White

Description

Bret Easton Ellis has wrestled with the double-edged sword of fame and notoriety for more than thirty years now, since Less Than Zero catapulted him into the limelight in 1985, earning him devoted fans and, perhaps, even fiercer enemies. An enigmatic figure who has always gone against the grain and refused categorization, he captured the depravity of the eighties with one of contemporary literature's most polarizing characters, American Psycho's iconic, terrifying Patrick Bateman, and received plentiful death threats in the bargain. In recent years, his candor and gallows humor on both Twitter and his podcast have continued his legacy as someone determined to speak the truth, however painful it might be, and whom people accordingly either love or love to hate. He encounters various positions and voices controversial opinions, more often than not fighting the status quo. Now, in White, with the same originality displayed in his fiction, Ellis pours himself out onto the page and, in doing so, eviscerates the perceived good that the social media age has wrought, starting with the dangerous cult of likeability. White is both a denunciation of censorship, particularly the self-inflicted sort committed in hopes of being 'accepted', and a bracing view of a life devoted to authenticity. Provocative, incisive, funny, and surprisingly poignant, White reveals not only what is visible on the glittering, pristine surface but also the riotous truths that are hidden underneath.

Bret Easton Ellis is the author of several novels, including Imperial Bedrooms, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama, and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers. His works have been translated into thirty-two languages. Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, and The Informers have all been made into films. He divides his time between Los Angeles and New York City.

The first work of non-fiction from the American Psycho author is very good . . . the best thing he has published for years * Sunday Times * A winning mixture of incautious autobiography and caustic polemic, with plenty of sharp social observation thrown in . . . What a timely book this is - bursting with wit and diablerie, shameless, bracing and fun. * Mail on Sunday * A splenetic analysis of the culture of today . . . occasionally brilliant, often thought-provoking * The Times * Not everybody is going to like it. He doesn't care. * New York Times * For the youthful twitterati, I suppose, he's just another old white man who hates everything * The Times * This attack on political correctness in the Twitter age . . . has all the sound, fury and insignificance of a misguided rant posted at 3am * Guardian * Ellis will lose friends over this book. * Wall Street Journal * Best described as a provocation . . . it's up to you, the reader, to choose to what degree you are prepared to allow yourself to be riled. * Observer * @BretEastonEllis Your book White is staggeringly good. I'm loving it. Thank you so much for your style, your humour and your honesty. -- Eric Idle (on Twitter)