Rating: 
Summary: Better than the Bible!
Review: I loved this book! Bret Easton Ellis once again writes a heartwarming saga of pure evil vs. good. No other book in quite a while has given me such warm feeling inside. Thank you Bret Ellis, now I know there is hope in our society.
Rating: 
Summary: a tragic waste of money
Review: What starts off as a very clever and vivid story quickly turns into a gut-wrenching and blood-soaked mess. If there was a point to the last 3/4 of the story...I missed it. I was so disgusted and mortified at Ellis' character (Bateman) that I couldn't even finish this book. I can appreciate Ellis' vivid imagination, however, this book still wound up in my garbage can. I was very dissapointed with this piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: No he did'nt go there!!! Bret, you a true pimp!!
Review: I just want to say one thing! If you ain't read it yet, go get it!! This book is wild, son!! Bret is off tha hook with this bad boy! I don't know, but you might want to eat real good before starting the book because he'll have you vomiting a whole weeks worth of food by the time you get to chapter 3. He depicted the eighties in NYC perfectly! See I'm from B'klyn and that's just how the NYC be actin'. What we have: Rich white boy with nothin' better to do but kill all the ho's. That's just the kind of action we need in today's fictious books. Keep it reeeal!!! I ain't tryin' to read no "Mare have little lambs" or nothin' stupid like that. By the time you get to chapter 7, you start lookin' at your own girlfriend strange! Patrick, I'm on your team, aaiiight?!!?!! Ooooh!!!, and the "rat" part -- You know, when he put the tube up...-I ain't even gonna go there (you read it!). Homeboy was gettin' paid though...fo' real! I don't see what the big fuss is about y'all not likin' the book! Put it this way, if Patrick Bateman was to kick it with you, you know you would be down (so stop playa hatin'). Anybody feeeel what I feeel, let me know - email me and we could talk it out! Peace!!
Rating:
Summary: Abandon all hope ye who enter here...
Review: This Book makes sense on so many levels it would take a novel to unravel it all. An excellent review was written by Jakob Winnberg and can be found elsewhere on the web (query American Psycho on any search engine). The negative reaction comes almost exclusively from the severe violence described in overly clear detail, so if you have a weak stomach, move on. The naysayers have failed to read the book carefully, however. Even readers who like the book miss the point, I think. Winnberg discusses the underlying scholarly implications perfectly. The work is an existential masterpiece. On the surface, it works just as well.Anybody who has been to New York knows the improbability of several scenes in the book, but even if one has not, there are so many clues as to the irrational state of mind of Patrick that unlss one just skimms through, readers would have to stop consistently and say "wait a minute". Patrick describes 2 women wearing exactly the same thing at the same time in one scene, repeats scentences at the beginning and end of paragraphs, even gets confused about what he himself is wearing throughout the course of a day. The seasons seem to change overnight and whole gaps of time are completely left out without explanation. There is no plot. A popular opinion is that the voilent events are only happening in Patricks mind. There are so many implausible events, that one would have to wonder if any of the story is really happening at all. Every perception Patrick has is in blinding detail. He sees absolutely everything (like in The Stranger, Camus). Not only is the voilence in graphic detail, so is the club scene, the restaurants, what people are wearing, etc. etc. The only thing wrong about all that detail, is that its totally incorrect half of the time. Patricks brain is not working correctly on any level which forces ambiguity on every sentence in the book. There are not enough clues to fill the reader in on reality. That is perfect since the book is witten from the point of view of a psychotic, since he too is uncertain of reality. It would be impossible to discern reality since one would only be speculating. I'm sure Patrick would agree that speculation is a complete waste of time. Whats really going on (or the name of the person he's talking to) almost doesn't matter. To not like this book because of the violence is one thing, but to give it a low rating based on literary reasons, both technical and scholarly, is a failure on the part of the reader to pay attention to and understand what they are reading. This book should get six stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Shocking yet perversely clever.
Review: The first time I read this book I found it shockingly appealing. I loved the way he dropped the names of designers and objects. I found it a very clever commentary on the lives of young, wealthy, beautiful people. However, I then tried to reread it and could not stand it. Not only that, the horror of it made me sick. I ended up throwing it away, where I thought no one could ever find it, as I would never want anyone else to read it. I cannot explain why I could read it the first time and had such a powerful reaction the second, but the second reaction stands the firmest. It is a horrifying, repugnant story. And I find no redeeming value in it. As one reviewer wrote, how has this story enriched anyone's life?
Rating:
Summary: surely there's a point here ?
Review: While i understand the point of view which states that Ellis is commenting on society, yuppies, etc, i can't help but return to the question, "why on earth did he write this ?" How could he have possibly enriched his own understanding of humanity ? How has he enriched mine ? There is nothing in the text that speaks to me in a profound way (and not simply because of the monotony). The only thing i can give Ellis credit for is an incredibly vivid imagination. What personality changes does Bateman go through during the course of the plot ? None. He does not evolve as a character, and the author does not evolve as a writer. He has taught me nothing about the human spirit, the human psyche, nor the human condition. This is the source of my question: if there is nothing in the text which provides insight, why did he write it at all ? The closest i can come to an answer is that either he (1) wishes he were Jay McInerney (whose insight, depth, and talent can all clearly be seen in one single line, "you will have to learn everything all over again"); (2) has no depth, no insight, and no wit; or (3) both. It was tragic to read this book - i had high hopes after Less Than Zero. What a shame to learn that Less Than Zero was sheer luck and not the product of talent.
Rating:
Summary: The point is to attract and repel...
Review: You are about to read several reviews for this brilliant novel by Bret Easton Ellis. Notice that those who loved it site the monotonous dialogue and action... the drumming structure and the seemingly meaningless description of his day to day activities. Notice that those who hated the book point all this out and then mention that it gives no moral and no plot other than to gross out. I think Ellis' entire point was to weed out those who "just didn't get it". Ellis has created a character who is a wimp, a fool... a yuppie who needs to be so much more that it hurts. Bateman MUST tell you (the reader) about what an atrocious man he is. and the fact remains that in all his conquests he has to get his way... be it having the nicest clothes and fasion sense or to posses the woman he first loved to the point in which he kills her. he wants you to believe he did all these things to mask the fact that he cannot make anything happen for himnself. ever. he is weak and normal. I believe that this is an accurate portrait not of a killer or a psychopath, but of a man who is so demented and afraid that he has become a lousy pathelogical liar. Imagine the narrator (bateman... speaking in "real time" narrative anyway as if he WAS in fact making it all up as he goes) sitting in an institution telling you all this. Just to try to get some respect for him out of you. It is a brilliant, repoulsive piece that weeds out those who don't catch that by being monotonous and explicit with detail and violence. Every so often the conumdrums in linear structure, plot and geographical possibility let those "in the know" back in on the secret the same way a bad liar neglects covering his own tracks... by being obviously outlandish. don't you get it? no? than read it again and realize it's suposed to keep you away if you don't get it.
Rating:
Summary: Social criticism on desensitization in Western society
Review: Ellis in his somewhat overrated novel attacks the 'greed is good' culture, but also so much more. After the atrocities sanctioned by Western societies this century, the violence of everyday life is produced in a reductio ad absurdam world of miscommunication and brittle superficiality. Bateman does not just roam a New York prairie, his home is every city in the developed world. Ellis has produced such a shock with this novel, by having violence not that removed from day-to-day war experiences, with a strongly sexual nature. The sadism of his acts, their ingenuity more than their cruelty, is the genius of Ellis. He creates a visceral reality, totally compelling and utterly disgusting, which is plainly the mirror world of the protagonist's psyche; this world is so realistically repellent, its fantastic origins are stunning as the novel moves into its third act (But I wont spoil it!). Ellis' brittle superficial detatched style is perfect for the memoirs of a serial killer, more perverted for his fantasy acts than if they really existed.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disturbingly In-Depth Look at 80's Excess
Review: Before people go off on a rant about how stomach-turning and revolting this book is, consider that maybe that's the point. Ellis has, in a brutal fashion, offered up an intriguing look into the mind of an individual that is lost in the excess and materialism of the 80's. The contradiction of broker by day, reaper by night shows a distinct loss of touch with reality that was very much a sign of the times. The obsession with names and places shows an individual that has lost perspective on the real world, and this brilliantly written book shows just how warped people can be. The explicit descriptions of sin and debauchery that accompany this serve to drive the point home in an unforgettable fashion. On the whole, a stunning book, written in a manner that will guarantee that it will remain in one's memory.
Rating:
Summary: An awesome literary achievement
Review: I think that this novel is exactly what a novel should be. Ellis is able to describe each scene with so much detail I often caught myself believing that I was really there. I think that Bateman comes across as a powerful character that is out of control but at the same time is able to calmly and effortlessly slaughter many. This is one of my very favorite books, but it's not for everybody. I soon one day hope to write a novel that matches the brilliance and vividness as this and the rest of ellis' work. THIS ONE DESERVES TEN STARS!
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