L.A. Times on Bret Easton Ellis

The onetime enfant terrible, now 44, still has no patience for critics, but some of his colleagues say Ellis' writing may one day get the respect it deserves.

"I think in the last five years or so there's been a rather ominous silence," said Jonathon Keats, a San Francisco critic and artist who admires Ellis' work. "It seems like Ellis has never been given the benefit of a test of time. He's gone from being poster boy for everything extreme to a name that's quaintly nostalgic -- a moment from the past."

But talk to some of the more serious writers of his generation and a different picture emerges.

Many see him as an overlooked figure, one whose literary heft grows with time. It may be that like a lot of things that emerge from California, the style and vision of Ellis' work creates problems for East Coast intellectuals, but will become as enduring as psychedelia, surfing, the hard-boiled novel or fast food.

[via goldenfiddle]