''The Informers'' is a collection of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, linked by the same continuity, written by American author

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a ...

. The collection was first published as a whole in 1994. Chapters 6 and 7, "Water from the Sun" and "Discovering Japan", were published separately in the UK by Picador in 2007. The stories display attributes similar to Ellis's novels '' Less than Zero'', '' The Rules of Attraction'', and, to a lesser extent, ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. Alison Kelly of ''The Observer'' notes that while "some countr ...

''. Like many of Ellis's novels, the stories are set predominantly in California.

Stories

Film adaptation

A film version of the book has been produced from a script by Ellis and

Nicholas Jarecki Nicholas Jarecki (born June 25, 1979) is an American film director, producer, and writer best known for his 2012 feature film ''Arbitrage''. Early life Jarecki was born on June 25, 1979 in New York City, to Henry Jarecki and Marjorie Heidsieck. ...

and was screened at the 2009 Sundance film festival. It was directed by

Gregor Jordan Gregor Jordan (born 1966) is an Australian film director. Jordan's films include '' Two Hands'' (1999), ''Buffalo Soldiers'' (2001), and '' Ned Kelly'' (2003). ''Two Hands'' won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction and Best Sc ...

and featured an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...

, such as

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller ''One False Move'', and received international attention after writing, directing, a ...

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

Amber Heard Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She had her first leading role in the horror film ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2006), and went on to star in films such as '' The Ward'' (2010) and '' Drive Angry'' (2011). S ...

and Kim Basinger. It was

Brad Renfro Brad Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his film debut at the age of 11 with a starring role in '' The Client'' (1994). He went on to appear in 21 feature films and won several awards. Prior to bei ...

's last film before his death.

Criticism

Reviewing the book for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Michiko Kakutani Michiko Kakutani (born January 9, 1955) is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life ...

wrote that Ellis had written "a novel that is as cynical, shallow and stupid as the people it depicts." By contrast, in the London ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'',

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

said that "The Informers shows the work of a writer at the peak of his powers, deeply concerned with the moral decline of our society."Evening Standard (London) October 13, 1994 BEYOND THE AMERICAN PSYCHO BACKLASH; (1) It's all there on WILL SELF's Sanyo M1118 cassette tape recorder - an interview in which the received image of Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the reviled American Psycho, is put to death (2) This is a man whom I'd happily let bath my children - should he wish to engage in such an atrocity (3) The Informers shows the work of a writer deeply concerned with the moral decline of our society BYLINE: Will Self 28-29

Audiobook

In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of ''The Informers'', narrated by Christian Rummel and Therese Plummer, as part of its ''Modern Vanguard'' line of audiobooks.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Informers, The 1994 short story collections Alfred A. Knopf books American satirical novels Books adapted into films Books with cover art by Chip Kidd Novels by Bret Easton Ellis Novels set in California Postmodern novels American short story collections