Ellis is no less outlandish with his latest, 'Lunar Park'

Friday, September 2, 2005

Literary notoriety? Thy name is still Bret Easton Ellis.

"Less Than Zero" and "American Psycho" contributed to the outlandish reputation of the controversial writer from California. Now his latest novel, "Lunar Park" (Alfred A. Knopf, 308 pages, $24.95), seems to further cement that rep, since its main character happens to be named Bret Easton Ellis and its opening seems to be written in a mock-memoir style.

"I was doing Ray-Ban ads at 22," Ellis writes. "I was posing for the covers of English magazines on a tennis court, on a throne, on the deck of my condo in a purple robe. ... I crashed a borrowed Ferrari in Southampton and its owner just smiled (for some reason I was naked)."

This outrageous conceit appears a perfect match of subject and artifice. Publishers Weekly even devoted two pages to a centerpiece that compares the claims of the fictional character named Bret Easton Ellis with the actual life of the real writer named Bret Easton Ellis. Such subjects as "The Discovery," "The Flap," "The Decline," "The Love Life" are examined in this truth-seeking tableau, including mention of the fictional character's marriage to an actress, centerpiece of the novel, while the writer himself remains unmarried.

The usual high-profile notice in Vanity Fair et al. has surrounded the 41-year-old author upon publication of "Lunar Park," which debuts Sunday at No. 13 (appropriately) on The New York Times best-seller list. And there has been the usual great divide about Ellis' work among critics, who have issued everything from raves to slams ("the worst novel I've ever read," says a critic for The Boston Globe).

"Lunar Park" ranges far and wide after its memoiresque opening, including a homage to Stephen King, a meditation of fathers and sons and their troubled relationships, plus enough references to medications and drugs to supply a month of advertising on the prime-time news shows.

Ellis, provocateur extraordinaire, never minds throwing a little nitro into the fires of controversy.

Bret Easton Ellis talks about "Lunar Park" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St.; 206-624-6600.

-- John Marshall

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