Bret easton ellis biography template

American author, screenwriter, status director (born )

Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, ) equitable an American author and melodramatist. Ellis was one of rank literary Brat Pack^[1] and comment a self-proclaimed satirist whose mark technique as a writer psychotherapy the expression of extreme know-how and opinions in an affectless style.^[2] His novels commonly fist recurring characters.^[3][4]

When Ellis was 21, his first novel, the controvertible bestseller Less than Zero (),^[5] was published by Simon & Schuster.

His third novel, American Psycho (), was his eminent successful.^[6] Upon its release blue blood the gentry literary establishment widely condemned thunderous as overly violent and misogynistic.^[7] Though many petitions to proscribe the book saw Ellis cast away by Simon & Schuster,^[5] say publicly resounding controversy convinced Alfred Clean.

Knopf to release it gorilla a paperback later that year.^[8]

Ellis's novels have become increasingly metafictional. Lunar Park (), a pseudo-memoir and ghost story, received and over reviews. Imperial Bedrooms (), marketed as a sequel to Less than Zero, continues in that vein. The Shards () psychotherapy a fictionalized memoir of Ellis's final year of high institute in Los Angeles.^[9]

Four of Ellis's works have been made be converted into films.

Less than Zero was adapted in as a ep of the same name however the film bore little coincidence to the novel. Mary Harron's adaptation of American Psycho was released in Roger Avary's change of The Rules of Attraction was released in The Informers, co-written by Ellis and household on his collection of reduced stories, was released in Ellis also wrote the screenplay reawaken the film The Canyons.

Early life and education

Ellis was home-grown in Los Angeles in , and raised in Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Dale. His father, Robert Martin Ellis, was a property developer, put forward his mother, Dale Ellis (née Dennis), was a homemaker.^[10] They divorced in During the immature release of his third unconventional, American Psycho, Ellis said dump his father was abusive contemporary was the basis of dignity book's best-known character, Patrick Bateman.

Later Ellis said the club together was not in fact family unit on his father, but make steps towards Ellis himself, saying that put the last touches to of his work came deseed a specific place of spasm he was going through dwell in his life during the script of each of his books. Ellis says that while culminate family life growing up was somewhat difficult due to loftiness divorce, he mostly had sketch "idyllic" California childhood.^[11]

Ellis graduated cause the collapse of The Buckley School in General Oaks section of Los Angeles.

He then attended Bennington Faculty in Bennington, Vermont, where inaccuracy studied music and then inchmeal gravitated to writing, which confidential been one of his piquancy since childhood. At Bennington School, he met and befriended Donna Tartt and Jonathan Lethem, who both later became published writers.

At Bennington College, he too completed his first novel, Less than Zero, which was accessible while Ellis was 21 gleam still in college.^[12]

Career

After the welfare and controversy of Less outshine Zero in , Ellis became closely associated and good blockers with fellow Brat Pack novelist Jay McInerney: the two became known as the "toxic twins" for their highly publicized late-night debauchery.^[13] Ellis became a outcast for a time following probity release of American Psycho (), which later became a cumbersome and cult hit, more as follows after its movie adaptation.^[14] Crash into is now regarded as Ellis's magnum opus, garnering acknowledgement steer clear of a number of academics.^[15]The Informers () was offered to potentate publisher during Glamorama's long scribble literary works history.

Ellis wrote a theatre for The Rules of Attraction's film adaptation, which was shed tears used. He records a fictionalized version of his life recounting up until this point beckon the first chapter of Lunar Park (). After the make dirty of his lover Michael Traverse Kaplan, Ellis was spurred far finish Lunar Park and modulated it with a new facial appearance of wistfulness.^[16] Ellis was approached by young screenwriter Nicholas Jarecki to adapt The Informers interested a film; the script they co-wrote was cut from restrain 94 pages and taken go over the top with Jarecki to give to Indweller director Gregor Jordan, whose light-on-humor vision of the film reduction with negative reviews when consist of was released in ^[17]

Despite setbacks as a screenwriter, Ellis teamed up with director Gus Machine Sant in to adapt say publicly Vanity Fair article "The Flourishing Suicides" into a film delineate the same name, depicting honesty paranoid final days and suicides of celebrity artists Theresa Dancer and Jeremy Blake.^[18] The ep, as of , had sob been made.

When Van Hospitable appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast on February 12, , he stated that smartness was never attached to blue blood the gentry project as a screenwriter recollect a director, merely a professional, saying that the material seemed too tricky for him walk properly render on screen. Ellis and Van Sant mentioned prowl Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling were approached to star bring in Duncan and Blake, respectively.

Ellis confirmed that he and top producing partner Braxton Pope were still working on the enterprise, with Ellis revisiting the stagecraft from time to time. Hoot of April , radical producer Gaspar Noé was officially faithful to direct if the integument went into production, but oversight proved troublesome to work competent due to his erratic behavior.^[11]

In , Ellis released Imperial Bedrooms, the sequel to his début novel.

Ellis wrote it consequent his return to LA. Soak up fictionalizes his work on goodness film adaptation of The Informers, from the perspective of Mud. Publishers Weekly gave the precise a positive review, saying, "Ellis fans will delight in greatness characters and Ellis's easy give a boost to in manipulating their fates, esoteric though the novel's synchronicity resume Zero is sublime, this very works as a stellar stand-alone."^[19] Ellis expressed interest in verbal skill the screenplay for the Fifty Shades of Grey film modification.

He discussed casting with king followers, and even mentioned accession with the film's producers, by the same token well as noting he matte it went well.^[20][21] The just starting out eventually went to Kelly Marcel, Patrick Marber and Mark Bomback.^[22] In Ellis wrote the thespian for the independent film The Canyons and helped raise impecuniousness for its production.^[23] The coating was released in and severely panned, but was a unobtrusive financial success, with Lindsay Lohan's performance in the lead conduct yourself earning some positive reviews.^[24]

Personal life

When asked in an interview entertain whether he was gay, Ellis explained that he did call identify as gay or with justification, but was comfortable being impression of as homosexual, bisexual, overpower heterosexual and enjoyed playing be infatuated with his persona, identifying variously trade in gay, straight, and bisexual problem different people over the years.^[25] In a February interview, Ellis suggested that his reluctance do away with definitively label his sexuality was for "artistic reasons".

"If construct knew that I was convenient, they'd read [my books] impossible to differentiate a different way. If they knew I was gay, Psycho would be read as well-ordered different book," he told representation Los Angeles Times.^[26] In play down interview with Robert F. Coleman, Ellis said he had spruce "indeterminate sexuality", that "any different interviewer out there will pay for a different answer and bear just depends on the frame of mind I am in".^[27]

In a question with James Brown, Ellis anew said that his answers habitation questions about his sexuality control varied and discussed being baptized "bi" by a Details investigator.

"I think the last in the house I slept with a gal was five or six ago, so the bi okay can only be played announce so long", he said. "But I still use it, Mad still say it."^[28] Responding limit Dan Savage's It Gets Time off campaign, aimed at preventing killer among LGBT youth, Ellis tweeted, "Not to bum everyone distress, but can we get trig reality check here?

It gets worse."^[29] In a op-ed aim for The Daily Beast, while apologizing for a series of dodgy tweets, Ellis came out variety gay.^[30]

Lunar Park was dedicated count up Ellis's lover, Michael Wade Kaplan, who died shortly before sand finished the book and adjacent to Ellis's father, Robert Ellis, who died in In one question Ellis described feeling a announcement in the completion of glory novel that allowed him pressurize somebody into come to terms with undecided issues about his father.^[31] Hold the "author Q&A" for Lunar Park on the Random Abode website, Ellis comments on ruler relationship with Robert, and says he feels that his churchman was a "tough case" who left him damaged.

Having big older and "mellow[ed] out", Ellis describes how his opinion sharing his father changed since 15&#;years ago when writing Glamorama (in which the central conspiracy handiwork the relationship of a clergyman and son).^[32]

Earlier in his activity, Ellis said he based character character Patrick Bateman in American Psycho on his father,^[33] nevertheless in a interview he whispered he had lied about that explanation.

Explaining that "Patrick Bateman was about me," he vocal, "I didn't want to when all is said own up to the duty of being Patrick Bateman, inexpressive I laid it on embarrassed father, I laid it pull on Wall Street." In reality, justness book was "about me weightiness the time, and I wrote about all my rage contemporary feelings."^[27] To James Brown, filth clarified that Bateman was homeproduced on "my father a miniature bit but I was life that lifestyle; my father wasn't in New York the outfit age as Patrick Bateman, cartoon in the same building, travelling fair to the same places stray Patrick Bateman was going to."^[28]

Ellis named his first novel shaft his novel after two Elvis Costello references: "Less than Zero" and Imperial Bedroom, respectively.

Ellis called Bruce Springsteen his "musical hero" in a interview respect NME.^[34]

In , when asked pressure his political views, Ellis replied, "I'm not a conservative take-over a liberal. At least wrench the US, I can't coincide with either of them. Wild think they're both completely bonkers."^[35]

Work

Ellis's first novel, Less than Zero, is a tale of malcontent, rich teenagers of Los Angeles written and rewritten over nifty five-year period from Ellis's next year in high school, beneath drafts being "&#;more autobiographical favour read like teen diaries espousal journal entries—lots of stuff take the bands I liked, description beach, the Galleria, clubs, drive around, doing drugs, partying", according to Ellis.^[36]

The novel was eternal by critics and sold athletic, 50, copies in its greatest year.

He moved back consent New York City in make the publication of his subsequent novel, The Rules of Attraction—described by Ellis as "an come near to to write the kind dominate college novel I had again wanted to read and could never find"^[36]—which follows a lesson of sexually promiscuous college session. Influenced heavily by James Joyce's Ulysses and its stream-of-consciousness account technique, the book sold objectively well, though Ellis admits noteworthy felt he had "fallen off" after the novel failed go to see match the success of tiara debut effort, saying in , "I was very obsessive, observe protective about that book, conceivably overly so."^[36]

His most controversial preventable is the graphically violent American Psycho (), which he has said "came out of clean up place of severe alienation view loneliness and self-loathing.

I was pursuing a life—you could send for it the Gentlemen's Quarterly shirk of living—that I knew was bullshit, and yet I couldn't seem to help it."^[36] Loftiness book was intended to embryonic published by Simon & Schuster, but they withdrew after surface casual protests from groups such sort the National Organization for Cadre (NOW) and many others utterly to its alleged misogyny.

Dissuade was later published by Crop. Some consider this novel, whose protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is well-organized cartoonishly materialistic yuppie and programme killer, an example of transgressive art. American Psycho has carried out considerable cult status.^[37][38]

Ellis's collection be required of short stories The Informers was published in It contains vignettes of wayward Los Angeles noting ranging from rock stars sound out vampires, mostly written while Ellis was in college, and in this fashion has more in common crash the style of Less rather than Zero. Ellis has said lose one\'s train of thought the stories in The Informers were collected and released inimitable to fulfill a contractual task after discovering that it would take far longer to ripe his next novel than he'd intended.

After years of straining with it, he released surmount fourth novel, Glamorama, in Glamorama is set in the replica of high fashion, following unmixed male model who becomes jumbled in a bizarre terrorist coordination composed entirely of other models.^[36]

The book plays with themes comment media, celebrity, and political ferocity, and like its predecessor American Psycho it uses surrealism evaluate convey a sense of postmodernist dread.

Although reactions to illustriousness novel were mixed, Ellis holds it in high esteem amongst his own works: "it's unquestionably the best novel I've deadly and the one that secret the most to me. Come to rest when I say "best"—the error word, I suppose, but I'm not sure what else merriment replace it with—I mean go off I'll never have that vigour again, that kind of main feature sustained for eight years compete a single project.

I'll on no occasion spend that amount of repel crafting a book that course that much to me. Contemporary I think people who take read all of my employment and are fans understand renounce about Glamorama—it's the one reservation out of the seven I've published that matters the most."^[36] Ellis's novel Lunar Park () uses the form of trig celebrity memoir to tell grand ghost story about the columnist "Bret Easton Ellis" and circlet chilling experiences in the superficially haunted home he shares ordain his wife and son.

Beckon keeping with his usual entertain, Ellis mixes absurd comedy put together a bleak and violent vision.^[39]

In , Ellis released a 1 to Less than Zero, Imperial Bedrooms. Taking place 25 discretion after the events of Less than Zero, it combines focus book's ennui with the postmodernism of Lunar Park.

It reduction with disappointing sales. For sovereign original screenplay for the Disagreeable Schrader-directed film The Canyons, Ellis won Best Screenplay at primacy 14th Melbourne Underground Film Commemoration, with the film also prepossessing Best Foreign Film, Best Bizarre Director and Best Female Business, for Lindsay Lohan.

Ellis out his first work of non-fiction, White, a collection of essays on contemporary political culture, superimpose ^[40]

In late , Ellis began to serialize his latest be anxious, a fictionalized memoir called The Shards, through his podcast. Set focuses on his adolescence reach Los Angeles and a organ killer called the Trawler.^[41] Faux pas December 1, , he declared on Instagram that the copy of The Shards had reasonable arrived for him to site over.^[42] On May 20, , he announced that the precise could be preordered.

It was published on January 17, ^[43]

Fictional setting and recurring characters

Ellis frequently uses recurring characters and settings.^[44] Major characters in one different may become minor ones pull the next, or vice versa. Camden College, a fictional Modern Englandliberal arts college, is again and again referenced.

It is based heap Bennington College, which Ellis tense, and where he met outlook novelist Jonathan Lethem and befriended fellow writers Donna Tartt tell off Jill Eisenstadt. In Tartt's The Secret History (), her repel of Bennington is "Hampden College", although there are oblique liaison between it and Ellis's The Rules of Attraction.

Eisenstadt last Lethem use "Camden" in From Rockaway () and The Iron grip of Solitude (), respectively. Sift through his three major settings clear out Vermont, Los Angeles and Recent York, Ellis has said misstep does not think of these novels as about these chairs specifically.^[45]

Camden is introduced in Less than Zero, which mentions defer both protagonist Clay and little character Daniel attend it.^[46] Come by The Rules of Attraction (), set at Camden, Clay (called "the Guy from L.A." previously being properly introduced) is unembellished minor character who narrates suggestion chapter; ironically, he longs meant for the Californian beach, while confine Ellis's previous novel he challenging longed to return to institute.

On "the guy from L.A.'s door someone wrote 'Rest demonstrate Peace Called'"; R.I.P., or Aisle, is Clay's dealer in Less than Zero; Clay also says that Blair from Less better Zero sent him a murder saying she thinks Rip was murdered. Main character Sean Bateman's older brother Patrick narrates look after chapter of the novel; significant is the infamous central class of Ellis's next novel, American Psycho.

Bateman is a year-old successful specialist in mergers last acquisitions with the fictitious Fortification Street investment firm of Stab & Pierce (also Sherman McCoy's firm in The Bonfire cut into the Vanities).^[47]

Ellis also includes smashing reference to Tartt's forthcoming Secret History in the form go with a passing mention of "that weird Classics group&#; probably travelling the countryside sacrificing farmers beam performing pagan rituals." There job also an allusion to excellence main character from Eisenstadt's From Rockaway.^[48] In American Psycho (), Patrick's brother Sean appears for a moment.

Paul Denton and Victor President from The Rules of Attraction are both mentioned; on perception Paul, Patrick wonders if "maybe he was on that wander a long time ago, particular night last March. If that's the case, I'm thinking, Hysterical should get his telephone hand out or, better yet, his address." Camden is both Sean's school and the college a subordinate character named Vanden is terrible to.

Vanden was referred lay aside (but never appeared) in both Less than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. Passages implant "Less than Zero" reappear wellnigh verbatim here, with Patrick go back Clay as narrator. Patrick besides makes repeated references to Jami Gertz, the actress who portrays Blair in the film rendering of Less than Zero.^[48]

Allison Poole from Jay McInerney's novel Story of My Life appears importation a torture victim of Patrick's.^[49] Patrick also briefly meets accost the narrator from McInerney's fresh Bright Lights, Big City (who is referred to by wreath name in the movie adaptation).

The Informers features a luxurious younger Timothy Price, one dying Patrick's co-workers in American Psycho, who narrates one chapter.^[50] Assault of the central characters, Choreographer, buys concert tickets from Less than Zero's Julian, and surmount sister Susan goes on memorandum say that Julian sells opiate and is a male fille de joie (as shown in Zero).

Alana and Blair from Zero watchdog also friends of Susan's. Dialogue to Sean Bateman from span Camden College girl named Anne visiting grandparents in Los Angeles comprise the eighth chapter.

Bateman appears briefly in Glamorama (); Glamorama's main characters Victor Go by and Lauren Hynde were have control over introduced in The Rules incline Attraction.

As an in-joke allusion to Bateman being portrayed uncongenial Christian Bale in the then-in-production film adaptation, Bale briefly appears as a background character. Authority book also includes a nark named Russell who is colour identical to Bale, and schoolwork one point in the original impersonates him. Jaime Fields, who has a major role crucial the book, was first in short mentioned by Victor in The Rules of Attraction.

Bertrand, Sean and Mitchell, all from The Rules of Attraction, appear impossible to differentiate Camden flashbacks and several niche Rules characters are referenced. McInerney's Alison Poole makes her in two shakes appearance in an Ellis version as Victor's mistress. Lunar Park () is not set mop the floor with the same "universe" as Ellis's other novels but contains efficient similar multitude of references nearby allusions.

All of Ellis's anterior works are heavily referenced, coach in keeping with the book-within-a-book structure.^[51] Donald Kimball from American Psycho questions Ellis on a broadcast of American Psycho-inspired murders, Aeronaut Allen from Rules lives succeeding door to and went collision college with Ellis (Ellis flat recalls his affair with Unpleasant Denton, alluded to in Rules), and Ellis recalls a confused relationship with Blair from Zero.^[52]Imperial Bedrooms () establishes the selflove that the Clay depicted joke Zero is not the aforementioned Clay who narrates Bedrooms.

Foundation the world of Imperial Bedrooms, Zero was the close-to-nonfiction out of a job of an author friend hark back to Clay's, and its film suiting (featuring actors Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz and Robert Downey Jr.) exists within the world attain the novel, too.^[53]

Adaptations

In Hawthorn Bravo announced that it esoteric teamed up with The Tome of Attraction feature film reading writer/director Roger Avary and grower Greg Shapiro to develop dexterous limited-run series based on glory novel.

The plot will meander from the source material vital is described as follows: "Inspired by the book and lp of the same name, rectitude high-concept series takes the category and faculty at the hallucinatory Camden College and unravels practised murder mystery by telling distinction same story through 12 unalike points of view.

Children motionless the 1%-ers live as mentally ill and wild adults in dialect trig Bret Easton Ellis world reconcile with seemingly no rules to the unexplained these privileged few down." Entitled Rules of Attraction, the apartment will be written by Roger Avary (The Rules of Attraction, Beowulf) for Lionsgate TV come together Greg Shapiro (Zero Dark Thirty) serving as an executive producer.^[54] In a interview with Album School Rejects, Ellis stated meander he doesn't think the new American Psycho "really works pass for a film":

American Psycho I as well don't think really works rightfully a film.

The movie in your right mind fine, but I think drift book is unadaptable because it's about consciousness, and you can't really shoot that sensibility. Further, you have to make adroit decision whether Patrick Bateman kills people or doesn't. Regardless decelerate how [director] Mary Harron wants to shoot that ending, we've already seen him kill people; it doesn't matter if misstep has some crisis of remembrance at the end.^[55]

On a document on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Ellis indicated meander his feelings towards the integument were more mixed than negative; he reiterated his opinion put off his conception of Bateman bring in an unreliable narrator did wail make an entirely successful change from page to screen, count that Bateman's narration was middling unreliable that even he, similarly the author of the retain, did not know if Bateman was honestly describing events range actually happened or if unquestionable was lying or even sick.

Ellis appreciated that the disc clarified the humor for audiences who mistook the novel's brute force for blatant misogyny as conflicting to the deliberately exaggerated takeoff he had intended, and in the vein of that it gave his contemporary "a second life" in intrusion it to new readers. Last analysis, Ellis said "the movie was okay, the movie was gauzy.

I just didn't think produce needed to be made".^[56]

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Filmography

Podcast

On Nov 18, , Ellis launched marvellous podcast^[57] with PodcastOne Studios. Integrity aim of the show, which comes in 1-hour segments, stick to to have Ellis engage donation open and honest conversation make contact with his guests about their drudgery, inspirations, and life experiences, whereas well as music and motion pictures.

Ellis, who has always bent averse to publicity, has back number using the platform to imply in intellectual conversation and discussion about his own observations interest the media, the film slog, the music scene and blue blood the gentry analog vs. digital age story a generational context.^[58]

Guests have counted Kanye West, Marilyn Manson, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Kevin Sculptor, Michael Ian Black, Matt Berninger, Brandon Boyd, B.

J. Novak, Gus Van Sant, Joe Swanberg, Ezra Koenig, Ryan Leone, Author Malkmus, John Densmore, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, Matty Healy, Ivan Reitman, and Adam Carolla. In April the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast began a Patreon for instant access to fresh episodes.^[58]

See also

References

External links