In an interview with Details magazine, novelist Bret Easton Ellis talked about the 1980s, getting older, and the first time he was reviewed by the NY Times‘ influential critic, Michiko Kakutani.
Here’s an excerpt, talking about a review of Less Than Zero: “I remember not knowing who Michiko Kakutani was. [Laughs] That’s what I remember most about seeing that review. Honestly, I was too young to get it. Everyone else was sort of freaking out that the book even got reviewed in The New York Times–my agent and my editor and other people were extremely excited for me. And I think I was bummed out about some stuff that was going on at Bennington College at the time–like a relationship problem. So yeah, I guess in retrospect that seems pretty remarkable that that book was reviewed there. But as a 21-year-old, I was lost in other more pressing personal problems.”
Ellis’s new novel, Imperial Bedrooms, catches up with the lives of his characters from his debut novel, Less Than Zero–a book that turns 25-year-old this year.