Customer Reviews
brilliant peek into a tangled web - By: Oliver Foster Standring, 15 Feb 2008 
This was the second book by Easton Ellis that I read (after american psycho) & focuses on the complicated lives of three characters caught upin a nasty love triangle (square? pentagon?) It slowly leaks information regarding the personas & backgrounds of the characters & does a good job of drawing you in, & putting you behind their eyes so to speak. For me the best thing about Ellis' works are the way the characters are linked, for example, one of the three primary charactersin the rules of attraction, Sean Bateman, is the the brother of American psycho Pat Bateman (Sean starsin that book, for about 4 lines, & Pat is mentionedin this) Likewise, the love of one of the other leads lives, Victor, is the main characterin Glamourama. These links are ingenious & very subtly deployed. From the second I clocked that Sean was Pat Batemans brother, I was hooked, & read all the rest of Easton Ellis' novels. I havent been dissapointed with a single one of them. Whilst this isnt as good as American Psycho, it stands alongside Glamorama, & above less than zero. A worthy read!
Great insight - By: C. Lochhead, 13 Feb 2008 This was the first Bret Easton Ellis book I'd read, so I wasn't sure on what to expect, but the book didn't disappoint. In fact it has made me stick a few more of his booksin my Amazon wish list.
The start of the book sets the tone for the characters. It starts mid-sentence like your just droppingin on the book, & it ends mid-sentence, as if you just drift off not really caring about what has happened. This juxtaposition works very well & helps show the characters true essence.
Are money & drugs ruining the world? After reading "The Rules of Attraction" you will certainly believe so. The wild times, out-of-control students & disregard for anything other than oneself, doesn't paint a very pretty picture.
The story revolves around three main characters, Sean, Paul & Lauren. All rich, beautiful & delusional. Which attribute describes them best is hard to tell. As you go deeper the characters become entangledin various situations, some more serious than others. But all with the same terrible, depressing & soul-less attitude.
As the old cliche goes, after I started I didn't want to stop. A great read.
"The Rules of Attraction" - By: Paul-Jospeh Lennon, 10 Jun 2004 Having been dragged to the moviein the first instance I found it - confusing. Following a movie with very little plot, enough cocaine to bring down a herd of elephants & a twisted concept of lovein the teenage world I became intruiged.
So, I bought the book.
I found that the book contains much of the missing information that causes the movie to lack substance. Although there is still no plot, per say, one has to acknowledge that the writer is exploring the concept that eventsin ones' life have no precise start & end - like a nice fairytale.
This daily journal of student life from the characters' varying points of view had me heart-broken as I watched Paul read deep into a non-existent relationship. Mary's suicide over being unable to communicate her affection for Sean & what little humanity he has being quashed by Lauren all caused this novel to hold my attention.
I agree, it's not the ideal book for someone who likes a strict plot & all the usual ingredients which make a 'classic' novel but if you can respect it for what it truly it (as well as the concept of the writer & the fact it's an exploratory piece of writing) then you should fully appreciate "The Rules of Attraction".
Good but not the best from Easton-Ellis - By: Mr. M. N. Allen, 23 May 2004 
I am a self titled Bret Easton Ellis Fan having read all of his books more than once. But while this one has some really great dark comedy moments - I laughed out loud at Sean's ill-fated suicide attempt to the 'Monster Mash' - to me this comes across as Bret doing Less Than Zero again but without it's overall coherence, poetry & impact. As an Easton Ellis fan I am dissapointed at it's poetic bluntness. Maybe that is not the point, not the intention, but I still think that Ellis is at his best when seeing significancein small details &in the sureal. Here there is none of the deftly poetic prose asin for example Less Than Zero that puts the meaningless lives of the protagonists into perspective.
A Very Good novel - By: , 06 Mar 2004 
The Rules Of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, is his second novel, & definitely one of my favourites (the other being American Psycho). The story evolves around Sean Bateman, (Patrick Bateman's brother, the sick & demented characterin American Psycho) Lauren, a girl who changes boyfriends as she changes majors, Paul, a bi-sexual who has the hots for Sean, & other guys around the college. It is setin New England during the Regan 80's. They spend their time getting drunk, doing drugs, & having sex. Yet, these characters are unlikable, they dont have a clue what they want to doin their future, or the present. They barely go to class, & that is all they do. What makes this book so good? The writing that Bret Easton Ellis doesin this novel. This novel brings back the 80's; full of drugs, sex, & music, & it pokes fun at it. The novel is very entertaining, & yet very uniquein many ways. The novel tells us about these slackers who rather have sex & get drunk, & yet they dont have a single clue of what they want to do with their lives. One of the thing that Ellis does not make us feel sorry for them, which is very different from other writers out there; James Patterson, Stephen King, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, & the list goes on. A very unique novel by one of the finest modern writers of our time.
Sure the novel does not have a plot, but that is not what makes this book good; what makes it good is the story being told by Ellis about these people who rather do drugs than go to class most of the time, & have sex also, but did American Psycho have a plot? No. Most of Bret Easton Ellis's novels dont, they just show the people as they are, & you take it as it is. If you are looking for a book that has a plot, dont read this, but if you like Ellis's work (or you have never heard of him), then buy it or get it from your local library.
