Bret Easton Ellis

Bret Easton Ellis, born on March 7, 1964, is a prominent American novelist and screenwriter, recognized as a key figure of the literary Brat Pack. His writing is marked by a distinctive satirical style that often explores extreme themes and sentiments in a detached manner, with recurring characters appearing across multiple works.

At the age of 21, Ellis burst onto the literary scene with his first novel, *Less than Zero* (1985), a provocative bestseller published by Simon & Schuster. His third novel, *American Psycho* (1991), became his most notorious work, facing significant backlash for its graphic violence and perceived misogyny. Despite calls for its ban and his subsequent departure from Simon & Schuster, the controversy surrounding the book led to its later release in paperback by Alfred A. Knopf, solidifying its place in modern literature.

Ellis’s subsequent novels have embraced metafictional elements, notably *Lunar Park* (2005), a blend of memoir and ghost story that garnered acclaim, and *Imperial Bedrooms* (2010), a sequel to *Less than Zero*. His latest work, *The Shards* (2023), offers a fictionalized account of his final year in high school during 1981 in Los Angeles.

Additionally, several of Ellis's books have been adapted into films. Notable adaptations include *Less than Zero* (1987), *American Psycho* (2000), *The Rules of Attraction* (2002), and *The Informers* (2008), the latter co-written by Ellis. He also penned the screenplay for the 2013 film *The Canyons*.