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First published in 1987, Ellis' sophomore effort is a postmodern novel of manners illustrating the lives of rich college students at a mock version of the author's alma mater, (Donna Tartt also attended this institution and used it in The Secret History). Sure, the text has the satirical elements that are typical for Ellis, but this is by no means an American Psycho - rather, the text explores the psyche of young people haunted by their childhoods and parental baggage (divorce, mental and physical illness, dysfunctional bonds and communication), which leads to a sense of purposelessness and disaffection, a void they try to fill with parties, sex and drugs: Less Than Zero, but with less of a punch.

The novel frequently changes its POV, mainly oscillating between the three main characters, and relies heavily on dialogue, with a lot of it just exposing exchanges of words without reaching common ground. One of the protagonists is Lauren, an artistically-minded senior who misses her boyfriend who left to travel Europe. Lauren has sex with several students and ends up in a love triangle with Sean and Paul. Sean is the brother of THE Patrick Bateman, so the main character of American Psycho, he is very into drugs and believes he loves Lauren - and maybe he also sleeps with beautiful Paul. The latter is bisexual and upholds that he hooks up with both Lauren and Sean. And there is also a cast of minor characters, among them Clay from Less Than Zero who of course modulates his signature line: "People are afraid to merge on campus after midnight". Well played, Clay.

I have to say though that while I generally love Ellis, this one starts out very slow and only picks up speed around the halfway point, and then gets some serious drive. There are also some lengths, and while the dialogue is meant to convey emotional emptiness, it still has to captivate - which it doesn't do throughout. The evocation of atmosphere is expertly done though, especially through the music references and description of people, and flashy sentences like "But what else is there to do at college except drink beer or slash your wrists?" (Lauren) give it the typical pop lit feel that would inspire a whole literary movement in Germany (Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, Christian Kracht, Moritz von Uslar...).

The Shards really shows how Ellis has grown. Will I still read his whole backlist? You bet.