Call number
FIC ELL
Collection
Genres
Publication
Knopf (2005), Edition: First Edition, 320 pages
Description
He became a bestselling novelist while still in college, immediately famous and wealthy. He watched his insufferable father reduced to a bag of ashes in a safety-deposit box. He was lost in a haze of booze, drugs and vilification. Then he was given a second chance.This is the life of Bret Easton Ellis, the author and subject of this remarkable novel. Confounding one expectation after another, Lunar Park is equally hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking. It's the most original novel of an extraordinary career - and best of all: it all happened, every word is true.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member absurdeist
***This is not so much a review per se as a defense of Lunar Park***
I completely disagree with Steve Almond's assessment of Lunar Park in the Boston Globe (Aug. 14, 2005), a novel Almond labelled as the worst novel he'd ever read. I don't counter Almond's understandable though misinformed diatribe
Lunar Park is a work of metafiction, not self-aggrandizement as has been purported by the "scholarly" snobs in their elitist witchhunt out to fire & grill yet again contemporary literature's Lucifer--a Marquis de Sade of their own making. But don't confuse Ellis for de Sade. For two things, de Sade was a superior stylist and an amoralist; while Ellis, remember (no slouch for style), is first and foremost a moralist, and Lunar Park, believe it or not, is as much, if not more so, a morality tale as his maligned classic, "American Psycho". Having read "American Psycho" helps the reader fully appreciatie "Lunar Park," as the former novel looms large in the latter's plot development. The bleak, nihilistic undercurrents of Ellis' earlier work are mostly abandoned in Lunar Park, replaced with currents of self-deprecation and humor. The humor, while black, is still humor, a sure sign of Ellis' own maturation as a writer; and, perhaps too, his coming to terms both personally and professionally with his deceased father. The unrelating-father-too-distant-and-emotionally-neglectful-to-attach-to-his-rebelliously-reacting-son-striving-for-his-father's-acceptance-and-love story, of course, goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks in literature, though I can't recall a more beautiful or poignant (descriptives never before associated with Ellis' writing)...resolution...to the father-son-divide rendered in recent literature in the novel's stirring climax. In the climax, the main character of Lunar Park, Bret Ellis himself, undergoes and begins an emotional rebirth of such breadth and depth we almost forget that, yes indeed, Lunar Park is, in fact, a novel by Bret Easton Ellis! Funny and profound.
If you already enjoy Ellis, you'll love Lunar Park. If you're convinced, like Steve Almond, that "sentence by sentence" Lunar Park is the worst thing since Osama Bin Laden, then I recommend you too give this good book a whirl and find out what all the fuss is about.
I completely disagree with Steve Almond's assessment of Lunar Park in the Boston Globe (Aug. 14, 2005), a novel Almond labelled as the worst novel he'd ever read. I don't counter Almond's understandable though misinformed diatribe
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by saying it's the best novel ever written, though I would conclude it is arguably a better book than any book Steve Almond has written. Lunar Park is a work of metafiction, not self-aggrandizement as has been purported by the "scholarly" snobs in their elitist witchhunt out to fire & grill yet again contemporary literature's Lucifer--a Marquis de Sade of their own making. But don't confuse Ellis for de Sade. For two things, de Sade was a superior stylist and an amoralist; while Ellis, remember (no slouch for style), is first and foremost a moralist, and Lunar Park, believe it or not, is as much, if not more so, a morality tale as his maligned classic, "American Psycho". Having read "American Psycho" helps the reader fully appreciatie "Lunar Park," as the former novel looms large in the latter's plot development. The bleak, nihilistic undercurrents of Ellis' earlier work are mostly abandoned in Lunar Park, replaced with currents of self-deprecation and humor. The humor, while black, is still humor, a sure sign of Ellis' own maturation as a writer; and, perhaps too, his coming to terms both personally and professionally with his deceased father. The unrelating-father-too-distant-and-emotionally-neglectful-to-attach-to-his-rebelliously-reacting-son-striving-for-his-father's-acceptance-and-love story, of course, goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks in literature, though I can't recall a more beautiful or poignant (descriptives never before associated with Ellis' writing)...resolution...to the father-son-divide rendered in recent literature in the novel's stirring climax. In the climax, the main character of Lunar Park, Bret Ellis himself, undergoes and begins an emotional rebirth of such breadth and depth we almost forget that, yes indeed, Lunar Park is, in fact, a novel by Bret Easton Ellis! Funny and profound.
If you already enjoy Ellis, you'll love Lunar Park. If you're convinced, like Steve Almond, that "sentence by sentence" Lunar Park is the worst thing since Osama Bin Laden, then I recommend you too give this good book a whirl and find out what all the fuss is about.
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LibraryThing member DrFuriosa
This book is a brilliant literary criticism of American Psycho and its scholarly responses. It is also, without question, completely bananas. Part fake memoir, part murder mystery, part horror, and part batshit, Bret Easton Ellis brings a literary text merged and blended with many others--truly a
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postmodern novel. It's interesting, entertaining, and at one point, grotesque beyond compare. I won't get into it, but it involves the dog. My mouth was literally hanging open while I listened on my commute home today. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
Better than, and different from, what I had expected. "Lunar Park" is a lot of things: a metafictional exercise, an apparently fictitious autobiography, a horror story, a biting social satire. It's also surprisingly readable, and, although it may not be a great novel, and Ellis may not be a great
The part that impressed me most about "Lunar Park," though was its depiction of American wealth. While some readers might be annoyed by the author's reliance on brand names, Ellis doesn't seem to have lost his talent for describing the look, feel, and significance of money in modern America. His honesty about the central place that money holds in certain parts of American life is, in itself, sort of refreshing. While many of his wealthy, greedy, neurotic characters are obvious caricatures, watching him skewer them with a sense of humor darker than pine-pitch can be enormously enjoyable. Cool, affected minimalism aside, the guy's got a real talent for the sharp one-liner, or for the telling detail that reveals a character's vulnerability. It's cruelty disguised as honesty, probably, but Ellis seldom hesitates to go for the jugular. I don't know if I'll give Ellis another try, but "Lunar Park" struck me as a book that often succeeds on its own pulpy, reflexive terms.
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writer, I can't remember reading a novel whose author was as comfortable with his limitations as Ellis is here. A few plot elements seem to be borrowed from classic seventies horror films -- most notably "Poltergeist" -- and, of course, Ellis draws liberally from his earlier books. The book's ending seems to be blatantly ripped off from much, much better writers -- García Marquez and Nabokov, I'm guessing -- and I sort of admire the audacity that the author displays in deciding to steal from the very best. The atmosphere of the novel, though, is genuinely creepy and many of the scares sand gore are undeniably effective. At four-hundred pages, the book still feels lean, the plot propelled, appropriately enough, by a secondary narrative voice that Ellis refers to as "the writer." "Lunar Park" is also a fun, filthy read: the author's depictions of his semi-autobiographical character's adventures with drugs, sex, and alcohol are, in a sense, blatantly pornographic and intended to both shock and entertain the reader. Somewhere in here, though, there's a genuine reflection on the persistence of emotional pain and bad memories and the extreme things we're sometimes moved to do to rid ourselves of them. Ellis's anguish often seems genuine, and it makes the novel an occasionally difficult read. The part that impressed me most about "Lunar Park," though was its depiction of American wealth. While some readers might be annoyed by the author's reliance on brand names, Ellis doesn't seem to have lost his talent for describing the look, feel, and significance of money in modern America. His honesty about the central place that money holds in certain parts of American life is, in itself, sort of refreshing. While many of his wealthy, greedy, neurotic characters are obvious caricatures, watching him skewer them with a sense of humor darker than pine-pitch can be enormously enjoyable. Cool, affected minimalism aside, the guy's got a real talent for the sharp one-liner, or for the telling detail that reveals a character's vulnerability. It's cruelty disguised as honesty, probably, but Ellis seldom hesitates to go for the jugular. I don't know if I'll give Ellis another try, but "Lunar Park" struck me as a book that often succeeds on its own pulpy, reflexive terms.
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LibraryThing member Quixada
About halfway through this book, I wondered if someone had tricked me into reading a Stephen King novel. But when I had finished it, I had become a legitimate fan of Bret Easton Ellis. The last couple pages of this book were blurry because I had tears in my eyes. I can't remember an ending to a
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book being as good as this one. Ellis is a moralist in the best sense of the word. I am sure that I will go back and re-read the last couple pages many times throughout my life. Thanks Bret. Show Less
LibraryThing member KLmesoftly
I can't say I enjoyed this at all--and as someone who found Glamorama, American Psycho, and The Rules of Attraction, I was disappointed to see such a disjointed, poorly conceived offering from an author I had previously respected. Hyperbolic representations of excess that were edgy and
I'm glad Ellis is apparently coming to terms with his feelings towards his father; I just wish I hadn't paid to read his self-therapy.
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thought-provoking in his earlier works here come off as tiresome and cliched, and the attempt at horror was more confusing than entertaining or gripping. In the end, I have to agree with a friend of mine's description of this novel as "masturbatory."I'm glad Ellis is apparently coming to terms with his feelings towards his father; I just wish I hadn't paid to read his self-therapy.
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LibraryThing member stillbeing
Just finished this one this afternoon . . . the ending had a real punch to it, quite draining, really. The parent-child emotional wounds are pretty vivid on so many levels here; whether they're real and honestly heartfelt or purely fictional I'm not entirely sure. At first I wasn't 100% convinced
Overall, a really good read - especially as it starts accelerating towards the end.
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with the self-centred nature of it, but as the horror and the emotional catches intensified that was soon forgotten. Also, he pulls off the calculated-yet-erratic use of form well, too: often it bugs me, but it worked really well here.Overall, a really good read - especially as it starts accelerating towards the end.
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LibraryThing member klarusu
This is an unusual book. With the author's choice to make himself the protagonist, it lends an aura of reality to something which is full of the fantastic and macabre.
The Bret Easton Ellis of this novel is a damning portrait of a successful author spiralling into a drug and alcohol fuelled personal
There is more to it than this, however. On another level, it seems that we are being shown a window into what makes up Bret Easton Ellis (the complete man). We see him as a boy, as his father and all of these are part of the whole person. It's as if his son Robby in the novel is a younger Bret and the failure of this relationship is akin to the failure of Bret Easton Ellis to build a relationship with his own father, the final scene in the diner a flashback to the earlier description of his encounter with his own father.
It's a difficult book to fathom but an easy book to read. It has, in common with 'American Psycho', the air of unreality about parts of it and the reader is left never quite sure what actually happened and what happened inside the main character's head, just as it was never clarified as to what Patrick Bateman did and what he imagined.
On another level, as a genre novel paying homage to the likes of Stephen King, it does a reasonable job of approximating the style of lynch-pin writers of this horror genre.
I would definitely recommend this book as an interesting read. I think it is one that needs reading, digesting, dwelling on and then re-reading in the future with fresh eyes. After only one pass at it, I reached the end feeling like I was slightly missing the point and just a little bit confused... but in a good way, a kind of 'I need to put my mind to work on this one' way not a 'what on earth is going on' way. If I read it again in the future and am still a bit vague then I may re-appraise this though. I think that, possibly, the reader is never supposed to be left question-free about this book.
One of Bret Easton Ellis' better works, in my opinion ... approach with an open mind.
The Bret Easton Ellis of this novel is a damning portrait of a successful author spiralling into a drug and alcohol fuelled personal
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failure. He has an inability to sustain either his sobriety or any form of relationship with his new wife (old girlfriend) and her two children (the son they had together and her daughter). Superimposed over this are macabre and dark events. The reader is left unsure about whether they happened or were just hallucinations, a manifestation of Bret Easton Ellis (of the novel)'s deepest fears through drug and alcohol fuelled visions.There is more to it than this, however. On another level, it seems that we are being shown a window into what makes up Bret Easton Ellis (the complete man). We see him as a boy, as his father and all of these are part of the whole person. It's as if his son Robby in the novel is a younger Bret and the failure of this relationship is akin to the failure of Bret Easton Ellis to build a relationship with his own father, the final scene in the diner a flashback to the earlier description of his encounter with his own father.
It's a difficult book to fathom but an easy book to read. It has, in common with 'American Psycho', the air of unreality about parts of it and the reader is left never quite sure what actually happened and what happened inside the main character's head, just as it was never clarified as to what Patrick Bateman did and what he imagined.
On another level, as a genre novel paying homage to the likes of Stephen King, it does a reasonable job of approximating the style of lynch-pin writers of this horror genre.
I would definitely recommend this book as an interesting read. I think it is one that needs reading, digesting, dwelling on and then re-reading in the future with fresh eyes. After only one pass at it, I reached the end feeling like I was slightly missing the point and just a little bit confused... but in a good way, a kind of 'I need to put my mind to work on this one' way not a 'what on earth is going on' way. If I read it again in the future and am still a bit vague then I may re-appraise this though. I think that, possibly, the reader is never supposed to be left question-free about this book.
One of Bret Easton Ellis' better works, in my opinion ... approach with an open mind.
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LibraryThing member cliffagogo
If you’re Bret Easton Ellis (most famous for the cult hit American Psycho) and you haven’t written anything for seven years, it’s a bold move to make your comeback novel about a writer called…Bret Easton Ellis. The fictional Bret has major problems: he can’t relate to his slacker son, his
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step-daughter’s soft toy keeps coming to life and attacking him at every opportunity, and characters from his previous novels seem to be stalking him incessantly. It’s a deft stroke by Ellis to satirize elements from his own life and include his real friends in the narrative, leaving you to wonder what’s real and what’s fake. This clever, witty novel is a great return from one of America’s most interesting writers. Show Less
LibraryThing member BudaBaby
This book threw me down on the bed, stabbed a dagger through mychest, and held me there through several days of intense reading. I couldn't breathe, I had anxiety attacks, I had nightmares.
LibraryThing member christinehamm
I found the first half, when Ellis talks about the writing process and becoming famous, very interesting. The second half, about the instant-family he became part of when he married the ex-model, was so-so. The horror sections weren't bad, but often when Ellis tried for heart-warming and sincere,
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it became extremely cliched. Show Less
LibraryThing member HvyMetalMG
Having read and loved American Psycho, to hear that Ellis was writing a fictional autobiography that would being up his characters from that book, I was excited to read. Unfortunately, the book was not that great and read more like the E True Hollywood story of a recovering star. Than there was the
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thing with the killer Furby doll. Eh, not for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member laurenv
I lovey-love-love the intro to this novel. Purported as being as close to an autobiography as Ellis will ever get, Lunar Park opens with Ellis discussing the overwhelming popularity and fame that came after penning Less Than Zero as a college student. The ensuing stories of being a part of the
…but that’s neither here nor there on the subject of Lunar Park – the story of Ellis as a grown man, with a family and battling the demons of his indulgent youth of drugs, booze and women – which happens to be the suckiest suck that ever sucked. Ok, it’s not THAT bad, but none too great either. And my love/hate relationship with Ellis goes on…
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“literary brat pack” of the late 80’s (Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis and Tama Janowitz) and indulging in sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll in NYC; being obliterated on book tours; getting angry notes from his managers regarding his worth to the world, etc., are awesome, shocking and hilarious. He also discusses how he came up with American Psycho (and I think we all wonder how someone who has never bludgeoned someone in the face to death knows exactly the sound an eyeball makes when it pops, right?), and talks about how difficult it was to write that content.…but that’s neither here nor there on the subject of Lunar Park – the story of Ellis as a grown man, with a family and battling the demons of his indulgent youth of drugs, booze and women – which happens to be the suckiest suck that ever sucked. Ok, it’s not THAT bad, but none too great either. And my love/hate relationship with Ellis goes on…
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LibraryThing member RandyD-L
Here's the thing about this book. It is by no means Ellis's best. That being said, I was a little pissed after I read it because I finished the damned thing in less than a day. From the first page to the last, Lunar Park is an all-absorbing thrill ride, full of satire, fantasy, horror, comedy, and
Ellis seems to have taken many literary devices from the horror genre, including leaving the reader off on a cliff at the end of certain chapters, and not returning to that scene until several chapters later. Think Chuck Palahniuk meets Stephen King. But it's Ellis, and that same hard-hitting American Psycho voice comes ripping through, with satirical descriptions of main characters and much fuss over the smallest nit-pickings.
I read this book almost two years ago and it's still on my mind. The genre and set up inspired a short story I'd been working on at the time. It became my first to be published.
Anyone who hasn't read this book, I strongly recommend it. And all you have to lose is an afternoon and early evening one Saturday. Because I guarantee you'll finish it as fast as I did.
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the rest. I really don't know how anyone could be able to put this thing down. I wish I had, because now I'm waiting another six years for his next novel. Ellis seems to have taken many literary devices from the horror genre, including leaving the reader off on a cliff at the end of certain chapters, and not returning to that scene until several chapters later. Think Chuck Palahniuk meets Stephen King. But it's Ellis, and that same hard-hitting American Psycho voice comes ripping through, with satirical descriptions of main characters and much fuss over the smallest nit-pickings.
I read this book almost two years ago and it's still on my mind. The genre and set up inspired a short story I'd been working on at the time. It became my first to be published.
Anyone who hasn't read this book, I strongly recommend it. And all you have to lose is an afternoon and early evening one Saturday. Because I guarantee you'll finish it as fast as I did.
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LibraryThing member swl
Begins with a confessional/history which is so unapologetic that it is completely without charm. It's like every addiction memoir but without invoking any sympathy, if retold in Vanity Fair.
Then came the story, the recounting. It was dreadful. Seemed like someone who needed the cash but couldn't
Then the story picked up speed. The last 1/3 of the book was a compelling, if confusing and over-reaching, story. I thought it was a bit high-minded but it flowed well enough that I didn't care. I can tell I'll carry the story around with me for a while, thinking it over.
Then came the story, the recounting. It was dreadful. Seemed like someone who needed the cash but couldn't
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stay sober enough to write a coherent chapter. BEE sacrifices Jay McInerney in the story, and it's completely gratuitous. I kept reading out of a sort of lurid fascination with how poorly I imagined BEE's career will go after this. (I was puzzled, however, that the NYT had given it praise, which I knew from the cover blurb.)Then the story picked up speed. The last 1/3 of the book was a compelling, if confusing and over-reaching, story. I thought it was a bit high-minded but it flowed well enough that I didn't care. I can tell I'll carry the story around with me for a while, thinking it over.
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LibraryThing member Gary10
Interesting but challenging read. Postmodern story that combines fiction with real celebrities in a mix that gets crazier over time, making it harder to know where even manufactured truth ends.
LibraryThing member andy475uk
As with previous novels this has an interesting concept, occasional wry humour and in some sections conveys very powerful feelings of weirdness and horror. As a novel I didn't feel it hung together throughout but it's an interesting read.
LibraryThing member Erinys
Terrible book. The book isn't funny enough to be intended as satire and it is impossible to feel strongly for the main character one way or another. Bad Stephen King mixed with Philip Roth. Avoid.
LibraryThing member AlastairFulton
Somewhere in here there's a good novel trying to get out, but it's being strangled by the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson.
LibraryThing member nfc615
After reading American Psycho, I might have set my expectations a little high before reading Lunar Park. Lunar Park has its moments, but it is disjointed and unpolished. The dysfunctional family and Ellis' past that haunt him and converge are interesting themes, but the book feels corny most of the
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time. It's not a boring read because of Ellis' story-telling ability, but I won't be re-reading this anytime soon. That being said, the ending to this book is absolutely epic. My eyes were watering as I sat in my school's amphitheater on a Saturday afternoon finishing up Lunar Park. When a piece of writing can bring tears to your eyes, that's some pretty powerful stuff. Show Less
LibraryThing member butteredupdiva
Crazy, can't put it down, and trippy.
LibraryThing member Poindextrix
To be honest, I'm just not sure that I "got" this book. It was an interesting book, but most of the time I felt just plain confused. Is the Bret Easton Ellis in the story the actual Bret Easton Ellis? Are we supposed to believe that this is a true story? Like I said, I just don't think that I got
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it... Show Less
LibraryThing member ozzieslim
I have read all the works of Bret Easton Ellis. Like all of his books, I always need to walk away and think about the book for several days and organize my thoughts before I can write about the one I just read.
The first thing I would say is that if you haven’t read any of Ellis’ work, don’t
Ellis also has a style of writing where he focuses on minutiae – lots of name dropping of luxury goods, in depth descriptions of the house where is living and which is in the process of devolving into the childhood home in which he was miserable and where his life began spiraling out of control. There are also sex scenes which are almost always detached and usually the female characters are not depicted in any flattering way.
This book also delves into issues regarding Ellis’ most controversial work “American Psycho”. I happen to have loved that book but it is a hard read, very graphic in its depictions of sex and violence and comes up repeatedly on banned books lists the world over. It is worth the time and effort one puts into it and there is endless debate as to whether the events in the book happened or whether they took place in the mind of the main character. Ellis gives an answer to that question in this book but since its fiction….is it really the answer?
There isn’t a good way to describe the action in this book without giving it away. Let’s say it is about relationships between men and women; growing up or not growing up; relationships between fathers and sons; middle age and mid-life crises; stalking; reality and illusion; Halloween; the supernatural and “American Psycho”.
If you haven’t tried any of Ellis’ work, I urge you to give it a try. Although his two early works, “Less Than Zero” and “The Rules of Attraction” are dated being set squarely in the 1980’s, they are quick reads and a good foundation of his work. To really challenge yourself on mental, psychological and emotional levels, “American Psycho” is worth the investment and will help you in further reading of this authors work.
If you are an Ellis fan already, this book reminded me a bit of “Fight Club” and the movie “Memento”. Then throw in Stephen Kings’ “The Shining” set in the suburbs and add a dash of “Insidious” and “Paranormal Activity” all in Ellis’ unique voice and I think you will have a pretty good idea of what this book must be like.
I found it compelling, disturbing and hard to put down. What more can you ask from a book?
The first thing I would say is that if you haven’t read any of Ellis’ work, don’t
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start with this one because a great deal of the book reference’s earlier works. This is because, although the book is largely fiction, Ellis names the main character Bret Easton Ellis who is a writer and just happens to have written all the books Ellis has written. Sound confusing? It is a bit; especially of you haven’t read any other works by this author.Ellis also has a style of writing where he focuses on minutiae – lots of name dropping of luxury goods, in depth descriptions of the house where is living and which is in the process of devolving into the childhood home in which he was miserable and where his life began spiraling out of control. There are also sex scenes which are almost always detached and usually the female characters are not depicted in any flattering way.
This book also delves into issues regarding Ellis’ most controversial work “American Psycho”. I happen to have loved that book but it is a hard read, very graphic in its depictions of sex and violence and comes up repeatedly on banned books lists the world over. It is worth the time and effort one puts into it and there is endless debate as to whether the events in the book happened or whether they took place in the mind of the main character. Ellis gives an answer to that question in this book but since its fiction….is it really the answer?
There isn’t a good way to describe the action in this book without giving it away. Let’s say it is about relationships between men and women; growing up or not growing up; relationships between fathers and sons; middle age and mid-life crises; stalking; reality and illusion; Halloween; the supernatural and “American Psycho”.
If you haven’t tried any of Ellis’ work, I urge you to give it a try. Although his two early works, “Less Than Zero” and “The Rules of Attraction” are dated being set squarely in the 1980’s, they are quick reads and a good foundation of his work. To really challenge yourself on mental, psychological and emotional levels, “American Psycho” is worth the investment and will help you in further reading of this authors work.
If you are an Ellis fan already, this book reminded me a bit of “Fight Club” and the movie “Memento”. Then throw in Stephen Kings’ “The Shining” set in the suburbs and add a dash of “Insidious” and “Paranormal Activity” all in Ellis’ unique voice and I think you will have a pretty good idea of what this book must be like.
I found it compelling, disturbing and hard to put down. What more can you ask from a book?
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LibraryThing member appleplex
His best novel.
LibraryThing member iffland
Autobiography -> Thriller -> Horror-novel. Strange combination but entertaining!
Awards
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2006)
International Horror Guild Award (Winner — Novel — 2005)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2005)
Village Voice Favorite Books (2005)
Pages
320
ISBN
0375412913 / 9780375412912