Rating: 
Summary: An Insult to Serial Killers Everywhere
Review: I read American Psycho in 1997 to see what the fuss was all about. It is two years later and I still don't know what the fuss was all about. This novel is so poorly written, it didn't deserve all the negative attention it got. As for the supposedly shocking graphic violence, the murder scenes are so ridiculously silly and cartoonish, they give evidence of the author's real intent for writing this book--not to produce an intense work exploring the depths of the human psyche or a culture that would produce a serial killer--but to indulge in a game of "let's pretend," for American Psycho is nothing but that--a pathetic attempt to fulfill a fantasy based on a schoolboy's notion of what the life of a serial killer could be like. The emptiness of Bateman's characterization has nothing to do with the so-called nihilistic theme of the book, but is just one more bit of evidence that the author wrote American Psycho to do a bit of role playing. This is definitely not a friendly review, but being a lover of great books, it annoys me that there would still be a debate about whether this novel is good or not. It is not. It is swill. It is a literary abomination, a curse upon the land. It is an insult to book lovers, serial killers and three year old writers everywhere. It has no depth, no plot, no real characters and no mood. It has such poor setting, it couldn't even convey accurately the era it was attacking; it merely did this by laundry listing designer names, pop culture references and 80's artifacts ad-nauseum. And as for the writing style, some would claim its banality reflects, once again, the nihilistic theme of the book, but let's not confuse bad writing for a legitimate literary device used by far more abled writers like Camus and Sartre. (By the way, if you really want to read good works about nihilism and alienation, read "The Stranger" and "Nausea," by the above authors, respectively.) In short, American Psycho is a lowpoint of American literature. Its obscenity lies not in the sadistic scenes of violence within it, but that several trees had to sacrifice their lives to produce it. What a shame.
Rating: 
Summary: You have to appreciate vivid detail.
Review: Ellis has a flair for detail, and detail is how he writes. I understand critics claim American Psycho to be one of the worst books ever written, I found it highly engrossing as well, extremely disturbing. I will probably read it again
Rating:
Summary: b
Review: a
Rating:
Summary: Misguided, typically American, and pretty darn good
Review: Bret Easton Ellis recently read from his new book, Glamorama, in Trinity College and I realised, sadly, that to appreciate what he writes it must be read aloud (preferably by the author). I did enjoy reading American Psycho but the book had no lasting affect on me. Those lovely, long passages, stinging with venom, are a million times more potent when spoken by Ellis than by Bateman. Every American writer writes about one thing - America - this author does it very well - but how can mere characters compete when you are writing about such a staggering society? Oh and I was none too impressed with his stab on Bono - sounds like a case of pencil envy to me...
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most intensely disgusting books I've ever read
Review: American Psycho's strength is the meticulous way in which Bret Easton Ellis describes the mundane and superficial aspects of Patrick Bateman's socialite world while illustrating his ever-worsening psychopathic tendencies. I was fascinated to begin understanding what Bateman is all about, but the violence was too much to take. Mr. Easton Ellis' accounts of Bateman's horrors are easily the most disgusting things I have ever read in my life. If you have trouble with gore, stay far away from this book.
Rating:
Summary: incredibly dull
Review: i had read much hype about this book, seen all the reviews, and i finally when i got around to reading it i was so disappointed.i can understand the 'message' or reason behind it, you know,a reflection on the shallowness of yuppie life, 80's culture,etc, but the story has no plot, it is excessively bogged down with numbing descriptions of anal if somewhat worrying content.The books plot could be summed up in one sentence.Frankly, i couldn't wait to put the damn thing down!
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to give it zero stars but couldn't - It's Terrible
Review: Utter garbage! A waste of paper. Just read some of the mindless comments below ( if Amazon leave them there ). It is a book with no point, I persevered to the end of what I found a disturbingly unpleasant book, to see if it had a reason for being written, a denouement or anything. Don't bother - it hasn't. I disprove of censorship, particularly of books, but would, and have, advised all that I know may read this book not to bother. This is nothing other than the sensationalist pushing of vulgar extremes to see how far a pseudo such as Easton Ellis can go, and still get away with being considered "A Writer" Unpleasant, pointless, drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Failure
Review: Bret Easton Ellis may well be a talented writer, and in fact his first two books were, while rather brutal and cruel, fairly well-written. One can discern a purpose lying stranded somewhere among the pages of American Psycho--some reason why Ellis wrote, and why we should read, this book. However, it lies largely buried under tedious satire and gratuitous (yes, gratuitous) violence. The satirical (and, to a certain degree, comic) nature of this work--and it is largely a satire--is heavyhanded, overwrought, and largely unoriginal. It might have been (somewhat) revolutionary in, say, the year 1984. However, Ellis ought to be embarrased to be caught beating the dead horse of 80's materialism in 1991. Certainly materialism (and its resulting inhumanity) is a perennial problem of human existence, and it has certainly not gone away since the stock market crash of 1987. Indeed, it is thriving today, and has even become a commonplace. Would that Ellis had written this book five years later, and fastened his creative powers on more mundane representatives of our American civilization--say, the common families of the new suburban majority, their SUVs, mutual fund portfolios, tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt, Kaplan courses, and so on. Of course, this would not have necessarily been more original material; but if his aim (as many here claim) is to show the evil that lies in the hearts of men (and women, though it is true that all the women in American Psycho are victims), it would certainly have been more fertile soil. Bateman is a cypher. But his character is more of a puddle than a puzzle. Those below who point out the instability of his world (and his mind) are correct. However, the result of this, combined with the already distancing effect of the millieu he inhabits (the trendy and poweful world of Manhattan's nouveau riche), leaves the reader facing a void, with no bridge--there is little means of identification with the protagonist, if that is indeed the goal. In short, the satire is lame, the comedy grotesque, and the violence overbearing. It is not the form of the novel I criticize; it is the fact that the two largest elements of this work--the observation of and commentary (maybe?) on the life of a late-80's yuppie/murderer/gore fiend (?), and the ultra-violent (and merciless) interludes--are ultimately failures. Not absolute failures (I did give the book two stars, rather than one)--Ellis can create a scene, and an ambiance, and a mood and tone. But his characters seem like caricatures more often than not, and his jokey sense of sarcasm gets heavy and wearying after a while. The same, surprisingly, can be said of the murder (/sex) sequences. While they often made me want to throw the book against a wall (which has more to do with my own literary preferences than the quality of the work), after a while they are useless, and can in fact be skimmed over, or ignored altogether. The horror can keep the reader's eyes on the page for a while, but enough is enough. After a while, I simply saw no literary element remaining in the violence, only voyeurism, which is not literaure, but rather pornography of the meanest sort. Ultimately, this book becomes unreadable, which is the final disaster for any novel. However, those readers below who suggested that the narrator may be unreliable (I think there are two of you) might well be on to something, and I think you may have made an original and astute point; it is the only way I can see for this narrative to gain any redemption or meaning, or for Bateman's murderes to make any logical sense. Those same reviewers also pointed out the impossibility (or improbability) of many of the narrative's events, particularly relating to the violent sequences. I can only agree--I may in fact have to re-read the novel (as dreadful as that prospect seems to me) with this interpretation in mind in order to give Ellis another chance. Without such an interpretation, however, Ellis here is something worse than a poor writer, even worse than an incompetent. He is a fool.
Rating: 
Summary: My Review
Review: I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the story, getting to know a person like Patrick Bateman was interesting. His thought patterns and rationals for his actions. It was disturbing, to feel the things he feels, and somehow understand what he does. It was disturbing and thought provoking, and scarry. I had dreams afterwards which were truly haunting and this was the power of the book. It makes an impact and makes you think, maybe changes your mind about things. Surely one of the best things about books is to make the reader think, this is what I like about books and it is why I like this book. Its a challenge, getting through the more grisly bits but I found it a worthwhile investment of my time. Read this book if you want too, and if you dont, then dont.
Rating:
Summary: In A Total Sane Society, Madness Is The Only Freedom!
Review: I loved the novel because of its orginality and sickness. The main character, Patrick Bateman, is a product of a society which indeed has to be changed. Bateman's obsessed with details (clothing, food ...)which increases the reader's knowledge about his madness. Great novel, though strange.
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