I finished reading Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis last night, and I’m having really hard time with it. I’m haunted by one burning question, the intricacies of which kept me up last night. Maybe you can help.Would you rather have been a coked-out, self-absorbed, reckless rich kid in 1980s Los Angeles or in New York, as in Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City? Such a hard choice…
8 comments:
I'm going to say LA, because if you're going to be lost in the shady underbelly of American society, isn't it more tragic and exciting to be surrounded by palm trees and sun and surf? It makes the whole California scene ironic.
I smell a poll coming on...
Jay's Bright Lights Big City character, hands down. Even though he was caught up in the lifestyle, he still had a heart.
That whole genre was the basis of my B.A. thesis. 1980s, consumerism, materialism, commodification of humanity....
Have you read American Psycho yet?
I can only guess which you'd vote for, E.
Actually, I would probably choose New York. If you're rich and strung out, you want to be in a place with good public transportation and/or available taxis.
Dude, that's what I was going to say! Careening around Laurel Canyon sounds way dangerous. In NY, the worst that could happen is your drug-fueled mania takes you to the end of the line in Pelham Bay or Far Rockaway. Not so bad.
Your bridge photo is such a cool header! Maybe you should go into photography.
I think it boils down to whether you like the borders between the panels of your superhero comic books to be white (like the '90s) or black (the current vogue). Because in New York stories, the nooks and crannies are always full of darkness and menace, while LA stories are suffused with glaring sun and the shameful truth.
Post a Comment