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American Psycho

American Psycho

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $11.20
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Rubberneck read
Review: There is no doubt that this was a tough book to read. Many unsettling scenes. However, I could not stop reading, and whenever I thought that I had enough something even more surprising happened. I like this book for it's originality, and unabashed insanity. The endless descriptions of clothing and surroundings, gives me a clear cut vision of the character. I compare this book to my desire to stare at an automobile crash. You don't want to look, and you don't really want to see someone hurt. However, you're naturally driven to look to see if someone is hurt. I found this fascination with this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very, very, very, very deataled
Review: So far I have heard a lot about this book. and I seem to like it but there's one problem. I HAVEN"T READ THE DAM BOOK YET. Can someone please tell me where there's a place I read the book over the net. Leave it as a "review" Thank You Fuzz

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Portrait Of A Shallow Society
Review: "American Psycho" is a very important novel. There is no doubt the outrage surrounding the book is justified, some of the scenes within are, to put it lightly, quite sick. But the book would not be the same without the violence and the torture. I admit, Ellis does seem to thrive on his detailed description of the killings and assaults, but he excels in other aspects. The vanity of Pat Bateman and friends comes across very strongly; overall Ellis has created a modern masterpiece. If you can stomach the extreme situations, than you will be rewarded in what is ultimately a fantastic novel.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of time and money!!!
Review: This book was the biggest waste of time and money I ever spent! The "chapter" on the band Genesis made me think Ellis himself went totally insane during the writing. What on earth was this chapter doing in this book? It made no sense at all! Then again, neither did the rest of the book! I won't be reading Ellis ever again!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Truly Stunning
Review: This is one incredible story. Truly insiprational. I now know that I have a purpose in life and that is to become Patrick Bateman. I think the vaginas in the locker was the best idea ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THIS IS A WONDERFUL CHILDRENS BOOK
Review: American Psycho is one of the greatest childrens stories that I have ever read. My kids love it, and look forward to me reading it to them before bed every night. I hope my son Tommy grows up to be just like Patrick Bateman.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Food not for the Weak-Minded
Review: All I ever haer anymore is how the media and everything makes us do things. If you can't handle it do do it. If you don't like the book after the first couple of pages don't finish it. Cause all you do afterwards is complain. I enjoyed it, I thought it to be very funny and delightful in the gory area (especially the hamster trail-tube). But like I said before if you don't like it don't complain no one held a gun to your head and said, "read this book, if you stop I'll kill you." All it is is entertainment, see it for that because that is what it is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A reflection of what we as a society have become...
Review: This novel may have contained portions of which almost inspired me to tears, but it nevertheless contained many of the stories we read about time and time again in the daily newspaper. American Psycho does not inspire violence towards groups such as women, but in my opinion the author wrote only about what time and time again happens when people perpetuate the legacy of hate towards those they do not understand. Our charismatic young killer is so immersed in his ideology and self that he possesses no sympathy for others. The only way for him to feel anything at all is for him to inflict pain upon others, yet it is never enough. In my humble opinion, this book is possibly an instant cultural classic, with which future generations can look back upon to get a small glimpse into our contrived and complex present.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: But did it change your behavior for the better?
Review: Satire has been called the lowliest, darkest form of literature, a bottom-feeder in the heirarchy of literary prestige (tragedy and comedy are at the top). When Jonathan Swift published "A Modest Proposal," a (1650's?) essay in which he suggested that the Irish alleviate the effects of famine by cooking and eating their own children, he was greeted with outrage and horror. But his message was political, and it was meant to effect a change in people's political attitudes and perhaps in their behavior. Satire always has an underlying political and social message: it teaches you how to behave by showing you how bad things will be if you don't. It is ALWAYS criticized for portraying -- in an over-the-top, totally out-of-control way -- the attitudes it tries to undermine. In the case of "American Psycho" (and all of Ellis' novels) those attitudes are alienation, disaffection, greed, isolation, depersonalization, the callous disregard of the wealthy for those who have nothing. The satirist's genius lies in making it clear that s/he is arguing for the *opposite* scenario. Ellis -- like all satirists -- is a moralist.

A good satire has to be subtle, and this is where most satirists run into trouble. Patrick Bateman, the protagonist in "American Psycho," is subtly -- and eventually not-so-subtly -- revealed as a fool. (If you haven't already read the book, you may want to skip to the last paragraph). Lots of readers responding here seem to have missed these subtleties. Bateman spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on hi-tech stereo equipment, and thinks the greatest band of all time is Huey Lewis and the News. He buys a trendy original artwork and doesn't realize that he's hung it upside-down. His greatest moments of desperation come when a server tries to pick up a check before his dining companion has noticed that he's paying with a platinum Am-Ex card -- and everyone knows he's inherited his money. Consider the food these trendy socialites eat: they start out with sushi that's still alive and progress to stranger and "trendier" combinations until they end up with grilled *eagle*. It's astonishing that so many people seemed to miss the brilliant political satire here.

I do think Ellis went too far with some of the violence in this novel, if only because its garishness draws attention away from the subtler, smarter themes he's playing with. I think Ellis makes it clear that Patrick Bateman, nuts as he is, can't compete with the larger pathology at work in the culture. He can't be recognized for what he considers his "accomplishments" because, compared to the millieu in which he operates, he's a small-time monster. Ellis plays with this theme again in "The Informers," when the culture and its diseases begin to terrify even the vampires.

Satires are necessary: they make us politically aware, distrustful of the "ruling class," less accepting of the status-quo. After reading "American Psycho," I can't walk by bums with the same coldness or think about the dashing guys on Wall Street quite the same way. I found it well worth the effort to slog past the violence and the hype to focus on the novel's deeper themes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A MUST READ FOR THE END OF THE MILLENIUM!
Review: This novel is nothing short of amazing. Admittedly it is not a novel for every one.. (beware ye of squeamish dispositions.) The fact that this explores levels of the human psyche never written about in fiction previously would be an understatement. American Psycho is one long trip down one truly horrifying yet darkly hilarious road. Easton-Ellis, as an author pens a sarcatic, scathing attack on everything from the "Material Girl" to making resturant reservations. A word to the wise: this is not a novel to be read in one sitting. It is quite overwhelming.


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