THE CONTROVERSIAL SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER.
Candid, fearless and provocative – the author of American Psycho on who he is and what he thinks is wrong with the world today.
Bret Easton Ellis is most famous for his era-defining novel American Psycho and its terrifying anti-hero, Patrick Bateman. With that book, and many times since, Ellis proved himself to be one of the world’s most fearless and clear-sighted observers of society – the glittering surface and the darkness beneath.
In White, his first work of non-fiction, Ellis offers a wide-ranging exploration of what the hell is going on right now. He tells personal stories from his own life. He writes with razor-sharp precision about the music, movies, books and TV he loves and hates. He examines the ways our culture, politics and relationships have changed over the last four decades. He talks about social media, Hollywood celebrities and Donald Trump.
Ellis considers conflicting positions without flinching and adheres to no status quo. His forthright views are powered by a fervent belief in artistic freedom and freedom of speech. Candid, funny, entertaining and blisteringly honest, he offers opinions that are impossible to ignore and certain to provoke.
What he values above all is the truth. ‘The culture at large seemed to encourage discourse,’ he writes, ‘but what it really wanted to do was shut down the individual.’ Bret Easton Ellis will not be shut down.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781529012408
Number of pages: 272
Weight: 190 g
Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 17 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
The first work of non-fiction from the American Psycho author is very good . . . the best thing he has published for years - Sunday Times
A winning mixture of incautious autobiography and caustic polemic, with plenty of sharp social observation thrown in . . . What a timely book this is – bursting with wit and diablerie, shameless, bracing and fun. - Mail on Sunday
A splenetic analysis of the culture of today . . . occasionally brilliant, often thought-provoking - The Times
Not everybody is going to like it. He doesn’t care. - New York Times
For the youthful twitterati, I suppose, he’s just another old white man who hates everything - Hugo Rifkind, The Times
This attack on political correctness in the Twitter age . . . has all the sound, fury and insignificance of a misguided rant posted at 3am - Guardian
Ellis will lose friends over this book. - Wall Street Journal
Best described as a provocation . . . it’s up to you, the reader, to choose to what degree you are prepared to allow yourself to be riled. - Observer
@BretEastonEllis Your book White is staggeringly good. I’m loving it. Thank you so much for your style, your humour and your honesty. - Eric Idle (on Twitter)
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“Unflinchingly Ellis”
Bret Easton Ellis saves the world! Well, he at least takes a good poke at it. The annoying bits anyway, namely social media.
I loved American Psycho and Less Than Zero and so I eagerly anticipated his first...
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“In his natural format.”
You get the impression that this is the book that Ellis has always wanted to write. Just spitting out controversial essays, one after the other, like a machine gun. It's so entertaining, and occasionally... More
“'...this confession has meant nothing.'”
Poor Bret’s been getting a bit of a kicking in the broadsheets since publication. A lot of it very predictable – and I’m sure Bret predicted and wanted it too.
Because of course if he's the first to shout out why...
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