Maybe They're Just Cold

While it might be permanently sunny in Brett Easton’s Less Than Zero, Clay and his friends each seem to long for warmth and heat. Although a Los Angeles winter is drastically different compared to a New Hampshire winter, Clay doesn’t seem to get any “warmer” over his winter break. His outdoor surroundings are warm, yet the hot winds and sun do little to Clay’s pale complexion. Inside, “…the air conditioner is on…the walls are still white…and it’s beginning to get really cold in [Clay’s] room.” Friends, such as Daniel, wear “sunglasses and a black wool jacket and black jeans,” and Trent wears a “red-and-green-plaid scarf wrapped around his neck.”

Sure, evenings in Los Angeles can get a bit chilly, but usually not on days hot dry days like this one. Everyone wears attire that is indicative of weather colder than what it is in actuality; almost as if they reject the warmth that Los Angeles gives.

They never remove their sunglasses: “My mother and I are sitting in a restaurant…and still has her sunglasses on.” They get fake tans that don’t even require light, instead dying their skin. This sort of paradoxical world that Easton creates is interesting, considering that maybe the weather has something to do with so many of characters' self-destructive ways.