Vogue’s Book Club is back, and for our third pick, we’ve got our Ray-Bans on, Elvis Costello playing, and we’re afraid to merge.

That’s right—we’re reading Bret Easton Ellis’s classic first novel, Less Than Zero. It burst onto the literary scene in 1986, when Ellis was just 21 and a student at Bennington College. This chilly, haunting debut is about his teenage life in Los Angeles. Written in short, hypnotic sentences inspired by his two literary heroes, Joan Didion and Ernest Hemingway, the book focuses on emotional numbness, drugs, parties, rich-kid culture, and meaningless sex.

Does that sound like fun? Less Than Zero is definitely unsettling—Los Angeles has rarely felt so menacing. But it’s also strangely captivating in its details. There are meetups at Du-par’s and the Galleria, parties in Holmby Hills, drives along Wilshire and out to eerie Palm Springs. The movies playing at the multiplex are named, along with the songs on the radio, the cars Clay’s friends drive, and the clothes they wear. Clay is home in LA from an unnamed college in New Hampshire for Christmas. He has four weeks to reconnect with friends, break up with his maybe-girlfriend Blair, and figure out what’s going on with his friend Julian (spoiler: nothing good).

Even the New York Times’s formidable critic Michiko Kakutani called Less Than Zero “one of the most disturbing novels I’ve read in a long time.” The book became a bestseller, and Ellis became a kind of celebrity, linked to the lifestyle he wrote about. More books followed: The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho (dropped by its first publisher before release because of its horrific content, then picked up by another and became a cult classic), Glamorama, Lunar Park, and others. In 2023, Ellis returned to the world of Less Than Zero with The Shards, which is being adapted by Ryan Murphy and will air on FX in August.

Ellis is a sly satirist, and his detached view of California’s darker side is as unforgettable now as it was 40 years ago. “People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles,” the book begins… and it doesn’t let up. So grab a copy—head to Bookshop.org and use the code Vogue15 for 15% off—and follow along as we read and share stories about Less Than Zero on the Vogue app.

Reading Guide (based on the 1998 Vintage Contemporaries edition)
July 30–August 6: pp. 9 (“People are afraid…”) to pp. 118 (“For some reason I believe this and unroll the window and we drive to After Hours.”)
August 7–August 13: pp. 119 (“The girl I’m sitting next to…”) to the end.

Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about Get ready Vogues next book club pick is Bret Easton Elliss Lunar Park

BeginnerLevel Questions

Q What is the book
A Its Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis Its a novel that blends horror memoir and satire

Q Is this the same guy who wrote American Psycho
A Yes Bret Easton Ellis is famous for American Psycho Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction

Q What is Lunar Park about
A Its a fictional story about a writer named Bret Easton Ellis who is haunted by his past his father and a mysterious supernatural event in his new house

Q Do I need to read American Psycho first to understand this book
A Not really The book references his earlier work but you can read it as a standalone story about fame addiction and family

Q Is it a scary book
A It has creepy unsettling moments and psychological horror but its not a traditional slasher or ghost story Its more about dread and paranoia

Advanced Deeper Questions

Q Is Lunar Park an autobiography
A No Its a metafictional novel The main character shares the authors name and life details but the plot is completely made up Its a trick the author plays on the reader

Q Why is Vogues book club picking this Its very dark
A Vogue often picks books that are culturally significant or challenging Lunar Park is considered a modern classic of transgressive fiction and a smart commentary on celebrity and the 1990s

Q What is transgressive fiction
A Its a genre that pushes boundaries by showing taboo subjects in a raw often disturbing way Ellis is a master of this style

Q Is the book hard to read