Less
than Zero is a raw and powerful portrayal of a young generation that has experienced
sex, drugs and disaffection at too early an age. The narrator, Clay, is the
son of a Hollywood couple who care far more for their careers than their children
and their problems. Clay returns home to Los Angeles for the Christmas holiday,
a holiday that turns into an orgy in parties, sex and drugs. Less than Zero
is a shocking novel that portrays the nihilism that comes with youth, money
and parental neglect. Less than Zero was critically acclaimed, and called 'An
extraordinarily accomplished first novel' (New Yorker). Twentieth Century Fox
released a movie based on the novel in 1987, starring James Spader (Stargate)
and Robert Downey JR (Chaplin). Excerpt from Less than Zero: (193) 'Written
on the bathroom wall at Pages, where it says "Julian gives great head. And is
dead." : "Fuck you Mom and Dad. You can both die because that's what you did
to me. You left me to die. You are both so fucking hopeless. You can both rot
in fucking shitting asshole hell. Burn, fuckers. Burn."