So I am struggling on E. Because the most obvious choice for E is a writer that I cannot decide if I hate to love or love to hate. But, nonetheless, he is an amazing storyteller, so I had to go with it.
Bret Easton Ellis
Is there anyone out there who didn't contemplate giving up on American Psycho partway through the famed Phil Collins chapter? But, despite the book being a bit gruesome, and incredibly tedious at moments, it is one of the truest and most visceral depictions of the 80's I've read.
However, what people often do not know is that Bret Easton Ellis wrote (and continues to write) many books beyond American Psycho and Less than Zero. In fact, he wrote The Rules of Attraction, which I think is actually better than the other two books.
My conflict with Ellis is that his characters are often (always?) bereft of empathy, unable to think outside of themselves, and lacking in any kind of moral fortitude. I would hate his writing except for the fact that he does it so damned well. His writing is flawless, no matter how much you hate who he writes about.
Do you guys have authors that are amazingly talented, and you like despite yourself?
I've never read Bret Easton Ellis. I will have to give him a try. In fact, I've not seen American Psycho either.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have any love/hate relationships with any authors--that I can think of. One of the authors I like is Elizabeth Berg even though most of her conflict is subtle or internal. So there's really not a whole lot of action other than in the characters' heads. I know this goes against the almost seemingly constant nagging to show action, action, action.