Bret Easton Ellis's Lunar Park: A Ghostly Self-Critique
In 2005, Bret Easton Ellis released Lunar Park, a novel that critiques his previous works, particularly American Psycho (1991). Ellis perceives himself as a survivor tormented by Patrick Bateman, the serial killer from American Psycho, feeling manipulated by this fictional entity. An epigraph cautions against becoming a spectacle. He longs to return to the straightforwardness of his first novel, Less Than Zero. The plot intertwines autobiography with fiction: Ellis is married to former model Jayne Dennis, has a son he mistakenly believed to be Keanu Reeves's, and is completing a book titled Teenage Pussy. The narrative transitions into supernatural horror, featuring copycat killings, hallucinations, and examines the distinctions between demons and ghosts, with Ellis embodying a ghost and his writer persona representing a demon.
Key facts
- Lunar Park was published in 2005 by Éditions Robert Laffont.
- The novel is haunted by Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (1991).
- Ellis was part of the Brat Pack with Jay McInerney and Tama Janowitz.
- The epigraph is from Thomas McGuane's Panama.
- Ellis aims to return to the simplicity of Less Than Zero.
- The first line of Less Than Zero is 'People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles.'
- In the novel, Ellis is married to Jayne Dennis and has a son.
- The story includes supernatural elements like copycat murders and hallucinations.
- Ellis distinguishes between demons and ghosts in the narrative.
- The book is a meta-fictional critique of Ellis's own career.
Entities
Artists
- Bret Easton Ellis
- Patrick Bateman
- Jay McInerney
- Tama Janowitz
- Keanu Reeves
- Philip Roth
- Stephen King
- Owen King
- Thomas McGuane
- Milan Kundera
Institutions
- Éditions Robert Laffont
- Knopf
- The New York Times
- Le Monde
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- New York
- East Coast
Sources
- artpress —