If you’re wondering what Bret Easton Ellis' appearance will be like, literary agent Erin Hosier gives a wry wrap of her attendance at his book reading over at the Nervous Breakdown.
The first thing she spots at the reading is the icon-like status the crowd affords Easton Ellis. “Someone has crossed out the word “Ellis” from the poster on the podium so that it now reads ‘Elvis.’” It’s a younger crowd who Hosier decides are “mostly 20-somethings. Only a smattering of suited, plastic surgery failures litter the front.”
Easton Ellis launched into a brief reading from Imperial Bedrooms and he seemed nervous. Hosier describes it: “He puts his hand on the back of his neck as he reads, like a jock giving a book report. His voice is so sexy, I wish he would slow down.”
Then follow some questions - including some starstruck queries about his favourite rapper (Easton Ellis replies “Look, guys, I’m old, okay? I listen to The National.”) and writer’s block. Hosier finds it a tedious obstacle before the autographing. “Bret is exasperated. He is disappointed in the crowd and frankly so am I.”
And when the signing comes it’s all too fleeting. Hosier has pre-publication copy of the book about which Easton Ellis joked “‘I’ll just sign it where it will be worth the most money,’ he says, and does, too quickly. And then it’s over.”