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Liked It “The Informers is like the sick love-child of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio and Nathanael West's Day of the Locust. While this collection of interweaving short stories is not as shocking or subversive as, say, Glamorama, it is equally blunt in it's chastisement of Hollywood glitz & glam...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Awful book, just awful. It was boring and hard to stay into, here's hoping th movie is better, but not much luck there.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“The Informers is like the sick love-child of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio and Nathanael West's Day of the Locust. While this collection of interweaving short stories is not as shocking or subversive as, say, Glamorama, it is equally blunt in it's chastisement of Hollywood glitz & glam phoniness (like Holden Caufiled on crack). Ellis's dystopic vision of Hollywood is a contemporary re-imagining of what West did with Day of the Locust, and of what Bukowski did with Ham on Rye. It's as honest as John Fante's Ask the Dust in it's critique of "west coast envy." What Ellis does truly brilliantly, I think, is presenting believable (most of the time) characters who feel truly blessed and "happy" to be living in L.A., yet the reader gets a look at what's going on under the surface, and it is not pretty. The vampires were a stretch, and the child murder was terrifying, but combined and/or inter-mixed with the rest of the more believable shorts - a father trying to reconnect with his son, a mother lusting over young (young) men, a wannabe rockstar abusing his female fans - sexually and physically, well, you get the point that this is L.A. and that the fantasy is fresh, fun, beautiful, but the reality is dark, disturbing, and dangerous. I'm not sure there's been a more on-the-money satirist since Mark Twain or Jane Austen - if only they had been more free to express themselves! ”
Adam B wrote this review Sunday, November 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I really enjoyed this book because it is a reflection of society. It reveals the reality of life, while also revealing the fantasy side of life. I really liked his usage of different view points with each story having at least one connection to the others. Ellis is truthful without the fear of originality. And now I am left to wonder if he was a vampire himself. I would recommend this book to people who believe in both reality and fiction, people who are not afraid to imagine beyond what can be seen.”
Chelsea S wrote this review 12 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Can't seem to get past the first chapter...?”
Tabitha S wrote this review Friday, September 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“rad!!”
Justin K wrote this review Wednesday, August 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Ellis has a way of portraying the mudane acts of these kids and adults that have money...they tend to drift through life without any ambition. I felt as though I could hear the voice track from 'Rules of attraction" movie as I read the book. I really loved the development of the vampires towards the end. They make killing an artistic act.”
Between the devil and the deep blue sea. wrote this review Tuesday, August 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“It was dark and crazy and the chapter about vampires blew me away. So creepy!”
Heidi R wrote this review Tuesday, August 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Some writers don't make good short story writers, Ellis seems like one of them, didn't really enjoy most of these - although there were some good ones, off which the names have slipped my mind - my favourites were the last one and the one that were a set of letters from one girl to her ex.”
James wrote this review Friday, July 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A group of people expose the worst of themselves in a series of interconnected stories about the dark side of ourselves. Set in the summer sometime in the 80's this book is full of cocaine, Wayfarers, and a cast of people struggling with stomach churning situations. I highly recommend this book, but don't look for a light at the end of the tunnel, this one is dark. ”
Kyle wrote this review Friday, June 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Awful book, just awful. It was boring and hard to stay into, here's hoping th movie is better, but not much luck there.”
Billy S wrote this review Thursday, June 11 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I liked "Less Than Zero" the most, followed by "The Informers," with an "American Psycho" chaser. Ellis is a writer that I actually follow even though I don't read much. I love his insight on the rich overprivileged wastelands of America. ”
Matthew F wrote this review Wednesday, June 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
