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A review by booksnpunks
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis
5.0
After finishing this book I went to bed and stared at the ceiling for ages just like... "What the f**k?" Glamorama is not only a satire of the film/modelling agency and celebrity culture, but also explores the threats of terrorism and surveillance. The first third paints a bleak portrait of the 90s high life. Victor Ward is a model, unsympathetic and shallow but represents everything about 90s minimalism and desensitisation. The importance rests on celebrity names - the only important this is where you are seen and who you are seen with. Yet this also opens up the terrifying possibilities of journalism and it's power over both celebrities and the mass public. The second third starts getting interesting as Victor realises he is in something bigger than he can understand, yet it is still shadowed under the saturation of celebrity culture that he is obsessed with.
The last 100 then completely messed me up. Like American Psycho, Ellis leaves you wondering if anything you just read even happened. Yet it is perhaps even more shocking than Psycho in its metafiction and realism. The references to the "camera" and "director" make me wonder if the whole thing was just happening on the set of a movie. I couldn't stop reading, honestly I was in absolute pieces, I still can't even deal with the intensity of what I just read. Oh my godddd.
If you aren't liking this novel then PLEASE stick it out for the last 100 pages. They are so addictive and Ellis is so clever.
The last 100 then completely messed me up. Like American Psycho, Ellis leaves you wondering if anything you just read even happened. Yet it is perhaps even more shocking than Psycho in its metafiction and realism. The references to the "camera" and "director" make me wonder if the whole thing was just happening on the set of a movie. I couldn't stop reading, honestly I was in absolute pieces, I still can't even deal with the intensity of what I just read. Oh my godddd.
If you aren't liking this novel then PLEASE stick it out for the last 100 pages. They are so addictive and Ellis is so clever.