T H E AU T H O R
BRET EASTON ELLIS Novelist, Provocateur
p h o t o g r ap h e d by J E A N E E N L U N D a t H I S H O M E i n W E H O
R O D N E Y B I N G E N H E I M E R : G R O O M I N G BY T H E A I ST E N E S FO R E XC LU S I V E A R T I STS
P R I N C E O F the literary Brat Packers, Didion-channeling darling of L.A.’s Buckley School, Ellis hit the lit scene like a hurricane in 1985 with Less Than Zero. Depicting wan preppies watching snuff films and having joyless sex, the novel was a nadir-testing version of L.A. noir. (The Bangles scored a hit with their cover of “Hazy Shade of Winter” in the film version.) Today, Ellis is a prickly defender of free speech on his hit podcast and in his 2019 essay collection, White. He remains one of L.A.’s leading literary figures while his Brat Pack contemporaries fade away. The Shards, his ninth book, drops in January. — M .W.
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