Rating: 
Summary: YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK
Review: This is a book to read over and over. A fabulous piece of work by Bret Easton Ellis that I can't help but read more than once. A trip into the mind os a serial killer who in the end never gets caught. A fabulous, yet shocking novel that questions our own society and our limits to what we can put up with... and what we believe in.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking!!!
Review: I had heard that this was a violent novel but I had not expected it to be as violent as it is. I am not a big horror fan and am a little squeamish when it comes to horror movies and therfore I skipped a few pages of blood and gore. The novel is also funny. The way all yuppies are made to look alike and nobody is shure who he is really talking to is very funny. A twisted look on a twisted decade.
Rating: 
Summary: Violence does not equal greatness.
Review: For some reason, Pop culture equates Violence with greatness. If something is excessively gory & violent, it is making some sort of statement about life. Utter rubbish. This book was horrible from start to beginning. To "shock" the audience, he stabs a child. This book is utterly pointless. Read at your own peril.
Rating:
Summary: A Load of Sh..
Review: Brett Easton Ellis reminds me of that kid who would torture animals and set fires in the schoolyard. Indeed, the quality of his prose in this novel reminds one of the writings of a disturbed 10 year old child. The less-than-pulp depictions of violence leave one with either an upset stomach or in my case an egregious insult to my intelligence. The graphic sexual violence makes Penthouse Forum look like Anais Nin. Add in the narrator's irrelevent and annoying music criticism and you have one of the worst novels of the past decade.
Rating: 
Summary: takes the p*** out of the 8 0s
Review: Does anyone realize this is a parody (ironicization?) of the 80s. The reviewers that dictate the the novel as insipid, dull, boring, etc. did not finish it: they stopped at page 27, then wrote their review - clearly. There are three pages dedicated to the art of shaving (quite helpful actually); this novel cannot be taken at face value. When the detective interviews Jason it is a rip-off of Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov(sp?), a technique of many (98%) of the writers and autuers (autuer-manques) of the 80s. The art of this novel -as with any art- is in the style. The inflation (inflammation)of the Pat Booth/Tama Janowitz "style" is reminiscent of Gogol and Joyce. The choice of subject is reminiscent, unfortunately, of Stephen King (a fine junk writer) and William Styron (a hack). Mr. Ellis has the virtuostic ability of a novelist, but not the soul of the true artist----yet?
Rating:
Summary: One of the most disturbing, nightmare-inducing books ever.
Review: American Psycho, once I got past the seemingly endless namedropping narrative, held me in its thrall for three dark evenings. Unfortunately, headline-makers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy (whom Ellis' protagonist Bateman seems to lionize) pale in comparison with Bateman's excesses (not only at yuppie-haven Manhattan in the 80's but his penchant for chopping up women). While Ellis' prose goes nonstop, I can't recall a more superficial yet morbidly fascinating book. I'm a big fan of the First Amendment, but when the story careened from disfiguring a street bum to killing a child on a zoo outing, I put the book down. Hoping that Bateman would meet his match, I returned to the novel the next night. I'm glad I only paid thirty nine cents for the paperback at Goodwill. I'll go see the movie, but the filmmakers surely have their work cut out for them.
Rating:
Summary: A Metaphor for the Rapacious 80s
Review: Ellis is brilliant at showing us, in human terms, the real cost of the rapaciousness which swept through America in the 1980s. With leveraged buyouts, junk bonds, and the advent of downsizing, the lives of other human beings became expendable.The narrator is merely an extension of this disregard for humanity. While some see the book as "literary snuff fiction," it is more precise to say that Ellis has captured the true darkness which lurks in every human soul. What offends most readers is the fact that he dares to tell the story of a serial killer from the first person point of view. While Thomas Harris, author of "The Silence of the Lambs," is hailed as a genius, Ellis was targeted by women's groups and even had death threats issued against him. The irony of women opposed to the First Amendment rights which allow them to speak for freedom (except in cases where they are "offended" by another's point of view) is laughable. Ellis is telling us something about our nation as a whole with this novel. If we choose to look away or toss stones at him in disgust, we are merely refusing to take a good look in the mirror and see the potential monster within ourselves. This is perhaps the most important novel about the human psyche, social mores, and civilization since "Notes From the Underground." Not for everyone, but those who do read will be rewarded with a new perspective on themselves and the country they call home.
Rating:
Summary: Laughably Stupid
Review: It is not shocking, it is not exciting, it has no plot, it has no message of consequence, it has no memorable characters, it is not compelling in any way, it was not enjoyable to read, it is not rhythmic or poetic, the author displays no talent, it is pretentious and over-hyped, and fundamentally less than worthless. Other than that, it is a great book I can recommend to anyone with a single digit IQ. It does have one grand attribute: it is hugely symbolic... symbolic of America's utter breakdown of intellectual and artistic abilities. I agree with another reviewer's comment that it should come with a vomit bag - not because of the (ridiculous) gore but because a book of such horrible quality can be hyped to sell so well. Ellis' next book should be an autobiography called American Retard.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and Fascinating
Review: I began this book around Christmas last year, and stopped because I found it boring and overly violent. Later, though, I picked it up again one afternoon, and found that it was riveting. I read it one sitting. I agree that it is not for all tastes and, in terms of plot work and character development, I've read better. But it is truly an original piece of contemperary literature and it deserves to go down as a cult classic; in the same league as A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and ALIAS GRACE. I'm not sure it's true, but I read that this book is going to be made into a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. I guess we'll wait and see how that turns out.
Rating:
Summary: like something from my high-school lit magazine + violence
Review: Yeah, yeah, yeah ... in high school we used to think like this. People are so conformist -- what if they were ACTUALLY INTERCHANGEABLE? Wow, that guy has cheesy taste in music -- THEREFORE HE'S A MORAL DEGENERATE! That guy is materialistic -- HE'S JUST AS BAD AS A MASS MURDERER! Bret Easton Ellis brings these callow ideas to ... well, not exactly "life." Eighty percent of this book is like reading the Beverly Hills Yellow Pages word for word. The rest is like reading a play-by-play description of snuff film. There! I've saved you eleven bucks. You don't have to read the book. And by the way, Leonardo DiCaprio is going to star in the movie. "I'm King of the World!" indeed....
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