My Question From Lunar Park

OK, I've been wondering about the whole deal with the cream colored car.... was it real or imagined? I got the feeling it was all imagined by the time the story was over. I may have just "not gotten it." My question is: Did Bret really see an older version of Robby at McDonald's that day? Or was that part of the story imagined too? (like the car... and Clayton)

My Lunar Park Question

I guess I'll kick this off since I finished the book this weekend.

If Ellis had not cast himself as the lead character in this novel, would this have generated as much buzz as it did? Or along those lines, why did Ellis have to be the main character for this novel to work?