Set in Los Angeles in the early 1980's, this mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age. They live in a world shaped by passivity. The place lacks feeling and hope. Three high school buddies, 2 male and 1 female, venture down very different paths after graduation. Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern College and re-enters a landscape of …showed first 75 words of 713 total…

…showed last 75 words of 713 total…way. Spoiled, unlikable characters pitifully indulging themselves with too much of everything and an insipid lost narrator makeup the text. As I kept reading I became aware of a weird sensation, a perverse, almost vicarious need to keep reading. Ellis is wonderful at creating a mood and infesting the reader with it. This book left me examining my outlook on life, friends, and drugs. I will also remember the lessons learned from reading this book.