similar condiments. The plot develops in short episodes, all told in first person, by female & male characters, college students in North East US. They are all obnoxious, pathetic & egocentric. Like in "The Shards" the protagonist`s  universes circle about parties, drugs, beer and fucking - lots of fucking. Unfortunately none of them and their sheer endless experiences were interesting.

It looks like Bret Easton Ellis`craftmanship developed a lot since publishing this novel and in "The Shards" he finally welted his ideas together.