格拉莫拉玛 (1998)

Glamorama is a 1998 novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. Glamorama is set in, and satirizes, the 1990s, specifically celebrity culture and consumerism. Time describes the novel as "a screed against models and celebrity".

Development

Ellis wanted to write a Stephen King-style ghost story novel, which would eventually become Lunar Park; finding it difficult at the time, he began work on the other novel which he had in mind. This was a Robert Ludlum-style thriller, with the intention of using one of his own vapid characters who lack insight as the narrator.

Ellis composed the book between December 1989 and December 1997.

Plot summary

In the first section of the novel, male model Victor Ward is involved in opening a club in New York City owned by Damien Nutchs Ross. Victor is cheating on his model girlfriend Chloe Byrnes with Alison Poole, Damien's girlfriend. Victor obsesses over the celebrity seating plan for the dinner on the club's opening night and struggles to find a DJ, while poorly attempting to cover up his affair with Alison and his plans to open another club behind Damien's back. Victor appears to suffer from memory loss, which he blames on Klonopin, and is often sighted in two places at once.

Victor also reconnects with Lauren Hynde, who he dated at Camden, a fictionalised version of Bennington College. The club's opening night ends in disaster. A photo of Victor and Lauren kissing — which Victor believes is altered — makes the news, causing chaos. Victor is also beaten up by actor Hurley Thompson, due to Victor earlier leaking rumours about Hurley to the press in exchange for not publishing an "embarrassing" photo of Victor and Alison.

After Chloe breaks things off with him, Victor is contacted by the mysterious F. Fred Palakon. Palakon offers Victor $300,000 to travel to London and bring back Jamie Fields, a girl who Victor knew at Camden. Victor accepts despite having only vague memories of Jamie.

Victor travels to London on the QE2 cruise ship. From this point onwards, Victor describes being followed by a camera crew and instructed to follow a script; however, he frequently becomes agitated when he believes others are not following the script and that some scenes are not filmed. On the ship, Victor meets Marina and intends to follow her to Paris. However, Marina mysteriously disappears and Victor ends up in London.

Victor quickly finds Jamie, who is filming a movie. Victor stays with Jamie's friends — Tammy, Bruce and Bentley — in Notting Hill, led by hyper-successful male model Bobby Hughes. Bobby instructs Victor to bring home Sam Ho, the son of the Korean ambassador. Victor walks in on Sam being brutally murdered in the house's basement gym. Bobby explains that Victor cannot leave, since Bobby has created altered photographs incriminating Victor in Sam's murder.

Victor is forced to participate in Bobby's project, which involves planting bombs in London and Paris, killing civilians and passing the blame onto other groups. Bobby explains he recruits models because they don't draw suspicion and they are used to being told what to do. Bobby also shows Victor "PhotoSoap for Windows 95", the software he uses to alter photographs. Victor is distressed, especially after witnessing Tammy's suicide, and wants to leave. Victor becomes increasingly confused over the role of Palakon, not knowing whether various photographs are real or altered. Palakon may already know Bobby, and may also be involved with Victor's father, a US senator who wants Victor out of the way to avoid bad press. Many of Victor's associates in New York believe they still frequently see him around there.

Victor returns to Bobby's house, where he witnesses the deaths of Bentley and Jamie. Jamie suggests everything is part of a larger conspiracy with "the Japanese"; that Bobby, Palakon and Victor's father are all working together and against each other; and that Victor has accidentally given Bobby a formula for a new plastic explosive concealed in Lauren Hynde's hat, which Victor brought on the cruise ship. Jamie suggests Lauren Hynde is actually dead, and that she is not really Jamie Fields.

Victor meets Chloe in a hotel. Chloe claims to have seen Bruce, who Victor thought was dead. After drinking poisoned wine meant for Victor, Chloe dies gruesomely. Still believing he is being filmed, Victor manages to shoot Bobby, although Victor is unsuccessful in stopping another aeroplane bomb. Victor returns to New York and begins attending law school.

In the last section, Victor is taken to Milan under the guise of filming, seemingly with the same potentially-hallucinatory crew as before. Interspersed with flashbacks from Victor's Camden days, Victor appears to have a breakdown in Italy. He phones his sister in Washington D.C., who claims Victor is right beside her; the other Victor even speaks to Victor on the phone. In a flashback, Chloe tells Victor that if he wants to know how this ends, he has to buy the rights.

Literary devices, plot, and themes

The novel is a satire of modern celebrity culture; this is reflected in its premise, which features models-turned-terrorists. A character remarks, "basically, everyone was a sociopath ... and all the girls' hair was chignoned." The novel plays upon the conspiracy thriller conceit of someone "behind all the awful events", to dramatize the revelation of a world of random horror. The lack of resolution contributes to Ellis' artistic effect. The obsession with beauty is reflected in consistent namedropping; this satirizes (the main character) Victor's obsession with looks, and perhaps is indicative of the author's own attraction to glamor.