With a title like "Stalking Bret Easton Ellis" it's impossible to review this book without comparing it to the BEE canon; luckily this novel is good enough to withstand it. "Stalking Bret Easton Ellis" is, obviously, a homage to Ellis himself, but more importantly it offers a different take on the lifestyles of the rich and affluent. Unfortunately, the important differences were missed by the many reviewers who felt offended that Weiss and Wallace dared to take up BEE's gauntlet, and most of the reviews focus on the failure of Weiss and Wallace to perfectly copy BEE.

Well no duh. These are different authors.

But let's move on to what Weiss and Wallace bring to the table instead of focusing on why many of these other reviews are wrong. What "Stalking Bret Easton Ellis" brings to the table are consequences to actions. This is huge. In most of BEE's canon, the characters can do basically whatever they want and will suffer no consequences for it. Want to kidnap this girl and do xyz to her (Less Than Zero)? Fine. Sleep with your friend's boyfriend and begin to date him (Rules of Attraction)? Sure. Murder half the female population of New York (American Psycho)? Whatever. Even Glamorama doesn't quite break out of this (though it's difficult to explain why without massive spoilers). And on top of all that, most of the characters in BEE's world do massive amounts of drugs and suffer practically no ill health effects.

Weiss and Wallace do away with that. The actions of the characters have consequences, which means, well, a lot: a moral message, plot movement, character development, etc. All of the things that are purposefully absent in BEE's works are within this novel. It's up to you on whether you like this or not. Personally I found it refreshing; I would've hated to read a carbon-copy of Ellis, and was pleased to read something tied to him but still new.

The novel is split into two "parts," although I think "halves" would be a better term since the two parts are only tangentially related. The first takes place in an East Coast liberal arts school, a Camden-ish spot, and the second takes place in California during summer break. Be careful when reading reviews that warn of too many characters to track, since the characters on the East and West Coasts are completely different and basically untied to each other.

Of the two sections, the East Coast stories feature, I think, the most interesting characters, and definitely the most character development. These stories basically center on two characters, Nico and Dexter, and characters that "orbit" them in various roles, whether that be friendly, antagonistic, or other. These are Foster, Wes, Lanie, and Faber. There is one character who is unrelated to Nico and Dexter: Allison. There are other characters that DON'T get a narration but this list of seven are the important characters. Seven characters for one half of a story seems like a lot to keep track of, but Nico and Dexter get by far the most narration roles, with the others being sprinkled in here and there, and most of them having stories that in some way connect or "orbit" around Nico and Dexter. So really, it's not a struggle to keep track of the characters.

It is a good thing that Nico and Dexter are the centerpieces for the East Coast section since they are, in my opinion, the most interesting characters in the book (no easy feat). Unlike BEE's works it is very clear that Nico and Dexter have a long list of insecurities, and for different reasons neither really fits into a BEE world. Thankfully they respond differently to this realization: Nico, who at least fits in better than Dexter, finds solace in arrogance and aloofness. Dexter simply tries harder to fit in. Both have their consequences. That being said, I personally felt an affinity to Dexter, who takes a very methodical approach to trying to fit in to this world. It is clear very early on that he has read Glamorama (no that is not a joke) and possibly Vicky Oliver's "The Millionaire's Handbook." Dexter clearly found Victor Ward an inspiration, as his speech and mannerisms are almost exactly like Ward's. Dexter even hints at this in the beginning of the novel: "I had fully imagined what I could become—the power of a character, an inflection, a pose."

Whereas the East Coast half has strong character development and plot movement, the West Coast half is much more strongly related to the BEE's tropes of endless parties, shallow characters, and debauch. In this section, as opposed to the East Coast half, it is very easy to lose track of the characters. The West Coast part has more characters to keep track of: Sadie, Sarah, Chelsea, Carson, Jack, Taylor, Andrew Hampton, Ryan, and Brock, bringing the total to nine characters. Of these nine, none of them act as an "anchor" in the way that Nico and Dexter did for the East Coast part -there is no central plot or development that these characters react to. In addition to that, the characters of Sadie, Sarah, and Chelsea are extremely similar and practically interchangeable, bringing further confusion.

This isn't a weakness. Because the characters all do the same thing and are so interchangeable, the story reads like a blur of names, drugs, sex, and parties, exactly how the characters see their world. It's a very cool trick that the authors do, but if you as the reader fight against it the read will become laborious, and really there isn't much of a point in doing so. Like the East Coast section there are characters who face consequences from their actions, but unlike the East Coast section these consequences appear suddenly and impact the reader like a car crash. This goes well with the breakneck pace of the West Coast section, and again I find it amazing that the authors managed to write such a fast-paced section for so long and so well.

It is impossible to talk about a novel like this and not bring up shout-outs to Bret Easton Ellis. The East Coast section's main shout-out is the character of Dexter himself, who as said before has likely read Glamorama, literally, and decided to impersonate Victor Ward (that won't sound so far-fetched to those of you who have read Glamorama). The West Coast section has many more shout-outs to BEE. There is one scene where a character is shown trying to organize an event for Julian and needs to contact Clay to get the details, tying this novel in with Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms. There is another scene where three of the characters are watching American Psycho on television, marveling at Christian Bale's physique. At first glance it sounds impossible, since Less Than Zero/Imperial Bedrooms and American Psycho exist in the same universe (tied through Rules of Attraction), it wouldn't be possible to watch the movie. That is, until you read the American Psycho 2000 emails and realize that Patrick Bateman bought a movie company and had them produce American Psycho, making it entirely possible to watch a movie about Patrick Bateman in a world where Patrick Bateman exists. As cool as that is, not all of the shout-outs are that neat; an in-novel reference to the literary Brat Pack of which BEE was a part is clearly impossible, unless you want to tie in Lunar Park, which only the insanely determined would do.

Overall, I think anyone who is a fan of Bret Easton Ellis' works owes it to themselves to read this novel; the story is quite good and the shout-outs are fun to read, if a little messy. I do have a few gripes with the novel: there are a few definite holes in Dexter's development near the end of his arc that have to be filled in with a bit of speculation and educated guessing. There are characters who don't get enough screen time that definitely should: Allison sticks out in my mind as the best example of an interesting character who gets squeezed out by the Nico/Dexter axis. And the shift between the East and West Coast sections is so sudden that it might take a moment to realize that you have completely left behind the East Coast and its cast, a feeling that is exasperated by the very different speed and tone of the second section. But Stalking Bret Easton Ellis is definitely worthy of a buy, and I hope Weiss and Wallace pick up the pen again.

As a fan of Bret Easton Ellis, I was excited to see someone's take on his style. I didn't know someone would blatantly cut and paste most of his ideas and plot lines. The inter weaving of characters of the book were a messy, pathetic attempt to draw together an Ellis world. I could see his characters in every single one of these young, trying too hard to be hip, over indulgent youths. Wow, you all have trust funds and coke problems, what a surprise?! Also, there were too many characters jumping around to even get emotionally involved with any of them. I didn't really care about the kids getting raped or overdosing, there was nothing tragic or lost about them, just selfish, poorly written, unevolved characters acting out in the most cliché ways. Daddy issue girls having sex with older men, drunk mothers creating drug addict daughters, and boys who got very little attention from Dad acting out in violent and psychotic ways. What a stretch. It was a waste of my $1.00, if I wanted a bad knock off of fan fiction I would have read a tweens blog about Twilight. Save your money, save your time, don't read this book!

While the illustrious Ms. Weiss and her colleague Ms. Wallace have written a book which, true to its name, stalks carefully in the footsteps of Ellis, it is far from redundant or a blatant copy of any of his works. Rather, they've merely borrowed his sardonic and often dark narrative style while crafting a story that is uniquely their own. "Stalking Bret Easton Ellis" takes the reader on a cynical journey through modern college life and the spoiled and amoral denizens who dwell therein. This book, more than any other I've read, accurately portrays how easily it is for even the most staunch individualist to get swept up in a sea of conformity, or eventually drown in misanthropic irony. Though not a masterpiece, this book nevertheless makes a fitting companion to any of Ellis' work and a must-read for anyone not wishing to become yet another soulless coed wandering through the once hallowed halls of academia. Moreover, for the bargain price of a mere $0.99 you're unlikely to find a better read this year. This book, more than any you're liable to find on a summer reading list, will prepare you for the real world of higher education.

Stalking maybe, but it's a poor imitation. I didn't tolerate it past the first few pages. What a disappointment. Don't read it. Just move on.

Although the authors attempted to "stalk" Bret's style, they missed by a landslide. This was honestly the biggest waste of $1.00 I've ever spent. The writing is below average, and the storyline is discombobulated and uninteresting. Save yourself the horror. I couldn't bear to finish reading it.

It's a perfectly acceptable imitation of Ellis. I dunno, it was worth reading, but there's a lot of cliche in it. It's fine for a quick read I guess.

This book is trying too hard. I wasn't that impressed. The characters blend into one and are hard to differentiate.

When I bought this book, I was under the impression that it was a B.E.E. biography. Not the case. Some weak story vaguely referencing the great author.