Bret Easton Ellis' new memoir The Shards is brilliant

The Shardsh!

I like Bret Eaton Ellis, and I don't care what the rest of you think. I'd rather have fun than than respect.

How much homosex is detailed in the book?

Started listening and already SMH-ing

He's talking about "Ocho" tequila, Xanax, panic attacks and being rushed to the hospital because he had a panic attack.

BEE is a terrific writer - up there with Wolfe. However, he refuses to bow before the progressive left, so they will do anything they can to destroy him.

11 minutes in and he's still teasing the notion of "this thing that happened to [name drop X 4 + serial killer] and you're listening to find out WTF was so traumatic

I subscribe to his podcast and am really enjoying this. And yes, there are hot gay sex scenes.

This puffy old hack again?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

OP here. I don't agree with BEE politically, but I love his writing. I think this is the best thing he's written. Yes, there are a few hot gay sex scenes.

It's really fascinating trying to figure out exactly what's going on in the story, as I think he's the most unreliable of narrators.

I think The Shards may be his magnum opus.

The Sharts

Thanks OP.

Have to agree with others that BEE is a dick, but that doesn’t necessarily take away from his writing ability.

How many of these pots did Brett write himself? Fuck off.

R5 = Bret Easton Ellis

Is he better than David Sedaris?

Where the fuck is the book? There isn’t a Kindle version? I don’t care about a goddamn podcast. How do I read the book?

Writing? That's not writing! That thing is a podcast -- I'm going to have to listen to it as opposed to read it myself.

Please -- I can read print a lot faster than these idiots can read aloud.

Hard pass.

[quote] Where the fuck is the book?

It's being sold as a roll of toilet paper. Each chapter is printed on a different square and it's meant to be read while on the pot.

It's pretty great, no matter what you think about BEE and his Peter Thiel fetish. It's a semi biographical novel about his group of friends in the late 70s in LA. I say semi because BEE claims it's all true, but there is clearly some heightened fiction there.

R5 implying that his lack of recent success is the work of a left wing cabal? Next you'll be saying Tim Allen is the world's funniest comedian, if only people would stop persecuting him for his views!

[quote] I don't agree with BEE politically, but

Why do people on the left always have to signal their political purity before they say anything? Hey R10 didn't you forget to tell us your pronouns and about how many Asian friends you have and how you totally support BLM? DL is turning into a fucking Politburo meeting.

He just had memoirs out called "White" about a year ago. I read that and enjoyed it, but have already forgotten it all. But I do remember him talking about going to the movies as a teenager. Seems strange his new book would take place such a short time later. Does he plan to have a new book about every five years of his life?

Why can’t I read it instead of listening? I hate audio “books”

[quote]If you came of age in the '80s, and we're gay, it will speak to you.

I apparently need to know if you are gay before this sentence could make sense.

He's still alive? I thought he overdosed

Thanks for shilling your new "brilliant" book to us, Bret/OP!

Not interested if there's no homosex.

R21 I brought that up because someone else mentioned it first. Otherwise, I wouldn't have.

Trust me you guys. It's an EXCELLENT piece of work, and it's a privilege to get to hear it in this raw form as Bret works in it week by week.

I don't really understand the cynical, angry responses. Give it a chance. I think by the end of chapter 2, you'll want to know where it's going.

I've been following very closely, looking at the Buckley yearbook from that year, and attempting to find news stories about some of the incidents he writes about. Really fun and interactive, in these Covid ridden days.

R27 plenty of homosex.

R26 I'm not Bret, and he would never come on here and post what I've been posting. Not his style at all.

R23 not yet. At first, Bret said he wasn't sure if it was going to be published, or if it works ld just be in audio form.

In my opinion, it's turned out to be a major work, and likely will eventually be published in book form.

*or if it would just remain in audio form.

(Autocorrect typo there)

R22 White was a collection of essays. The Shards is a memoir/novel.

Why does this idiot keep calling this podcast a novel? Make it stop, I beg you.

"Trust me! Trust me! It's Good!"

Worse than a 3AM infomercial.

He's a turd has-been.

God he's over rated.

What's that shit novel where some chapters are just listing the personnel on record albums like Huey Lewis?

That's not a great writer.

That's shite.

R27 yeah there's homosex

Bret looks like a caneface now

Can I get this through my library?

If you want to watch someone having a real live mental breakdown, follow BEE's boyfriend @ToddMichae1 on Twitter.

R40 Does it happen during the readings of the podcast?

The sharts? They happen to Brat daily.

What radio channel and time is it broadcasted on?

Will it be a Book of the Month selection soon?

Oprah's been raving about it.

R34 Huh? It's a novel/memoir. He's reading it chapter by chapter on his podcast.

Sad that he couldn’t get anyone to publish it.

Is it an Oprah pick? I was surprised to find that she was still doing that. I though SJP and Reese has superseded her.

OP: "...and we're gay..."

R47 He didn't try to. It's not written. Pretty good bet that it will be published once he's finished writing it and serializing it on his podcast.

Spoiler alert - Daenerys goes mad in the end and Bran becomes the Cripple 3 Eyed Raven King.

Was he unable to get into Harvard Westlake?

R40 Jesus, the boyfriend looks like when he “cooks” dinner the ingredients are Windex and Sudafed.

May the Schwartz be with you!

R53 He went on a very obvious meth binge recently. I thought he'd broken up with BEE but still called him his boyfriend when he was complaining about something at the Chateau Marmont. He's also been accusing Sia of paedophila.

R55 he sounds POZitively enchanting

Does Bret's pussy stink?

Windex and Sudafed? I thought that was the title of the Amy Winehouse biography?

Most of chapter one is sort of a forward. But it's important to hear, and sets up the world. Chapter two gets into the story.

Not into aspies art.

In one article it says his 'lover' died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In another it says heart attack. In still another it was after a night of partying to celebrate his 30th birthday...

I wonder if Ellis murdered him?

I’d prefer to read it, not listen to it.

He's a terrible writer. He's one of those people that thinks if he just writes about horrible people doing horrible things that it's somehow intrinsically got value and is deep. He's like a real life version of Miss Marple's nephew, Raymond West.

Still writing about young & affectless hedonists I see

[quote]BEE is a terrific writer - up there with Wolfe.

I'm guessing you've read neither BEE nor Wolfe.

I enjoyed listening to the first excerpt last night. It's gossipy and does not require me to think. Plus, I grew up in the '80s, so nostalgic. It's entertaining, and that's all I ask of anything these days.

Actually R63, I always took his shtick to be "really rich people in places like NYC and LA doing terrible things, as reported by someone who is one of them."

There seems to be a lot of room for readers to think "see how having too much money makes children so depraved!"

He was also an antidote to all the "MFA Fiction" written by people who had never actually lived in the real world, and so wrote about academia or the imagined lives of blue collar people they met at their summer jobs.

Has he declared war on Iowa’s Writers Workshop?

[quote]and it's a privilege to get to hear it in this raw form as Bret works in it week by week.

I love DL threads about BEE because they always come down to this -- what is more pathetic, BEE writing this about himself or someone else writing it about BEE? Are his fanboys all raised on a strict diet of advertising copy?

So, is this like the masses who would descend upon the piers of NYC desperate for the latest installment from Dickens shouting “Is Little Nell dead?” as the ship steamed into the harbor?

It’s not a memoir, a book or a chapter - it’s a podcast. Audio”books” are an oxymoron.

I don't feel sorry for him at all. He had a great run. Less Than Zero and American Psycho had the sort of success most writers can only dream of.

R72 The Shards is better than both Less Than Zero and American Psycho.

But those are actual books. You can buy them and read them. I don’t know what the hell this is. Songs that don’t rhyme?

R74 I'm not sure what is so difficult to grasp here. Bret is writing his new novel in real time, and reading each new chapter on his podcast bi-weekly. It's a really cool and interesting way to do it. We're hearing it raw, before it's been edited.

It's been a fun interactive exercise trying to figure out from his 1982 yearbook exactly which students he's writing about. See below.

One interesting thing- Bret graduated with Michael Landon, Jr. who was hot as shit. But, I don't believe he's a character in The Shards, though he might be.

It's so laughable to see this has-been and his sock puppets re-appear on DataLounge every time he spurts out some 'project. It's so transparent, crass, and sad. He's a relic in publishing. A few years back, one publishing industry pal had a dartboard in the break room with his headshot dead center.

I like the fact that he's having to give it away free, like a WHORE.

If a man publishes a memoir, but it's really just a podcast that no one is listening to, does it really count as a real book?

I so wish Glamorama had been made into a film. It would have been insane.

(and, no, Zoolander doesn't count)

So there will be a real and actual book, R75?

R76 Not a "sock puppet," just a fan.

You may want to take a look at your own life and figure out why you're such a miserable, bitter old queen.

r73 is Bret Easton Ellis.

R80 at first he wasn't sure if the story would go beyond the podcast. But in my opinion it's just so great that it almost certainly has to.

R82 Wrong. It's me. I'm not Bret Easton Ellis. Thanks for playing.

R79 I want to see Glitterati. Mostly to see Kip Pardue's dick.

[quote]It's been a fun interactive exercise trying to figure out from his 1982 yearbook exactly which students he's writing about.

That is SO not Datalounge, dear.

R86 What?

Is he still cute? Is he out now?

OP, R81, aka Sock Puppet, aka every other post in this thread:

You may want to take a look at your own sad tiny life and figure out why you're shilling such a fat ugly over-praised has-been suck-ass rightwing asshole author, cunt.

[quote] Why do people on the left always have to signal their political purity before they say anything?

Because he’s a hateful odious fuck and people don’t want to be seen endorsing this pos who hates gay people.

He’s pushing 300 lbs now. Sad. He’ll drop dead of a heart attack before you know it.

R89 I know why. Because I enjoy his work, and I thought others on here might enjoy it as well.

Why does this bother you so much?

R65 I'm guessing you've never taken a satisfactory bowel movement.

Au contraire, R93. I was taking one while I typed that post.

I get him and the guy who wrote Fight Club mixed up.

I get him and breast cancerous Meatloaf from Fight Club: The Movie mixed up.

that's chuck palahniuk R95

actually WHET chuck palahniuk? i thought he was writer-hot when he first started

I read this as The Sharts and now I can't unsee it. Forgive me. I do like his writing even if he gets insufferable about politics.

Bret murdered me........several times. My last wordd to him were "You wouldn't know a good third act if it fuvked you in the ass.....again"

Bret’s “boyfriend” makes this so much more complicated. Addicted to meth/coke/etx? ...and bipolar at the least, so messy. On the podcast, Bret says his “boyfriend” is often fucked by random guys and listening to that is ok, but not hot. How could hearing your “boyfriend” being railed by some Grindr guy not be titillating up if you’re into that? So maybe a BJ every month or two works for them? Anyone who follows the “millennial” knows what a disastrous nightmare he lives. What a mess.

If he’s gay and anywhere near as good as some of you say, I say yay for Brett 👏👏👏 which film should I watch? I don't read much these days.

Forget about the boyfriend, forget about the funny joke about the title. Listen to it. It's really compelling.

Enough, OP.

Enough.

I am a listener and reader... maybe even a “fan” until recently... but this wild obsession displayed in this thread does neither Bret nor yourself any favors.

Yes, The Shards is good, thus far.

Let go.

Why is it a "wild obsession?" I made a thread about it, and I've addressed some concerns and questions people may have about it.

R104 I'm not sure you're really cut out for DL, doll.

OP proves his taste in lit is shitty, as he's doing a hard sell for one single book that isn't even a book. He's like a Mor(m)on who won't stop ringing your doorbell.

I'm a huge BEE fan but OP is just embarrassing.

When is a book not a book?

American Psycho is the only mildly interesting thing he's done, and all I could think reading it was what a missed opportunity it was.

It's curious, i hate the guy but he is entertainning for sure.

He, not his novels. His novels are boring as hell and the writting is plain. I know his fans think he is a genius ignored because he is not a leftist and no, he is pretty bad. He had his days at the sun (from todays perspective is difficult to understand all the fuss with Less than Zero and American Psycho) and was very popular but that was ages ago.

Right now he is known for his beef on twitter and for being friends with Donna Tartt

R106 Huh? I came in here to recommend a thing I like. You shit all over it without having heard it. I point out what a bitter, nasty queen you are, and your strategy shifts to say I'm weird for posting about a thing I like.

Get help, R106.

He has got to know everyone is going to call it “The Sharts.”

[quote] I'm weird for posting about a thing I like.

Not weird, tiresome OP; tedious, repetitive, banal, clueless, vapid, a dullard and shill-istic.

This is DL, newb, not 4th Grade Show & Tell.

"And sometimes I dream about Robert. Sometimes disguised as someone else, sometimes older, but mostly young, fixed in that moment of his teenage beauty, a place where he would always reside. Sometimes when I wake up from one of my dreams about Robert or Matt, or Ryan Vaughn, or Thom, or Susan, I'm reminded that the fall of 1981 wasn't the dream that I sometimes pretend it was. But this book is a dream. And, if you wanna find the real ending to it, just slip back to another time. Hear those voices calling out to you. Find that record with the platinum blonde girl on the cover, turn up the volume, play it loud, close your eyes and lay back and listen to a song about DREAMING." - Bret Easton Ellis "The Shards"

He apparently shart that out of his ass, R114.

[quote]If you came of age in the '80s, and we[']re gay, it will speak to you ... It's about his senior year at The Buckley School, the private school in Sherman Oaks he attended

I came of age in the '80s/90s and am gay, but I grew up in a farm town. I do not think this will speak to me.

R116 You might be surprised. Some experiences are universal.

BEE is a hack. A hack, I say! "Less Than Zero" = Elvis Costello, 1977, and does not make BEE cool.

"Glamorama" is in Pine Valley. Opal can give you some highlights or a shampoo set. Does not make BEE cool.

R11 "Shart Sandwich."

He's not really a writer. To be a writer you have to be able to infuse whatever you're writing with things that will make the reader think and/or feel. He's simply a conjuror of zeitgeist. A very good one, one has to admit, but hat's all there is to it.

R120 You're wrong. Listen to The Shards. 1981 comes roaring back to life. It's painful funny, riveting and compelling. Best thing he's written by far.

It's not writing, it's typing!

Listened to the last episode before bed last night and had trouble falling asleep. It’s really chilling.

R123 The last half hour was everything. I cried. You know there are idiots on the internet debating who the killer is? Could NOT be more clear. Bret fucking TOLD us

"Tom's face blossoming with awareness was an amazing special effect. He was seeing the light, and though it would sear him badly, Tom would also gain a new kind of knowledge through this enlightenment. Life was pain, and it kept burning you. Tom would be purified through this. I was praying for him." - BEE, The Shards

BEE's podcast is the only one I listen to regularly. I think he's brilliant and a totally unique writer/thinker. I'm not sure he has concrete politics beyond being an aesthetic reactionary like many a DLer.

He reminds me of a less cunty Morrissey.

The Fight Club guy came onto Brett's pod's a couple years ago. They had weird tension.

R126 I think each one of them would want part of what the other has. When BEE starts on politics, I skip over it. Thankfully, there was nothing political about The Shards.

Didn't you find the last half hour to be beautiful? The bittersweet pain of nostalgia- it's was the best writing on the Generation X experience I've heard.

* IT was

I'll give this a try because I have an open mind. I admit that BEE has been very annoying, arrogant and obnoxious in the past few years. It's one thing to be conservative but he just thrives off of being a contrarian who stirs up controversy and many times he seems just bitter and jealous despite his success (which I feel was a bit overblown). I read The Informers and enjoyed it. I could not get through American Psycho but I will try again later.

R129 there is no politics at all in The Shards. Check it out. If you like the first two chapters, I have the rest uploaded. Link in the OP.