Imperial Bedrooms

So last night me and pa went to the Southbank Centre and saw Brett Easton Ellis talking about his new book Imperial Bedrooms. It was a really great experience to hear the author's perspective on his own books, and getting to know him, it gave my view of his work a whole different dimension. He mostly discussed Less Than Zero, and how it's original characters have progressed in regards to his new release Imperial Bedrooms. It was very interesting to gain insight on the way he works and how his writing comes about- he sees it as a slow, natural experience- his battling personal demons and the cathartic nature of writing are an integral part of the process for him.
The most interesting part of the evening for me was his reactions to the audience Q ad A. One of the most relevant questions was relating to how Ellis felt bout being labelled as a misogynist due to the high level of violence against women in his books. His answer was typically droll as he made light of these accusations, but he also raised some interesting ideas about the nature of labelling written works or the authors as misogynistic, racist, etc. 'Does it matter?' he says, 'Does it make the book more interesting or less?' "If you took out all the parts of great novels that were deemed too much one thing or another, what would you be left with? Hemingway and Fitzgerald ad many other 'greats' have been labelled just the same, so do these labels even matter? " This debate could rage on and on, but I think I'm firmly with Ellis on this point.
On the flipside, the danger of letting the audience free to ask questions willy-nilly is that you inevitably get a halfwit loose with the microphone. For example, there were so many bloody questions about 'The Hills' tv show that I nearly lost the will to live, and so did Ellis and probably half of the audience who wanted to take this opportunity seriously. Unsurprisingly all of these questions were posed by giggling 20-something women that should know better, but don't. If I have to be fair, then I guess this is how Imperial Bedrooms was sold to a young female audience- I noticed various reviews in trash-bat gossip magazines and even slightly more highbrow glossies that referenced 'The Hills' in relation to the book, as if we are all so shallow and vapid that we have to be lured into literature by having it likened to reality tv shows and shopping to pique our interest. On the other hand, maybe they're right, maybe Ellis's characters do have more in common with Heidi, Lauren et al than I give them credit for. I think most are missing the point somewhat- the fact that he was dripping with irony when referencing The Hills was largely missed by an audience of my peers. Shame on you.