The real me.

Lunar Park * Bret Easton Ellis * Knopf

Apparently sick of critics who read his novels looking for the autobiographical elements, Bret Easton Ellis made the protagonist of his latest book none other than Bret Easton Ellis. Or, rather, "Bret Easton Ellis," since the character in the book is as much a fictional creation as the author's alter ego. Ellis begins the novel by telling his life story, but already he's playing with us by mentioning he attended "Camden College," the fictional institution of higher learning featured in two of his earlier novels, Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. So by the time he talks about marrying a movie star years after the two had had an affair that produced a child, your radar is already up for a bait and switch. All the easier, then, for Ellis to drop the occasional hint--and the occasional denial--of his homosexuality.

Fantasy-versus-reality themes aside, Lunar Park is nonetheless an interesting little tale of "Ellis" fighting off his personal self-destruction while dealing with any number of terrors and conspiracies. Whether it's an epidemic of missing adolescent boys, a stalker who might be Ellis's deceased father or one of his fictional creations, or a possessed Furby doll intent on wreaking havoc, the author's always compelling storytelling skills will keep you turning pages. That said, however, let's hope Ellis has gotten the me-me-me-ism out of his writing for a while.