American Psycho

Rating:
Summary: There should be a law...
Review: ...against novels this bad. The only method that the main character, insane yuppie killer Patrick Bateman (re: BBE role-playing), did NOT use to kill someone was boredom. Ellis would be able to give him lessons though as this book goes on...and on...and on with absolutely no points of any kind. Wallowing in details about everything from Genesis(!) to shaving materials, American Psycho is a book that doesn't deserve a fraction of the hoopla around it. It's not shocking, it's not good. It's just a real hack job by the mega-hack of our times, Bret Easton Ellis. WHO is the person who helped bring this man to fame? Ellis must be stopped from polluting book shelves further.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the worst book I have ever read.
Review: Don't do it! It has been a year since I have read this book. I am still mourning the money I spent on purchasing it. I was willing to endure the blood and gore for a good read, this book did not deliver.

Rating:
Summary: Undoubtedly disturbing but well done!
Review: No doubt this book was tough to read considering its content. But I can't deny that it was cleverly written from the view of a madman. Some aspects of the author's writing were ingenious, for example how he changed the tense from first person sometimes, as though Bateman were outside his own body. It's hard to say whether all or only some of these horrific events actually occurred or if they were all in his mind...there are many instances where it is quite obvious he is only imagining. It's tough for the reader to sort out the real from the "fantasy", just as it was for Bateman. I felt nauseous several times while reading this book, but I have to say that I'm glad I read it.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive, Don't read this over lunch!!!
Review: The ease at which one reads through this hugely gritty book is alarming, on several occasions my stomach couldn't handle the gruesome details. A great piece of work and an indept look into the truly unbalanced mind of a psychopath.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly memorable
Review: This book brings to mind a movie I saw in NYC about 10 years ago: "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover." I must've contemplated leaving the theater four or five times during the film but was always "seduced" by yet another intriguing scene, only to be utterly disgusted by what followed. In the ensuing years, I've asked myself why I stayed. This is the same question I'll be asking myself about this book. Parts of the book were intriguing--if incredibly annoying--(e.g., Bateman's obsession with detail) but much was unbelievable (even in NYC one would be hard pressed to continually torture and murder in one's own apt without the slightest raised eyebrow from neighbors), thus reducing the story's credibility. In the end, I can't figure out why I "stayed". I suppose this will remain a mystery much as the "The Cook" has. I wouldn't recommend it. Simply too brutal.

Rating:
Summary: absolutely fabulous book
Review: This book is one of the greatest works of fiction that I have read in a long time. Ellis throws you into the mind of a serial killer with ease. This book was disturbing and breathtaking all at once. The ending was a little disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Oh my god.
Review: I just finished this book and I an completely drained. Although gory is an understatement, this book is strangely compelling. To crawl inside Patrick's mind and view his madness is fascinating. I laughed out loud at the times he would announce his actions to his dinner companions to no reaction. I just can't decide if it was really happening. I only wish I had an hour with BEE to ask him whether the violence was all in Patrick's head. If you can handle the raw emotion and violence, it is worth reading. A male friend of mine recommended it to me saying he never met a girl who liked it. Well, he has now.

Rating:
Summary: what's the scariest type of monster? the one that lives next
Review: ellis's style worked much better in american psycho than in less than zero. it seemed to emphasis the psychosis of the character, patrick bateman very well. ellis, who described this work as a 'slasher novel,' certainly succeeded. this is the only novel that made me wretch, and i mean that as a compliment. i didn't find it as deep and symbolic, nor a powerful statement of the times as much as 'less than zero,' but it is one of my favorite novels nonetheless.--paul death

Rating:
Summary: Ouch, that hurts.
Review: As a young woman who was homeless in NYC in the late 80's early 90's while jerks like Ellis were living the YUP Manhatten lifestyle, I found this book rather revealing. We used to watch the Wall Street boys on the trains and out to lunch-we used to judge them by how fast they were walking. Escaping the real world is what I used to think of them-if they walked fast enough, they could forget the city existed. I used to wonder what they were like, what they thought about. Bateman and friends go through life viewing people they encounter like a garment on the rack at Bloomingdale's; how much are they, do they look nice, who designed them...God bless Patrick Bateman, what an incredibly interesting character among the couture cattle. Good going Ellis, didn't think you had it in you. You managed to capture the vapid flow of the 80's mentality. It's not who you are, its how good you look on the rack. To give that mantality a psychotic glow is something I found truly exciting.

Rating:
Summary: Tests the limits of bad
Review: You know what the real tragedy is? That some guy has the misfortune of having his photo on the front cover, forever being linked with this piece of "literature." Recommended only for Huey Lewis and the News fans who are interested in commentary on them by an insane yuppie murderer.