Brat Pack (literary)
Encyclopedia
The expression "literary Brat Pack" refers to the three young, East-coast American authors, Bret Easton Ellis
, Tama Janowitz
and Jay McInerney
, who emerged in USA in the 1980s. It is a twist on the label brat pack that had previously been applied to a group of young American actors earlier that decade.
A 1987 article in the free New York newspaper Village Voice, presented the authors as the new faces of literature. Intended pejoratively, the nickname was illustrated by an image that collaged the authors faces onto the bodies of infants. Yet their impact on literature and their vast popularity rendered this nickname an affectionate branding of the new wave of young minimalist authors. Each presented a particular challenge to established literary criticism: McInerney's debut novel
, Bright Lights, Big City
, was told entirely in second-person singular, a groundbreaking mechanism. Janowitz's Slaves of New York explored themes of sexual politics against a backdrop of New York's peculiarities rendered honestly, and Ellis's Less Than Zero chronicled a post-adolescent disconnect with society that seemed shocking and pathological.
The works of the Brat Pack authors owed a debt to the minimalist works of Raymond Carver
and Ann Beattie
, who used clear and sometimes dispassionate ways of rendering modern life that were a clear break from the linguistically heavy and very polite fiction of the previous generation. Unafraid to tackle suburban anxiety and urban angst, the authors broke new ground in subject matter and in style.
In the September/October 2005 issue of Pages magazine, the literary Brat Pack is identified as Bret Easton Ellis
, Tama Janowitz
, Jay McInerney
, and Mark Lindquist
. McInerney and Janowitz were based in New York City
. Others affiliated with this group include Susan Minot
, Donna Tartt
, Peter Farrelly
and David Leavitt
. Lindquist lived in Venice, California, and Ellis moved from Sherman Oaks (in Los Angeles
) to Manhattan
after the success of Less Than Zero.
In an article titled "Where Are They Now?", Pages magazine reported that the original four Brat pack authors socialized, but did not have that much in common other than that they were young and well hyped, and that their books were aggressively marketed to a youth audience.
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
, Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz is an American novelist and a short story writer. The 2005 September/October issue of Pages magazine listed her as one of the four "brat pack" authors, along with Bret Easton Ellis, Mark Lindquist and Jay McInerney.-Life:Her parents, a psychiatrist father, Julian Janowitz, and...
and Jay McInerney
Jay McInerney
John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; and The Last of the Savages...
, who emerged in USA in the 1980s. It is a twist on the label brat pack that had previously been applied to a group of young American actors earlier that decade.
A 1987 article in the free New York newspaper Village Voice, presented the authors as the new faces of literature. Intended pejoratively, the nickname was illustrated by an image that collaged the authors faces onto the bodies of infants. Yet their impact on literature and their vast popularity rendered this nickname an affectionate branding of the new wave of young minimalist authors. Each presented a particular challenge to established literary criticism: McInerney's debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, Bright Lights, Big City
Bright Lights, Big City (novel)
Bright Lights, Big City is an American novel by Jay McInerney, published by Vintage Books on August 12, 1984.- Plot :It is written about a character's time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, the mid-1980s New York City fast lane. It is one of the few well-known English-language novels...
, was told entirely in second-person singular, a groundbreaking mechanism. Janowitz's Slaves of New York explored themes of sexual politics against a backdrop of New York's peculiarities rendered honestly, and Ellis's Less Than Zero chronicled a post-adolescent disconnect with society that seemed shocking and pathological.
The works of the Brat Pack authors owed a debt to the minimalist works of Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
and Ann Beattie
Ann Beattie
Ann Beattie is an American short story writer and novelist. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger,...
, who used clear and sometimes dispassionate ways of rendering modern life that were a clear break from the linguistically heavy and very polite fiction of the previous generation. Unafraid to tackle suburban anxiety and urban angst, the authors broke new ground in subject matter and in style.
In the September/October 2005 issue of Pages magazine, the literary Brat Pack is identified as Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
, Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz
Tama Janowitz is an American novelist and a short story writer. The 2005 September/October issue of Pages magazine listed her as one of the four "brat pack" authors, along with Bret Easton Ellis, Mark Lindquist and Jay McInerney.-Life:Her parents, a psychiatrist father, Julian Janowitz, and...
, Jay McInerney
Jay McInerney
John Barrett McInerney Jr. is an American writer. His novels include Bright Lights, Big City; Ransom; Story of My Life; Brightness Falls; and The Last of the Savages...
, and Mark Lindquist
Mark Lindquist
Mark Lindquist is an American novelist and lawyer.- Books background :His books are known for mixing literature with pop culture. His first two novels, Sad Movies and Carnival Desires, were insider depictions of Los Angeles and the movie business, while his third novel, Never Mind Nirvana, did the...
. McInerney and Janowitz were based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Others affiliated with this group include Susan Minot
Susan Minot
Susan Minot is a prize-winning American novelist and short story writer.Minot was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from Concord Academy and then attended Brown University, where she studied writing and painting; in 1983 she graduated from Columbia University School of the Arts with...
, Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt
Donna Tartt is an American writer and author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend . She won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003.-Early life:...
, Peter Farrelly
Peter Farrelly
Peter John Farrelly is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. The Farrelly Brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing gross-out humor romantic comedy films such as, Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary and The Heartbreak...
and David Leavitt
David Leavitt
David Leavitt is an American novelist.-Biography:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Leavitt is a graduate of Yale University. and a professor at the University of Florida...
. Lindquist lived in Venice, California, and Ellis moved from Sherman Oaks (in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
) to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
after the success of Less Than Zero.
In an article titled "Where Are They Now?", Pages magazine reported that the original four Brat pack authors socialized, but did not have that much in common other than that they were young and well hyped, and that their books were aggressively marketed to a youth audience.