Lunar Park

By: Bret Easton Ellis

Narrated by: James Van Der Beek

Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero comes a chilling tale that combines reality, memoir, and fantasy to create a fascinating portrait of this most controversial writer but also a deeply moving novel about love and loss, parents and children, and ultimately forgiveness.

“John Cheever writes The Shining.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly

Bret Ellis, the narrator of Lunar Park, is the bestselling writer whose first novel Less Than Zero catapulted him to international stardom while he was still in college. In the years that followed he found himself adrift in a world of wealth, drugs, and fame, as well as dealing with the unexpected death of his abusive father.

After a decade of decadence a chance for salvation arrives; the chance to reconnect with an actress he was once involved with, and their son. But almost immediately his new life is threatened by a freak sequence of events and a bizarre series of murders that all seem to connect to Ellis’s past. His attempts to save his new world from his own demons makes Lunar Park Ellis’s most suspenseful novel.

Look for Bret Easton Ellis’s new novel, The Shards!

Listen to a conversation with Bret Easton Ellis.

©2005 Bret Easton Ellis (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Ellis's] most enjoyable novel . . . The story of a doomed marriage blends with a satirical take on upscale suburban angst, a campy horror story about a haunted house, a Frankenstein-like case of a monster unchained and a serious rumination on the damage fathers can do to sons. Ellis stirs these elements into a steamy witches' brew and works his way through to a marvelously elegiac ending, displaying real artistic discipline . . . Even his harshest critics may now have to acknowledge that this versatile, resourceful writer has formidable skills." --Kirkus, starred review

Best Ellis Since Less Than Zero

I loved this book! Very well narrated, spooky thriller with bits of Frankenstein, Macbeth, American Psycho and Stephen King. This is Ellis' best work since his debut -- well told, smart story with lots of interesting twists and turns.

I really enjoyed the confusion between biography and story as the book evolves.

Creepy and compelling

This was my first Bret Easton Ellis book, so I am not bothered by the clash between the real and fictional author and enjoyed the book at surface value. It is unlike any other book I have listened to, and I really enjoyed the experience. It is strange, irrational, creepy - words that I would not use to describe most of my favorite books - but it worked for me and kept me riveted.

Terrific Horror Gem

Lunar Park is a great, often overlooked horror gem. This isn't Bret Easton Ellis doing a horror novel that calls itself a high-brow psychological thriller. This is Bret Easton Ellis doing a horror novel that calls itself a horror novel. Best way to describe it is as if John Carpenter and David Lynch got together to write a Bret Easton Ellis novel.

The narration was strong and James Van Der Beek's voice fit Ellis's very nicely.

Not Mainstream Crap

This is not a pretty novel. Like the Less Than Zero and American Psycho movies, I empathized with the main characters making me feel unclean throughout the whole novel. I found it even difficult to blink, afraid I would miss something, even though I was listening to the book. I haven't been a fan of Bret Easton Ellis simply because I haven't payed attention to who he was but I am now.

wow -- interesting

this was sometimes a bit difficult to stick with but was ultimately very rewarding.

if you're interested in literature, this should be interesting to you.

Not what I was expecting in the best way possible

After digesting American Psycho in a three day stint two weeks ago I had to pick up another Ellis novel. I settled on Lunar Park because it was described as a meta-autobiographical ghost story. And that's exactly what it is.

A much more mature story unfolds in Lunar Park than American Psycho, even though there are several "holy sh*t wtf" moments still available. I cared so deeply for this fictious meta version of Mr. Ellis and I have to obviously give props to the author for allowing him to channel himself as such. It seemed as if the story was extremely cathartic for him, to analyze some deeper meaning in his life. As a line in the beginning goes, "I never feel I can be as honest in non-fiction as I can in fiction."

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I highly recommend this story for any fan of Ellis, either long-term fan or newbie (like myself). It showcases a great growth to writing style, even if there's still plenty of loose ends left at the end. These kinds of stories aren't meant to supply you with a hand-holding guide through the mystical, that's not the point.

Mr. Van der Beek did an excellent job doing the narration, giving a dispassionate delivery when the text called for such. My only qualm was his range for playing different characters was a little lackluster and brought me out of the immersion a few times. A negligible issue easily overlooked by the other 10+ hours of excellent readings.

Superb

I read Lunar Park when it first came out. Wanting to brush up on it I chose to revisit it in audio book form. James Van Der Beek performs it masterfully. His performance never took me out of it and it's hard not to think the words aren't coming from Ellis himself.

Probably the best audio book I've gotten since WWZ.

American Psycho Dad

My first time reading Bret Easton Ellis, and I was very impressed. He is a gifted writer for sure and I loved his form in this, putting himself into this fictional novel as the main protagonist and narrator was brilliant. By doing this he instantly sucks you in with his opening chapter where he gives us a memoir of sorts to set up this fictional novel. From the first sentence I was enthralled, though the story does start to go all over the place from a false autobiography, to social satire, to mental disorder and drug addiction, to supernatural horror, and to family drama. Even though the book doesn't know what it wants to be at time it never loses your attention. And the ending few paragraphs are some of the most beautifully heartfelt and tragic that I've ever read. The ending had me almost in tears and to me this is a book about father's and their families and their impact on their children, from how the narrators bad relationship with his father effected him into almost the same tragic relationship with his own son. Personal and heartfelt stuff and after reading this book it made me immediately want to go home and tell my wife, daughter, and my father too, how much they all mean to me and how thankful I am to have them.

Interesting Read/Listen

I've listened to this book twice and read the paperback. I enjoyed it each time. Some reviews I read didn't understand this is a work of fiction. While the main character is Brett Easton Ellis, he used some of his past experience (sometimes probably exaggerated, but maybe not) material to set up the story and went from there. There's a lot of sarcastic humor sprinkled through the story and pokes at our generation now that we are all middle aged and looking back on our reckless youth...which I guess is pretty much his fan base. In any case, there are layers to the story that on first listen may not come through. It's a great story and a great listen.

narration is key

James Van Der Beek should narrate every book by Bret Easton Ellis.