Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Brilliant. That word well describes this book. Though reading this book may make you question Ellis' sanity, It cannot be denied that it is one of the best books to have been published in the 1990's
Rating:
Summary: Some people just dont get it-reader Australia
Review: One problem with this book is that since it has attracted so much noteriety,many casual readers will sample this simply because of the hype.e.g.FRANK STEIN,reader.April 29 says that he is 'an avid fan of books about serial killers' and that 'he rarely if ever gets disgusted by violence' and then goes on to condemn the book because it 'repulsed' him. Well Frank,THATS THE WHOLE POINT!Its not a book about serial killers;Frank since you were repulsed then 'American Psycho' is an utter success as far as your concerned.Frank,maybe after reading 'American Psycho',next time you read one of your 'serial killer' books,you will be more aware and maybe slightly more moved in understanding the suffering,the human tragedy these people cause.This book is about waking us up to our blase attitude towards all things violent.If your not disgusted by this book,then this book is condemning you. This book goes beyond the casual Jeffrey Archer reader and challenges the reader so that it was always going to be misunderstood.Full marks for such ambition.
Rating: 
Summary: Murder, Wealth , and an insight into maddness
Review: American Psycho takes you on a fictional journey through the mind of a young rich succesful pyschopath. One minute a normal snobish yuppy living the american dream in NYC the next a dillusional sadistict killer. The main character finds emtional satisfaction and sexual gratification through inflicting pain and murder apoun the innocent.
Rating: 
Summary: a guidebook for would-be serial killers...no thank-you!
Review: One very good reason not to read this book. A mass-murderer named Paul Bernardo kept this book on his bedstand and alledgedly thought the actions of the books "hero" were so cool and glamorous that he thought he'd like to do the same...and he did. I'm not saying that this book is the reason why these brutal murders occured, I'm just saying that they gave an already sick individual more ideas. If you do read this book, please remember that torture, rape and murder are not glamorous, or interesting, or entertaining...these things really happen and they are just plain wrong.
Rating:
Summary: No sense, no purpose.
Review: It is not often that I will not finish a book particularily a book that was selected for our reading group. This book however,took only 120 pages to make me feel deeply repulsed and anxious. The references to designer fashions and home appliances were boring at best. After much hand wringing and soul searching I sent this book out with the recyclables. Perhaps it can be recreated into something with more substance.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Awful
Review: Even though I am an avid fan of books about serial killers, I felt this was the worst book I've ever read. I mean, I rarely, if ever, get disgusted by violence, be it in movies or books, but I wasn't only disgusted by this book, I was repulsed. And even if the book didn't have such graphic violence, it still would just plane suck. It has no plot whatsoever. It's just basicaly page after page of some yuppie brutaly butchering people to death. This book was merely written for one purpose: To shock , because the author knew that that would help sell the book.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible.
Review: If Ellis is commenting on the lowliness of our society, he couldn't have done a better job at contributing to it. I wanted to throw-up reading this book. Shock is cheap. Reject violence.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Over the Edge!!!!
Review: I have read all of Bret's novels and this is the Best by Far!!!! "The Psycho" is a trip into the unknown. It will scare you, upset you and maybe even make you sick, but thank god for it!!! I can't read another bland book that doesn't catch my immediate attention. Bravo for a book whos causticity and acidity is so high, I could not put it down. Glamorama, The Informers and The Rules of Attraction were all GREAT books, but "Psycho" takes the cake. 5 STARS and I can't wait for Ellis' next big hit, lets all pray its as daring as his previous books!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: no no no
Review: This is the only book I have ever regretted reading. Not because it was a waste of time, or cost me $13, or was really bad but because I actually felt that it took away more than it gave. I don't think books should be necessarily pleasant - I think an element of repulsion is healthy. But this goes way too far, because there is nothing redeeming in it to compensate for the truly sick things that occur and stick in your head long after. Even that would be okay if you felt a little wiser at the end of it all, but all I felt was a little more corrupted, and more alienated from the human race. This book also has to be one of the most unpoetic pieces of prose I've ever read. Maybe that's the point Easton Ellis' is trying to make about modern consumerist society, but I think, if you're going to write about such utter depravity, you need to link it to something the reader can relate to, or it has no relevance. For me, all though it was horribly compelling, in the end the book meant very little because the world described was so contrived, such a bubble. It was all shocking experience and no understanding.There were some good points. I did think the prose was fascinating for it's style. The way the grammer and syntax come apart is a really effective way to get into Bateman's world: you realise, as the text challenges your established knowledge of how things are, just how incoherent and senseless it is in Bateman's mind. There is nothing to hang on to. There's not that basic distinction between human and non-human let alone any higher moral dilemmas. I guess maybe that's why people have been so offended - because there's no moral debate going on at all, not in the main character's head or any of character's heads. And I guess because he walks so free among so called normals. He's not singled out as some social outcast, but really, he's embraced by society as this outwardly attractive, role model. I don't know, I know deep down this is a very clever, very brilliant book, but it's also I think, a book that ultimately, isn't worth it.
Rating:
Summary: I now know why they had book burnings...............
Review: I had high hopes for this book after all the hype it had been receiving. However, I was horribly disappointed. It should have been titled "The Restauranters Guide To New York". The parts that were not brain numbingly boring were so offensive, grotesque, and downright sick that this book was impossible to finish. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth for the human race, to think that there might just be someone that depraved out there. I had to throw this book away, I wasted $12 because I could never inflict it on someone else.
|
