A Guide to the Los Angeles of Bret Easton Ellis’s ‘Less Than Zero’

Bret Easton Ellis’s Less Than Zero may be a tale of teenagers behaving badly, but it also offers a top-notch map of 1980s Los Angeles. Bret Easton Ellis Photo: Getty ImagesAgainst the backdrop of starry Beverly Hills hotspots, the Valley’s all-night diners, and the neon-bathed clubs that line the Sunset Strip, Ellis’s characters speak glibly of drug overdoses, eating disorders, and their absent parents. Through his characters’ exploits, Ellis depicts two LAs—the teenage universe of mall food courts, movie theaters, and arcades, and the power lunch spots that underscore their precociousness. Much of Ellis’s Less Than Zero Los Angeles is gone now. Here, a guide to Less Than Zero’s Los Angeles.