 Andrew McCarthy , who played Clay in the 1987 Less Than Zero film , described the novel as " an exciting , shocking conclusion ... a surprising one . " The actor praised Clay 's character , citing a " wicked vulnerability " which the character covers up with alcohol , hostility , and its portrayal of a world " full of pain and suffering and unkindness " beneath the " glossy and shimmering and seductive " veneer of Hollywood . McCarthy described his experience of reading the book as like " revisiting an old friend " , owing to the consistency of the characters ' and Ellis ' voices . 
