The Shards Summary
Bret Easton Ellis

The Shards Overview

The Shards, a metafiction novel by Bret Easton Ellis, shares the dangers of jealousy and anger among privileged teens with too much freedom. Since the work is metafiction, author Bret Easton Ellis models his main character after himself, leading the reader to think the novel is about Bret’s experiences as a teen. The setting is Los Angeles in 1981. The Trawler, a serial killer, was targeting the area. Bret narrates about his increasing paranoia as the killer seemed to be targeting him and his group of friends. Themes in the novel include the search for identity, the impact of living in constant fear, the stigma of mental illness, and wealth's limited protection. The life of the homosexual in the 1980s serves as a motif throughout the novel.