Bret Elliss first novel, Less Than Zero, is one of the signal novels of the last thirty years, and he now follows those infamous teenagers into an even more desperate middle age.Clay, a successful screenwriter, has returned from New York to Los Angeles to help cast his new movie, and hes soon drifting through a long-familiar circle. Blair, his former girlfriend, is married to Trent, a powerful manager whos still a bisexual philanderer, and their Beverly Hills parties attract various levels of fame and fortune. Then theres Clays childhood friend Julian, a recovering addict, and their old dealer, Rip, face-lifted beyond recognition and seemingly even more sinister than in his notorious past.But Clays own demons emerge once he meets a gorgeous young actress determined to win a role in his movie. And when his life careens out of control, hes forced to come to terms with the deepest recesses of his characterand with his proclivity for betrayal.A genuine literary event.