Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6488 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-03
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
In "The Rules of Attraction", Bret Easton Ellis trains his incisive gaze on the kids at self-consciously bohemian Camden College, a small, affluent liberal-arts college in New England at the height of the Reagan 80s. He treats their sexual posturings and agonies with a mixture of acrid hilarity and compassion while exposing the moral vacuum at the centre of their lives. Racing from Thirsty Thursday Happy Hours to Dressed To Get Screwed parties to drinks at The Edge of the World, this is a poignant take on the death of romance. "Inspired. A wonderfully comic novel." - Gore Vidal. "Compelling...sympathetic to his "lost generation" the way only Fitzgerald was about his." - "Vanity Fair." "One of the primary inside sources in upper-middle-class America's continuing investigation of what has happened to its children." - "New York Times." "Ellis has always been regarded as the bad boy of contemporary American letters." - Douglas Kennedy. "A tour of the heart of darkness, a moral armageddon." - "The Times."

Customer Reviews

brilliant peek into a tangled web
This was the second book by Easton Ellis that I read (after american psycho) and focuses on the complicated lives of three characters caught up in a nasty love triangle (square? pentagon?) It slowly leaks information regarding the personas and backgrounds of the characters and does a good job of drawing you in, and putting you behind their eyes so to speak. For me the best thing about Ellis' works are the way the characters are linked, for example, one of the three primary characters in the rules of attraction, Sean Bateman, is the the brother of American psycho Pat Bateman (Sean stars in that book, for about 4 lines, and Pat is mentioned in this) Likewise, the love of one of the other leads lives, Victor, is the main character in Glamourama. These links are ingenious and very subtly deployed. From the second I clocked that Sean was Pat Batemans brother, I was hooked, and read all the rest of Easton Ellis' novels. I havent been dissapointed with a single one of them. Whilst this isnt as good as American Psycho, it stands alongside Glamorama, and above less than zero. A worthy read!

Great insight
This was the first Bret Easton Ellis book I'd read, so I wasn't sure on what to expect, but the book didn't disappoint. In fact it has made me stick a few more of his books in my Amazon wish list.

The start of the book sets the tone for the characters. It starts mid-sentence like your just dropping in on the book, and it ends mid-sentence, as if you just drift off not really caring about what has happened. This juxtaposition works very well and helps show the characters true essence.

Are money and drugs ruining the world? After reading "The Rules of Attraction" you will certainly believe so. The wild times, out-of-control students and disregard for anything other than oneself, doesn't paint a very pretty picture.

The story revolves around three main characters, Sean, Paul and Lauren. All rich, beautiful and delusional. Which attribute describes them best is hard to tell. As you go deeper the characters become entangled in various situations, some more serious than others. But all with the same terrible, depressing & soul-less attitude.

As the old cliche goes, after I started I didn't want to stop. A great read.

"The Rules of Attraction"
Having been dragged to the movie in the first instance I found it - confusing. Following a movie with very little plot, enough cocaine to bring down a herd of elephants and a twisted concept of love in the teenage world I became intruiged.

So, I bought the book.

I found that the book contains much of the missing information that causes the movie to lack substance. Although there is still no plot, per say, one has to acknowledge that the writer is exploring the concept that events in ones' life have no precise start and end - like a nice fairytale.

This daily journal of student life from the characters' varying points of view had me heart-broken as I watched Paul read deep into a non-existent relationship. Mary's suicide over being unable to communicate her affection for Sean and what little humanity he has being quashed by Lauren all caused this novel to hold my attention.

I agree, it's not the ideal book for someone who likes a strict plot and all the usual ingredients which make a 'classic' novel but if you can respect it for what it truly it (as well as the concept of the writer and the fact it's an exploratory piece of writing) then you should fully appreciate "The Rules of Attraction".