I wish I were ready for this book years ago! Lee and Larry start by describing the workplace and how it is changing (surprisingly accurate for being published in 1993). Next they define what work is and help us understand why so many people are in the situations they are in. Then comes the fun part...identifying your skills, interests, personality and applying them to a career that fits you. Lastly they teach you how to conduct a job search, prepare your resume and how to manage you finances.

The book is an excellent resource in itself. However, the companion workbook is a must in order to get the full benefit of the program.

wow i highly recommend american pyscho.
basically it is the 1st-person POV tell-all confessional of a wealthy young Wall-Street type in 1980s Manhattan. He is a member of a large social/business network of yuppies who, like him, are shallow, ruthlessly ambitious, and fake. However, what makes him special is that he is a clinical psychopath. By day he hangs out at trendy clubs and restaurants, works out, and generally pampers himself. By night, he tortures people in his apartment.
it's a very funny, brutal satire of yuppies/the 80s/consumer culture/etc. more importantly, it's an incredibly realistic, powerful portrait of a man who is completely gone mentally, incapable of emotion or empathy. The writing grips you- it's almost hypnotic. This is a must read- masterfully written, very powerful, tons of things to address in it.

just to respond to some earlier reviews, in which it asked WHY DOES PB DO WHAT HE DOES, here's my two cents- he isnt a sadist, he doesnt get pleasure from causing pain- rather he's curious about other human beings and wants desperately to connect. in the book's most horrifying, climatic torture scenes, he literally "opens up" his victims. he lives in a superficial world and wants to understand what's "inside" people. since he can't do this in the figurative sense- by connecting emotionally to people- he literally looks inside them. when people "open up" to him in another way (Luis Carruthers; Jean) he is confused

If you seek a reprieve from what could be termed the further "Grishamization" of fiction novels defined as: lining the pockets of lawyers by purchasing books written by lawyers in which lawyers save the day, then a Bret Easton Ellis bibliography should become your literary "Zagat". Hopefully, the perpetrators of these cookie cutter bestsellers/screenplays will not find yet another shortcut down the yellow brick road to unlimited success paved by their publishers by trying to imitate the disturbed style, dark side imagination, and obsessive-compulsive character development as offered in American Psycho. Thankfully, no one after reading this genuine piece of creativity could possibly conjure up the image of Harrison Ford as the GQ, Wall Street, pretend to be spree killer , Patrick Bateman. Like all original masterpieces there is a proportionate amount of the overall work to like in relationship to what detractors will tell you not to like. For example, you may develop a newly founded appreciation for the existence of yuppies when they are personified as intelligent, beautiful, and well dressed with a taste for orgiastic sex, blood splattering mayhem, and fine dining. One might even consider this book to posses an underlying satirical depiction of the Eighties as a social theme if the positive references and benevolent treatment of such legendary talent as Huey Lewis and the News, INXS, Belinda Carlisle, and Christopher Cross are ignored. Surly parody cannot be blended with or contain such truth and accuracy as the following excerpt; "...Genesis is still the best, most exciting band to come out of England in the 1980s." American Psycho can with all of its critical pitfalls still be heeded as exaggerated and erotic art expressing sometimes grim and meaningless reality. Even when placed into the context of present day you will feel compelled to side with the main character and his seemingly esoteric and determined struggle to justify his own significance and that of those he comes in contact with.Once more, with what is successfully passing for entertainment in the nineties, Hollywood may after all wish to consider adapting a second Ellis novel for theatrical release. While their attempt may not convey the author's original intent, at least a talented individual will reap the monetary reward for a change.

I've said on numerous occasions that the book I just read might be the best book that I've ever come across to. But always, afterwards, and after reading yet another book, I've taken my words back.

Not after reading American Psycho. I think I just met the greatest single novel I've ever seen. It's such a fine piece of literature it makes me mad with jealousy.

There's not a single aspect in American Psycho that doesn't please me. Ellis is a marvellous writer and the main character Patrick Bateman is truly captivating. Despite all his racist opinions you actually dig the guy, until he commits yet another barbaric act of murder. And then you feel pity, you are afraid of him, you hope that he doesn't repeat what he's just done, only to find out next time will be worse.

What many critics have failed to do is to see beneath the gory and porn-filled surface, to see the satire, the strong criticism of the 80's yuppie lifestyle, the community which init's all surface no feeling -ideology allows monsters such as Bateman to exist.

AP consist basically of descriptions of horror, sex and expensive products--which some people have found simply boring, I loved it--and dialogue often so funny you can't help but laugh aloud.

There was not one moment I didn't like American Psycho. At times I was disgusted as hell, but all of it fits into the story perfectly and seamlessly, and as a whole AP is something I'll probably read again in no time.

Which is my personal record, by the way, as there are few books that I've read twice...

I kinda like Bret Easton Ellis. I like American Psycho. Most people will argue that Ellis' books are usually pointless, and have no plot, and go nowhere. At first, I thought this same thing. But after finishing Less Than Zero, I have come to realize his intention was not to have a definite plot, solid characterization, or a grand climax. He writes exactly as real life usually goes. He is a satirist, not a fiction novel writer.

In the instance of the book, real life is pointless. These kids do drugs, have sex, party, get stoned, and repeat. It's a never ending cycle of nothing. And they feel like they have it all. They have become so disillusioned to it all that they feel nothing anymore. Clay, on the other hand, comes upon the realization that the life in LA IS empty.

There's a lot of little, tiny symbols scattered throughout the book, which make it interesting. Despite there being no plot, I kind of liked how Ellis portrayed this life of college kids in LA. It really makes me glad I'm not part of those sheep.

By the way, don't listen to what the back of the book says about it being Catcher in the Rye for the "MTV generation". It's far from it. It's insulting to Catcher to call it that.

It's a quick read, maybe 3 hours. But don't read it expecting any sort of drastic character transformation or some sort of revelation to be discovered. I almost threw it out the window half way through, but decided to plow through the rest of it.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS) I was past page 100 when I started thinking this novel was the same as every other novel by Bret Easton Ellis: repetitious dialogue that seems to just take up space; self-absorbed characters that talk that dialogue like they're infected with tumors from radiation fallout; and LOTS of drug consumption.

Well, I must say I was surprised when, at around page 130 or so, "Less Than Zero" became a startlingly emotional and even tragic novel. The plot (such as it is) has Clay, an 18-year old college student, returning to his L.A. home for Christmas break only to discover his friends are lost in a world of drugs and partying.

At first, Clay's interaction with these characters is redundant and dull, like a hangover after a drug warp. The first hundred pages are typically anticlimactic of Ellis, but when Clay begins to show concern for what's going on around him, "Less Than Zero" becomes frighteningly real. Some examples of great, tragic scenes are: the motel room where Clay watches the businessman have sex with his friend, Julian; the discovery of the dead body in the alley; and the rape of the 12-year old girl. Ellis lavishes such attention to these segments that they burn themselves onto your memory and embody the dead soul of his version of Los Angeles.

But what I think won me over was the italicized sections that chronicled the decline of Clay's grandmother, who was dying of pancreatic cancer. I was shocked at how Ellis made these sections heartfelt, considering most of his novels since this one have just emphasized emotionless, heartless characters. Also surprisingly Un-Ellis were the scenes when Clay goes out alone into the desert or to a movie or to his old elementary school--this brings back the cold air of teenage alienation and is handled subtly, without exaggeration.

Some may argue over Ellis's writing ability, but it's hard not to argue with the nihilism and emptiness of this debut. It's justified, and the characters assimilate to that emptiness because that's all they know how to do. Probably the most "moral" novel Ellis has written.

Bret Easton Ellis deftly describes suburban L.A. as a an indefatigable moral vacuum that sucks any remaining semblance of morality away from the souls of his characters - namely Clay, Blair, & Julian. Ellis has aptly drawn from his influences of Hemingway(The Sun Also Rises), Fitzgerald(The Great Gatsby), and Elliot(The Wasteland) in delivering a tour de force that still resolutely resonates almost 20 years later. Although the singers(Billy Idol), video games(Centipede), cars(Fiat) have all changed since the writing in 1985, the central theme of disillusion and moral bankruptcy unfortunately still reverberates into the 21st Century. Ellis proves to be the master of shocking, eye-opening, outrageous, provocative, yet addictive and intoxicating prose that forced me to read until the book was finito. Ellis has been quoted as saying he distinctly loathes the movie seeing as very little of the script is taken directly from the book. Suffice it to say, the book itself is an achievement in literature that many have since copied, but none have duplicated

I was tricked into reading this book due to it being a well known classic and from a desire to read a good romantic story which I thought it would be. Well, um, IT'S NOT.

I like to read books that draw me right into the story and then a couple of hours later you notice you are turning page 250 when the last you recall touching was page 97. This book was not like that at all. Unfortunately, I was always conscious that I was reading print from a page but kept reminding myself that a book this famous had to get good sooner or later. Far from not being able to put it down, I found myself often looking to see what page I was on and if I had read my quota for the night. It never did get good and when I had finished the last sentence I felt frustrated and cheated.

I worried that my lack of appreciation for this classic must be due to my inferior intellect and that I must after all be just some obtuse hill-billy. Thankfully I found that several people who had offered their reviews here shared my opinions for this book and I was quite relieved that I was not alone in my reaction.

For me, Lawrence's supremely descriptive, possibly brilliant (although I really wouldn't know) and flowery writing is all for not because of selfish, unlikeable and unbelieveable characters who don't really do anything. At the very end, the only care I had for anyone in the book was poor little Winifred. I hope she was alright.

In conclusion may I suggest that you pass on Women in Love and read instead Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. It is so much more a wonderful book about believable, likeable, women in love.

OK, the title for this review may be a little harsh, but the image is hard to shake from my mind. Imagine the close-ups used in a soap opera to show you the intense anguish and inner turmoil the characters feel. Usually, there is pensive expressions which sometimes border on the ludicrous. In "Women in Love" I can't help imagining Lawrence using the same thing. There is a narrative, there is action, but a lot of the book belongs inside the characters. We see Gudrun looking out at the snow covered valley with a feeling of awe, we hear Birkin go through endless thoughts of the ineffable thing he is looking for but can't state clearly, and we watch Gerald trying to find the next big problem he can solve. Throughout all this ruminating, we, the viewer, must be watching something. Hence, we look at the soap opera close-ups of the Brangwens, Criches, and Birkin.

This is not a bad book, but not a book which moves me like others of Lawrence. This book was a continuation of "The Rainbow," but it does not give you the span of time. The novel is primarily focused on Ursula, Gudrun, Rupert, and Gerald. I miss seeing how things work through time. You still have elements from Lawrence's other novels (like dancing uninhibitedly with nature), but it seems as if he is giving us too much information on just a few people. I feel he has more effect with "The Rainbow."

I agree that you do not need to read "The Rainbow" first. Lawrence is a thorough writer, so many times I found myself rereading passages to better understand what he is trying to tell me.

The Wordsworth Classics are inexpensive, but they do not have a lot of room in the margins for notes. This is a good volume to buy for a read, but not for a study.

Although you do not need to read "The Rainbow" to read this, I would recommend reading "Women in Love" if you have read "The Rainbow." It is interesting to watch how Lawrence develops the women after giving you their history.

First of all, I have to own you up that reading Women in Love was one of the best experiences on books that I ever had. I know it's not Lawurence's masterpiece, but I touched me very deep. Everthing seems to wok in this book, from the characters to their enviroment.

It seems to me that Lawrence took daily events and showed them the way they are: unglamourised. He showed me what love and support seem to be. It's not about being happy all the time or that kind of love that happens only in movies. The book deals with the ordinary love, the one that normal human beings have the chance to face.

Following the experience of both couples made me see how different love can be and it is the still the same. I could perfectly understand all the worries and anxiets Gudrun had. And I think Gerald and she made quite a couple! Yet Birkin and Ursula look very nice together since the begin. Their love is not as 'wild' as the other couple's, but it is very strong indeed.

When the book was over I got down because I had to let them go. Following the lives of such people for a few days made quite an impression on me. Even though they may not be XXI century people like us, they have the same essence we do.

All in all, I know this review may read very emotive and personal, but this is a book that I couldn't apart in other to write about

Celtic spirituality seems to be a buzz word among Christians and pagans alike, and efforts to define it abound. I recommend this book to readers who are more willing to be challenged rather than soothed by things Celtic. P.B. Ellis states his mission as "an introductory argument about the reality and the legend of the Druids" (p 21). He succeeds quite well in this mission, distilling what can be known from primary sources with very thorough research. Ellis also asks the questions that we would dearly like to ask of these mysterious people, who unfortunately seem to have had a prohibition against committing their scholarship to writing, leaving historians to piece together their philosophy and practices from the works of other observers. Ellis does an exceptional job of revealing the probable biases of these secondary sources, although his style of argument becomes somewhat convoluted at times.

Ellis pulls no punches in criticizing the scholarly positions of other writers on the subject -- an approach which can seem abrasive or refreshing, depending on one's taste. His obvious disdain for the New Age, soft-focus and romaniticized view of Druids may seem harsh as well. But his genuine love for and fascination with Celtic peoples perhaps justifies the contempt he displays for those who call themselves "New Age Celts...preaching harmony with nature, who have stared in incomprehension when it has been pointed out to them that the Celtic civilization itself is struggling in a last ditch attempt to survive" (p 280). Ellis concludes his work by pointing out the "uncomfortable reality for those who would conjure Druids and ancient Celts to their new concepts of 'spiritual enlightenment'" while ignoring the fact that Celtic languages and cultures are in decline in our increasingly homogenized modern world.

I have this book in my personal collection, and upon having read it for four or more times, I can say that it is the most well though out and researched book on the subject of the Celtic Druids. As an author and researcher, Mr. Ellis is a very objective writer. I have detected no pretense, bias, or any other thing that might have detracted from this piece. While there may be certain defects as to the writing, &c. I do not feel qualified to make any statements as to what those defects are, and such should be left for professional critiques to determine. However, I view Mr. Ellis as a fore-most person in this area of research, and anthropologically speaking, find him to be very well spoken through his writing. This book is recommended must see for any one partaking in the challenge of anthropologically researching and studying the ancient Celtic Druids. It is a five star book.

Peter Berresford Ellis is a popular historian, not an academic historian. The primary difference between popular and academic historians is that they write for different audiences. Ellis' work has been criticized for lacking the kind of detailed references that a peer-reviewed book or article would include. The reader must guess where the citations and allusions may be researched and accept the citations and translations as accurate.

Hence, you're not likely to find many historians recommending an Ellis book to their students. But students who have read Ellis will have a very clear idea of what materials to look for. And he does a very good job of challenging long-standing interpretations which have always been flimsy or weak at best. Unfortunately for him, the science of historical analysis requires accountability and Ellis refuses to be accountable. He takes his case to the popular audience and hopes to influence the broader imagination.

That's all well and good, but some of his research has been challenged and Ellis has had to make at least one major retraction in his career. He is a Celto-centric writer and people of Celtic heritage should be glad to know there is still a dedicated flag-waver around. But in the end, no matter how well he writes, no matter how thorough his research, Ellis must be regarded only as a popular historian. In that respect, he is one of the finest popular historians I've had the pleasure to read.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "House of the Seven Gables" is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in classic American literature. Some readers consider Hawthorne's meticulous style of describing settings and characters frustrating, but they fail to realize that the story "The House of the Seven Gables" is in fact, settings and characters. The reader must realize that this book was written in 1851, so it lacks the showmanship of explosions and flying poltergeists, but if properly embraced, "The House of the Seven Gables" is a very enjoyable read. As I read this book, I felt that Hepzibah and Clifford were not the only characters attempting to rid themselves of a family curse. I felt that Hawthorne himself was attempting to exorcise the guilt brought on by his ancestor, John Hawthorne, who had presided over the Salem Witch Trials, hundred of years prior.

This book is really good. Very deep mystery about a dying witch's curse. It's not a fast-moving thriller, by a slow and methodical one. Every word is chosen so carefully by Hawthorne, that it is fun to read and a challenge for the mind to find the hidden meaning. The novel starts with a discription of the house- the house with human attributes and ends with a lone cat watching the fulfillment of a witch's curse. Really excellent. There's plenty of characterization, hints of incest, and omenious surrounding to keep the reader entertained. Love love loved it, read it in a college American literature class.

The story of "The House of Seven Gables" begins in the midst of Puritan New England (which Hawthorne paints characteristically, and forgiveably, quite bleak) with the fantastic tale of a severe dispute between stern Colonel Pyncheon and alleged wizard Matthew Maule over a piece of land. Maule is conveniently executed (while cursing Pyncheon) for his "crimes", and Pyncheon builds Seven Gables on the aforesaid land. Several years later, the colonel dies suddenly, supposedly the mark of Maule's curse, which is to forever haunt the Pyncheon mansion.

Several generations of Pyncheons come and go, and the family decays and whithers until it can boast only four remaining members, two of which are old and frail. But one, a Judge Pyncheon, rotten under his trim exterior, is up to unsurfaced mischief.

The story tends to move slowly (much of the meat of the plot is not encountered until nearly half-way through!), but every word bears weight. Hawthorne weaves his story in such a way that every moment spent getting to know the characters is crucial. Neither is the slow development boring: far from it! Relax, enjoy the pace, and allow yourself to feast on Hawthorne's brilliant prose. As Henry James once stated, "The House of Seven Gables" is "the closest approach we are likely to have to the Great American Novel."

I would have enjoyed the book had it been a simple narrative of the hunt for the giant squid or merely a popular science digest of all Ellis knows about the animal. But Ellis has contributed to a *cultural* history of the giant squid, which is much more interesting to me than the other options.
Dry, perhaps, but not dull, the chapter on models is a valid subject in this context. Museum display brings his focus once again to how our own attitudes, expectations and desires influence how we see the world. This emotional dynamic should be understood, no matter how unpopular it is - especially when dealing with the reflecting pool of a mysterious natural phenomenon. The search for the giant squid is more than anything else a story of human desire for the unattainable. It is this that gives the inscrutable animal much of its sublime, ghostly charm.
Ellis' writing is a bit schizoid in style, and he does repeat himself a bit, but I actually like this weirdly 'biblical' effect. The many curiously casual passages on naming and specimin statistics read like the encyclopedic enthusiasm of sports commentary...

A well done and impassioned piece of pop science. Upon completing this you can honestly claim to know more about the giant squid than your friends. There is something of a problem with the book in that, so little is known about Archeteuthis, it's tough to fill a book with something more than marine biology. This is evident in the "naming of the squid" chapter and the exceedingly dull chapter on giant squid models.

However, the subject matter and transparent excitement of the author win out. You know Ellis admires this beast, he shows it, but it does not detract from the science. Very worthwhile.

Richard Ellis takes us on a voyage of wonder and discovery in this book that is as big as the giant squid. His passion for this creature, unknown to science and a monster of folklore until recently, certainly issues from each page. Ellis's gathering of rare and old images of this beast is worth the reference nature of the work itself, but his text just makes it all that more valuable. Being a cryptozoologist myself, I highly recommend this volume as a vital and necessary addition to every public library, all students of natural history, and the cryptozoologists around the world. You will not be disappointed.

Anna Pigeon is staying with a ranger friend on Liberty Island while she visits her sick sister Molly who's in the hospital with a life-threatening kidney ailment. While living in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Anna gets involved in the death of a supposed suicide. A teen-age girl leaps to her death from the top of Liberty's pedestal. If that's not enough, a few days later the security guard who tried to stop the girl from jumping dies the same way in almost the same spot. Before she knows it, Anna is caught up in a mystery involving a sleazy doctor and Castro look-alike.

Like all Anna Pigeon novels, this moves slowly. It does take quite a while for the bones of the mystery to appear but Anna Pigeon is such a likeable heroine and Barr such a good writer that the book never seems to drag. At times, Barr's stream-of-conciousness style of writing can be hard to follow but overall the novel is a fun read.

(from the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel")Nevada Barr takes her heroine Anna Pigeon out of her natural element (the forests, rivers, and deserts of our National parks) and sets her smack dab in the middle of the ultimate asphalt jungle: New York City. Oddly, this change of venue has produced some of Barr's best writing to date. In fact, "Liberty Falling" is her best novel to date. And when considering her small but powerful oeuvre ("Blind Descent," "Firestorm," "Track of the Cat" and three other top-notch efforts), that says a lot. After learning that her sister, Molly, has succumbed to pneumonia, Anna Pigeon travels to New York to hold vigil. When Frederick Stanton (a former boyfriend and FBI agent who has fallen in love with Molly) shows up, she begins feeling like an unneeded crutch. Bunking down in the ranger's quarters on Ellis Island, Anna shuttles back and forth among the three New York islands (Ellis, Liberty and Manhattan), trying to keep busy as she settles in for what could be a long wait. On a visit to Liberty island, Anna comes on the scene just after a young child is apparently pushed off of the statue. A new found friend, Park Policeman James "Hatch" Hatchett, falls under suspicion. Relying on instincts, Anna senses something amiss. And what forensic evidence is available suggests the child may have jumped. Unable to help herself, Anna begins snooping about. Among the caretakers, policemen, rangers and actors (who act out the roles of immigrants on Ellis Island), Anna finds more than enough suspects for murder. What's more, stories about ghosts haunting the ruins on Ellis Island have been bandied about. Her investigations turn up evidence of a strange and unexplained happenings in the night on Ellis and Liberty Islands. Further digging uncovers a murderous plot that could have worldwide political ramifications. When "Hatch" dies in what others assume is a freak accident and a young actress goes missing, Anna Pigeon knows she is, once again, on the right track to catch her killer. There's only one problem: he seems to be after her as well. The subplot involving Anna's sister Molly and Frederick Stanton makes for a gentle and humane counterpoint to the often violent, moral morass of the main story line. Sporting plenty of action and suspense, and a timely subtext involving racism and misplaced patriotism, "Liberty Falling" offers something for mystery fans of every stripe. (from "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1999).

Since this was my first Anna Pigeon mystery I didn't have any problem seeing her in a national park that wasn't so "natural."
I loved the descriptions of the crumbling buildings on the islands and found them to be wonderful eery backdrops for intrigue.

The suspense plot kept my interest and gave me plenty of thrills
even as I enjoyed the gentler suspense of the sub-plot of Anna's ailing sister. I'm delighted to have discovered Nevada Barr's works.

Well, I didn't like this book too much at all. All of the other reviews that I have read say that it's great, it's a classic, a timeless tale! And maybe it is. For me, I found it really hard to get into. There's not much dialogue, or action. The only exciting part comes at the end, with the Reverend Dimmesdale & his confession. Maybe I'll enjoy it when I'm older. I'm only 13 right now, and I don't think I could stand reading it again. My friends know me as a generally fast reader, but this book took me 8 weeks, maybe more, to finish! I found it very boring. I've been reading several books at once, and after a couple pages, I found it too much to keep reading, so I picked up another book that I had previously thought boring, and it seemed like non-stop action! And a lot easier to read, too, than the wording of Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, I will admit that The Scarlet Letter DOES convey a message of guilt, revenge, cowardice & bravery, and the terrible wrong that is sin. For that, I give it 3 stars. I would rate it higher, but, like I said, I found it extremely boring and tiresome. I recommend this book to people who love to read, who don't get too frustrated with tough language, and who have a LOT of time on their hands!:) I'm sure I'll try to read it again someday, but as of now, I need a break from Hawthorne's beautiful, intricate, meaningful, yet difficult words.

Although The Scalet Letter is superbly written and there is no denying the greatness of Nathanel Hawthorne, I must admit that the book was, perhaps, a bit on the dry side. Hawthorne, himself having grown up in Puritan Salem, writes from first-hand experience of the unwavereing rigidity and intolerance of Puritan society. Hester Prynne, having committed the unthinkable sin of adultery and conceiving her illegitimate child Pearl, becomes a veritable pariah as she is forced to live on the outskirts of town and wear the ignominious scarlet letter A on her bosom for eternity.

In sanctimonious colonial Salem, Hester's impropriety is tantamount to murder in today's society. She, however, should not have to bear the guilt alone. As they say, it takes two to tango. Reverend Dimmesdale, in his absolute cowardice, is just as, if not moreso, guilty than Hester. Furthermore, the biggest coward and hypocrite proves to be none other than her spineless husband, Roger Chillingworth. I must say that the reading was at times a bit laborious, but a good read nonetheless. I must further confess that the movie version with Demi Moore is much more rewarding, although the book should undoubtedly be read first.

I just finished The Scarlet Letter in school. Hawthorne does an excellent job of describing every nuance of this story, and that is why at times it is a little hard to follow. But the very heart of the story is one that we all can compare with. Hester Prynne has committed a terrible sin, and bears The Scarlet Letter on her breast. This classic tale begins with Hester on the gallows platform, alone with her baby, Pearl. Throughout the course of thise novel, Hawthorne weaves his way through characters so that you feel you are a part of this story, and by the end you have no doubts in your mind how you feel about each character. This is a book that you will either love or hate, and it really depends on when you read it. Try to take your time through the book the first time you read it, then everything will make much more sense, and you won't throw down the book in disgust. On a side note, you can really skip the introduction chapter entitled "The Custom House" because it has little to do with the rest of the book.

It apparently took Ellis about 8 years to write this book, and it certainly shows. Despite whatever was going on his personal life that made him take time off, he tried to pack too much into this work. It feels very labored, and there are too many devices which impede the story from moving forward in any satisfying way. Most notably, the whole idea of the different film crews running the show. Also, Victor is too unlikable, and frankly, too stupid of a character to justify nearly 500 pages of his little journey. The story goes awry when he leaves New York on the QE2, and the terrorism, of course described in loving detail by Ellis, including pages and pages of description of a place crash, is utterly without poignance. Even the sex scenes are unnecessarily over the top, almost numbing and certainly pornographic. Overall though, a must for Ellis fans I guess. There is quite a bit that is downright hilarious in this book. It just feels a lot less complete or neat as American Psycho, if that makes sense.

I'll admit it: Bret Easton Ellis writes about the kind of people I love to hate. Shallow and superficial, Ellis' protagonists are those glitzy, damaged, artificial souls that only emotionally fragile people find attractive; people who have no talent, no intelligence and nothing at all to be proud of yet seem to be proud of their shallowness anyway while deep down despising themselves and everything they stand for. They're the kind of people you'd meet at Hollywood parties, at the Cannes Film Festival, in the casino at Monte Carlo.

Ellis, however, doesn't let these icons of superficiality and stupidity get away with their silliness. Instead, he always reveals them for the monstrosities and curiosities they really are. He lets us know that behind a public persona is...nothing.

"Glamorama" is a dark and bizarre book that does a very good job of exposing the world of superficiality and banning its denizens into the hell they should rightfully inhabit. Sometimes it succeeds...brilliantly, yet at other times it seems to almost fall into the world of superficiality, itself.

The protagonist of "Glamorama," Victor Ward, is the perfect protagonist for this story. He's the ultimate "It-boy," a man with no personality of his own, a man for whom clubs, fashion shows, superficiality and pretension are nothing if they are not everything. In fact, Victor's entire world is tied to his media persona; take that away and Victor ceases to exist.

Victor Ward may seem quite stupid literally all of the time, but he's really not. That's one of the reasons he's the perfect protagonist for this book. Although he fails to have one rational thought process in the pages of "Glamorama," Victor is actually a college graduate and someone who could have, and should have, known better. Sure, we hate him, but that's exactly what we're supposed to do.

I thought the first half of "Glamorama" was dead-on perfect. It dealt with the opening of yet another "trendy" New York club and was so satirical it nearly shined in its brilliance. It did shine, in parts.

The middle of the book is where I had a slight problem with the story. After Victor is fired from his job, he's sent to Europe to find a girl no one in his right mind would really want to see. This, in itself, isn't bad, but the events surrounding Victor's search are just so bizarre, even for Ellis, that I thought he might have simply outdone himself and let his imagination run out of control. There are also strong hints, beginning with Victor's voyage on the QE2, that his life is not, well, really his life. Ellis is making a statement about the vacuity of pretension...I can accept that. Gladly. It is when the terrorists entered the story that I thought it was a bit over-the-top and incomprehensible. At that point, Ellis lost me and that's the only reason I gave "Glamorama" four stars instead of five. It's the only reason I don't think this book is an absolute masterpiece.

The book's ending, however, was a surprise and a very welcome one. I think Ellis truly redeemed himself and the bizarre twists on the QE2 with his superb (and very fitting) ending. There's a very strong and powerful message in the ending of "Glamorama" and it's one that's very thought-provoking as well. I think perhaps the people who didn't like this book might have been missing the point. I don't know, of course, but that would be my guess. I think anyone who doesn't think this a powerful and satirical book should reread it with an open mind. While it's not always enjoyable, it is absolutely brilliant in parts and it's quite a powerful commentary on the shallowness of life, albeit ultimately a very sad one. Sad, but oh-so-true.

After reading the many reveiws bashing this book and dismissing it for "having no plot" or being "severly disjointed", I felt the need to put in a few good words for poor Mr Ellis. I feel some of these reveiwers have missed the point. The point being that there is no point---if you can follow that. The protaganist, Victor Ward and his deviant cohorts are simply props in Ellis' satire of the celebrity obsessed society that we live in. He shows his thorough understanding of the topic with his irreverent, witty dialogue, and his ludicrous storyline. Yes, Ellis is an acquired taste...but if you start off small with maybe Less Than Zero--my personal favorite--and work your way up to Glamorama, I truly beleive that you will learn to appreciate his obsessive attention to detail and long run on sentences. It is Ellis' unique style that makes his books so intruiging. Nowhere else have I found the dark poignant nihilism that fills the pages of Ellis' novels. If you like that kind of thing, then by all means read Glamorama, because Ellis is this genre's master and this is his masterpeice.