Concrete Playground

Is this like the recent divorcee who lets everyone know he's in a band, clinging onto the one interesting thing about himself for dear life? Is that what this is? Because book tours and gigs don't normally sit together. Each on their own could be a meal in itself — could excite enough.

Maybe not. Bret Easton Ellis doing a book signing at Oxford Art Factory, supported by Australian new wavers Models kind of works. There's a synergy there (I've always wanted to use that word). It's just strange — almost as if there isn't much to say about his latest novel, Imperial Bedrooms. "Now twenty-five years later, Ellis returns to those same characters [from Less than Zero] and follows them into an even greater period of disaffection: their own middle age," says the press release.

Yeah, that could be it. Maybe it is a result of Bret Easton Ellis's sometimes one-note writing. A natural segue out of an awkward smattering of audience questions about violence, beauty and affluence that could conceivably peter out with "Hey Bret, models are pretty cool, right? Have you slept with many models?" Or maybe I'm just bummed that he's not going to be here with Huey Lewis and the News. Admit it, we’re both giddily excited that he might throw shapes to Cut Lunch, Brooks Brothers trench coat kicking out behind him.

*Limited tickets still available on the door