← Back

Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis

Born: 1964-03-07 • Los Angeles, California, USA

Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique as a writer is the expression of extreme acts and opinions in an affectless style. His novels commonly share recurring characters.

When Ellis was 21, his first novel, the controversial bestseller Less than Zero (1985), was published by Simon & Schuster. His third novel, American Psycho (1991), was his most successful. Upon its release, the literary establishment widely condemned it as overly violent and misogynistic. Though many petitions to ban the book saw Ellis dropped by Simon & Schuster, the resounding controversy convinced Alfred A. Knopf to release it as a paperback later that year.

Ellis's novels have become increasingly metafictional. Lunar Park (2005), a pseudo-memoir and ghost story, received positive reviews. Imperial Bedrooms (2010), marketed as a sequel to Less than Zero, continues in this vein. The Shards (2023) is a fictionalized memoir of Ellis's final year of high school in 1981 in Los Angeles.

Four of Ellis's works have been made into films. Less than Zero was adapted in 1987 as a film of the same name, but the film bore little resemblance to the novel. Mary Harron's adaptation of American Psycho was released in 2000. Roger Avary's adaptation of The Rules of Attraction was released in 2002. The Informers, co-written by Ellis and based on his collection of short stories, was released in 2008. Ellis also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film The Canyons.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Bret Easton Ellis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography
Sebastian poster
Sebastian
2024 • Self (Archive Footage)
BRATS poster
BRATS
2024 • Self
The End of the World poster
The End of the World
2022
Killer, Trader and Psychopath: The America of Bret Easton Ellis poster
Killer, Trader and Psychopath: The America of Bret Easton Ellis
2021 • Self - Writer
Kill, Kobek... Kill! poster
Kill, Kobek... Kill!
2020 • Bret Easton Ellis
The Loser poster
The Loser
2019 • Him
Generation Wealth poster
Generation Wealth
2018 • Self
78/52 poster
78/52
2017 • Self
Placebo: Loud Like Love poster
Placebo: Loud Like Love
2014 • Voice
Her: Love in the Modern Age poster
Her: Love in the Modern Age
2014 • Self
Placebo: Too Many Friends poster
Placebo: Too Many Friends
2013 • Voice
No Image
Behind the scenes of All That Glitters
2010 • Author
Fernanda Pivano: A Farewell to Beat poster
Fernanda Pivano: A Farewell to Beat
2001 • Se stesso