You don’t market-research a novel; you really are writing it for yourself. It’s a hobby, in many ways. The problem becomes what you do when you’re confronted by criticism. You just don’t listen to it.
BRET EASTON ELLISWith “Taipei” Tao Lin becomes the most interesting prose stylist of his generation…
More Bret Easton Ellis Quotes
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On the seals’ tank a plaque warns: COINS CAN KILL–IF SWALLOWED, COINS CAN LODGE IN AN ANIMAL’S STOMACH AND CAUSE ULCERS, INFECTIONS AND DEATH. DO NOT THROW COINS IN THE POOL.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I totally relate to Tom Cruise. He’s not crazy, it’s just the litany of the mid-life crisis.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
There’s no grand plan. All I know is that I write the books I want to write. All that other stuff is meaningless to me.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I’ve never written an autobiographical novel in my life. I’ve never touched upon my life. I’ve never written a single scene that I can say took place.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
People just… disappear,” he says. “The Earth just opens up and swallows people,” I say, some what sadly, checking my Rolex. “Eerie.” Kimball yawns, stretching. “Really eerie.” “Ominous.” I nod my agreement. “It’s just”- he sights, exasperated- “futile.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
Exploitation is a harsh word, I know that, but on a certain level, to me that is the central Hollywood story.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
Is evil something you are? Or is it something you do?
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I learned that you really don’t have any control as a writer. Waah, waah, waah. Big deal. Unless you’re the director on the movie, or putting up the money for the movie, you really don’t have a lot of control.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
So what do I do? Toss a handful of change into the tank when none of the zookeepers are watching. It’s not the seals I hate——it’s the audience’s enjoyment of them that bothers me.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
And it struck me then, that I liked Sean because he looked, well, slutty. A boy who had been around. A boy who couldn’t remember if he was Catholic or not.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I have to return some videotapes
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
Yes. Yes I am. I am a completely demented misogynist.
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
Hello, Halberstam,” Owen says, walking by. Hello, Owen,” I say, admiring the way he’s styled and slicked back his hair, with a part so even and sharp it…
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I was simply imitating reality, a rough resemblance of a human being, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning
BRET EASTON ELLIS -
I want no one to escape, but even after admitting this there is no catharsis, my punishment continues to elude me and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself; no new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing.
BRET EASTON ELLIS







