White

What happens when a controversial yet respected author decides to question the system? His incendiary tweets and comments on his own podcast outrage some, but also generate views and respect. What made Bret Easton Ellis decide to challenge the status quo? Mainly, he has been doing that his whole career. White is his first nonfiction book that combines his own background, interests, and coming-of-age story with our growing instability as a Republic. Ellis, who grew up in California with “hands-off” parents, parallels the carefree adolescence he grew up in with today’s helicopter parents and sheltered existence. Ellis writes about his love of the horror genre, what attracts him to actors, and how a need to be liked can define an actor or actress. The book also tackles our current climate of identity politics, “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” how once tolerant liberals now muzzle free thinkers on both sides of the political spectrum, and the dangers inherent.

White is an insightful autobiography. Its ideological driven narrative cuts to the heart of the ills of the state of the Union. Politics don’t drive the narrative; they are just part and parcel of the author’s incisive commentary on true decline. Ellis’ colorful views spare not even his own failings, which add to the book’s deep truth and meaning. This is an excellent turn of nonfiction.