American Psycho

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly chaotic
Review: I must say that my first reaction to this novel was "eeeewwww!!!", but thankfully it is one of those that you must sit and comprehend, something rare in most contemporary literature. Bateman is vile, some of his actions made me nauseous, but thank god they did! (while his obsessive- compulsive behavior drove me to distraction) ...that awareness is the point to this book. I am 21 years old, and since i had many older siblings during the eighties and a keen insight as a child, the 80's were not a generation lost to me...i saw the great contrasts between the haves and have nots...I even got in a fist fight at the age of twelve in Manhattan with a man in his thirties who was playing the "dollar game" with a homeless man. I must admit that my generation is a pretty decensitized one, but Ellis makes people aware of the yuppies of the eighties and the greed that they spewed with their generation, one that was much worse off than my own. I just recently ! ! was working in the 'Diamond District' of Manhattan on Fifth Ave. and I saw so many Batemans that could easily fall through the cracks...this book is definitely an eye and mind opener....that or a twisted author writing out his fantasies, which i would prefer not to think :)

Rating:
Summary: interesting metaphor
Review: This book will not be on my top ten list for several reasons, the most viable one being that it is about a serial killer who is not necessarily an accurate one. Perhaps I'm off my rocker, but after a great deal of time studying serial killers, I can't say Ellis' portrayal is at all interesting. Sadistic, yes, sicking in places, yes, but not good enough to warrant a recommendation. As is, I was told this novel would be right up my alley, and I was rather disappointed with it. On the other hand, if I look at Bateman as a metaphor for the dehumaization that seemed to accompany the 80s, the beginnings of the "stranger" relationships among the American people, and as a recognition of the canyon sized schism between poor and rich, then I find some value in this novel. Otherwise, it was a highly colorful and overly descriptive tale of fashion and violence that probably should not have graced the shelves.

Rating:
Summary: This is a relevant and very disturbing work
Review: There's something about this book that makes me think I'm a worse person for having read it. Although 400 pages in two days must say something of it's content. Not as good as Less Than Zero. The book left me with a nameless dread and an emptiness both frightening and beuatiful. Bret Easton Ellis is a disturbed individual and conveys the terror he must live with graphically. The point is made, if you can get around the fluff and repetition. Or maybe that is the point.

Rating:
Summary: Booo-ringgg.
Review: Where's the gore, the bloodletting, the squeamish parts? I'm many pages in and couldn't give a flying you know what what this guy and his buddies wear. Plus there are inconsistencies, one minute somebody's wearing a Versace tie, next page it's a different designer. He's meeting a certain woman, then it's someone else. Yes, I need to finish and give it a fair chance, but alright already. Let the chainsaw head removing begin! I know one thing for certain, Leo DiCaprio is about as suited to play Patrick Bateman as Danny DeVito! Whatever...

Rating:
Summary: Truly repulsive but riveting none the less.
Review: I am one of those people who bought the book because of the press it received recently and remember thinking "How VIOLENT can it be?". I was amazed with it. This book, I hope, will never be made into a movie because how can you put the content into a two hour movie and be able to have people sit still through it. That said, I think it shows the decline of our civilization. This book reminded me of songs I have heard by a group called Filter. The songs start of soft and poetic and become loud and violent (the music not the lyrics). The first few chapters are a set-up and then Bateman kills and back to the lead-up. I found myself disgusted but at the same time I couldn't put it down. I hope that this book is never read by people with psychotic tendencies. Read it if you must but be forewarned, it may not be for you. The press has been critical of this book because of the horrific treatment of women. I don't think that this was the point. Bateman treated most people with equal disdain and killed at first because of the rush and the excitement. Towards the end, however, killing was purely instinct. This was purely wealthy people no longer in touch with reality and thus capable of doing pretty much anything.

Rating:
Summary: I loved it, but it's not for the faint of heart.
Review: I heard about American Psycho when it was first published, but it took me like 8 years to finally read it, which was probably a good thing because I don't think I would have gotten it at 20. I read the book 2 years ago for the first time and just recently a 2nd, and it was even better this time. I think the book is incredible, I didn't even skip over the lengthy clothing descriptions because that's part of understanding Patrick Bateman, and the music reviews are hilarious. The social commentary stands truer today than when the book first came out, I encounter Patrick Bateman's every day on the highway, driving fast and talking on their cellular, cutting people off without a thought. Unfortunately, ever since Leo has been rumored to star in the movie, hoards of young people are reading it and though I'm happy to see the sales go up, I just don't think this younger generation will get it. Oh sure, they'll love the violence, this generation loves the ultra violence, next they'll be discovering A Clockwork Orange by Burgess, but I don't think any of them will know just how hilarious the music reviews are, and that's a shame. I'm 28 by the way, a lesbian, and smart enough to know that you have to read the entire book to understand it. Loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Bateman rules!!!
Review: One of the greatest books I have ever read. The insight into the mind of a serial killer is second to none.I am Pat Bateman without the money. I just wish I could act out as he did.

Rating:
Summary: Desensitizing, dehumanizing and downright distasteful
Review: American Psycho is a novel which had the potential to make it big, however, this potential was squandered. This book is a paragon of poor plot, a spectacular specimen of stupidity in fiction. In all of my years of reading, never have I come across such a hopeless literary blunder. It is, indeed, explicit to the point of pornography. I have no trouble at all thinking of reasons as to why this book would be banned. Patrick Bateman kills the homeless, animals, and even children. But infanticide notwithstanding, the most nauseating passages were the ones in which Bateman brutally kills the women. To quote a children's show which my daughter was watching, these pathetic scenes were "vomitrocious." It was, without a doubt, the most horrific book I have ever read. (Since I have read in excess of 1000 works of fiction, I believe that my opinion can be counted as an expert one.) However, I cannot help but to think of what others I know have said once they have read it. They say that it is a "marvellous piece" or "a work of art" or "a novel stunning in its euphemisms of everyday life." Pardon me, but get real. This book is a wolf in sheep's clothing, or rather, a vomit sandwich in the guise of filet mignon. American Psycho has no good content whatsoever, no values at all, and furthermore, has garnered approximately 130 reviews on this web site. It is a sad commentary on modern society indeed.

Rating:
Summary: a brilliant book
Review: While studying in France a few years ago I read "American Psycho' (a french translation).It is perhaps not very well written but it is an incredible book.A novel, in my view,about alienation,about despair,about life's profound absurdity.Deep inside every man there is a Bateman lying,waiting to crop up."American Psycho" shows how alienating life can be in modern society and also how our identities have become fragmented.Bateman is a cultural schizophrenic,lost in the midst of many influences.He is not so much a being as a surface.He's not real but an image. An important book in that it is a study of the pathology of modern life

Rating:
Summary: intense,foul,anxiety-inducing reading; lovedit!!
Review: If anyone makes it to my review, I'm impressed. There must be lots of 20th century Pop Culture students in our midst. In a nutshell it was a great book. It scared the @#$% out of me!!! You go crazy screaming at the book,"Why doesn't anyone figure out what he's doing!!!" But I guess that is Bretts point, nobody cares. I recently read that there is to be a movie made with Leo Dicap starring as Patrick Bateman. What do you guys think, to much of a sissy??