Set in affluent Los Angeles, this is a raw and powerful portrayal of a young generation that has experienced sex, drugs and disaffection at too early an age. The narrator, Clay, returns home to Los Angeles for Christmas, but his holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the rich suburban homes, the relentless parties, the seedy bars and the glitzy rock clubs. Morally barren, ethically bereft and tinged with implicit violence, 'Less Than Zero' is the choking coming-of-age novel about the casual nihilism that comes with youth and money.
