American Psycho

Rating:
Summary: the author is one sick dude
Review: This _the_ most messed up book I've ever read. If you want to disgust yourself and purge those evil thoughts, read this. I couldn't put it down, man it was stuck in my head. Truly awful book, read it.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't even finish it
Review: Bret Easton Ellis should probably spare the reading public and switch to an occupation more suiting to his talents, such as writing engineering textbooks. How a writer as shatteringly dull as Ellis could become published is beyond me; his inspiration for "American Psycho" probably came from thumbing through ads in GQ magazine and watching slasher movies. I've read soup can labels written with more passion and feeling than this novel. A crashing bore through and through.

Rating:
Summary: Another "Lady or the Tiger"?
Review: I had heard of this book before and had been trying to obtain a copy for years. I had assumed that it was an older book, maybe published in the 70's or 80's and was much surprised to discover that it was only published in 1991. I predict that if it doesn't become a classic, it will become a cult-classic. "American Psycho" is about Mr. Patrick Bateman, a typical yuppie in New York City. I use the term 'yuppie' because that is what this book is about. Apparently he earns very good money (possibly $190,000 a year) but the book never does say and neither does it say exactly what it is that Patrick does for a living. There are references to his having been born with a lot of money, but again nothing specific. His lifestyle is outrageously expensive, or maybe that's just my reaction to someone paying $300 for a lunch which consists mainly of coffee, or over $425 for a dinner for four. Maybe these are common rates for denizens of the Big Apple, but certainly it is not for me or anyone that I know. The book is mostly a very good description of the typical lifestyle and mores of the yuppies. I think Mr. Ellis did a very fine job in presenting these to the reader. You begin to feel that maybe that suit you paid $600 for from a reputable outfit is not really acceptable. Mr. Ellis seems to delight in regaling the reader with detailed descriptions of what is and what isn't acceptable in the minds of our young urban professionals. This is okay at first. I am as anxious as the next person in discovering the 'right' clothes to wear, or the 'in' place to eat this week, but after several of these descriptions it begins to wear thin and I found myself skipping over the incessant descriptions of where a person's clothes were from. While I enjoy hearing about what is considered to be 'right' and 'in' it doesn't control my lifestyle as it seems to control theirs. There are whole passages on discussing where is the best place to eat that night. Apparently being seen, or having reservations, at the correct restaurant figures very large in their world. It would seem that they would rather be dead than to be seen in a place that is not hip and among their group they practice a constant one-upmanship as to dining, clothes, even business cards! I'm sure Mr. Ellis must be a big Genesis, Whitney Houston, and a Huey Lewis & the News fan because he included three entirely superfluous chapters devoted exclusively to each. These three chapters have no relationship to the rest of the book and the only reason I can see that they were included is that it further promulgates the theme of madness that begins to permeate the pages. Maybe this was the idea of overdoing the clothes descriptions too. It illustrates how one can become fixed on certain ideas and modes. Mr. Ellis uses it to demonstrate the regression of his main player, I think. He also has Bateman constantly recognize people as someone else. This adds to the confusion and, to me, helped me reach my conclusion about the violence that Bateman describes. A warning to sensitive readers. This book contains some of the most graphic sexual scenes and of gratuitous violence that have ever been in print and which I am sure accounted for the initial refusal to publish by Simon & Schuster. It was finally accepted for publication by Random House. From "The Odd Index" (1994 by Stephen Spignesi) I would like to present some quotes from his comments. "....I was not convinced that the horrific acts ........Bateman commits ...............actually happened." "......I had the irresistible intuition that all the acts of random and perverted violence ...........all take place in his (Bateman's) mind." Coincidentally, this was my opinion while reading the book. It was nice to see it supported by Mr. Spignesi and it would be interesting to hear other reader's opinions. I think this book will be one of those items that will be discussed over cocktails and/or dinner for a long time to come. Sort of like "The Lady or the Tiger" story of decades past. There will be some that won't like all the violence and will deny it happened by believing that it was indeed all in Bateman's mind. Then there will be others that will claim it did happen although Mr. Ellis never tells us. And I am sure that there are some (very few I hope) who secretly want to believe that it really happened. There I think is the attraction of the book. It allows the reader to draw his/her own conclusion, and thereby lies the seeds of the controversy that will be sure to continue. Does Mr. Ellis provide clues? Sure he does. But they can be used to support either belief. All in all, "American Psycho" is a very readable book, although maybe disturbing to some readers. I myself found it impossible to put it down and read it in about two half days. It is a very good presentation of a part of society with which I am not familiar, the New York scene. Just for this picture alone, the book is worth reading. Another reason is that, as I said, it is sure to be a controversial and much-discussed work, and I'm sure that any discriminating reader would want to be informed. The best way to do this is to read the book and decide for yourself: Did Bateman really do all that he described?

Rating:
Summary: Sheer depravity. Depressing!
Review: This is one of the few novels that actually moved me. In this case, it moved me in to a state of depression, but it was powerful nonetheless! A tad dry at times with the minute descriptions of food/music/fashion, but otherwise if it doesn't completely repulse you, you'll just have to see what the psycho thinks of next and you won't be able to put it down. No plot or redeming social commentary whatsoever to get in the way of the depravity, by the way. Sick sick sick!

Rating:
Summary: Mr. Goodbar goes to Wall Street
Review: If you seek a reprieve from what could be termed the further "Grishamization" of fiction novels defined as: lining the pockets of lawyers by purchasing books written by lawyers in which lawyers save the day, then a Bret Easton Ellis bibliography should become your literary "Zagat". Hopefully, the perpetrators of these cookie cutter bestsellers/screenplays will not find yet another shortcut down the yellow brick road to unlimited success paved by their publishers by trying to imitate the disturbed style, dark side imagination, and obsessive-compulsive character development as offered in American Psycho. Thankfully, no one after reading this genuine piece of creativity could possibly conjure up the image of Harrison Ford as the GQ, Wall Street, pretend to be spree killer , Patrick Bateman. Like all original masterpieces there is a proportionate amount of the overall work to like in relationship to what detractors will tell you not to like. For example, you may develop a newly founded appreciation for the existence of yuppies when they are personified as intelligent, beautiful, and well dressed with a taste for orgiastic sex, blood splattering mayhem, and fine dining. One might even consider this book to posses an underlying satirical depiction of the Eighties as a social theme if the positive references and benevolent treatment of such legendary talent as Huey Lewis and the News, INXS, Belinda Carlisle, and Christopher Cross are ignored. Surly parody cannot be blended with or contain such truth and accuracy as the following excerpt; "...Genesis is still the best, most exciting band to come out of England in the 1980s." American Psycho can with all of its critical pitfalls still be heeded as exaggerated and erotic art expressing sometimes grim and meaningless reality. Even when placed into the context of present day you will feel compelled to side with the main character and his seemingly esoteric and determined struggle to justify his own significance and that of those he comes in contact with.Once more, with what is successfully passing for entertainment in the nineties, Hollywood may after all wish to consider adapting a second Ellis novel for theatrical release. While their attempt may not convey the author's original intent, at least a talented individual will reap the monetary reward for a change.

Rating:
Summary: An unexpected, unintentional sequel to Catcher in the Rye
Review: Holden all grown up, hiding out under the name of Patrick Bateman. In a text laced with subtle cues, Ellis paints a portrait of late Eighties Manhatten, and a protagonist at once enmeshed and revolted by the trappings of contemporary society. Our upscale protagonist portrays the phonies de jour, hammering down upon us until snapping seems not only natural, but somehow morally defensible. At which point we learn that Bateman has been a murderer for years -- since college. And that he becomes ever more twisted with each day! Reader and narrator become entwined in a symbiotic-nihilistic relationship. Dragged through the oppressive, immediate, present tense, the reader comes to confess to greed, pride, lust, and wrath -- every moral shortfall, with the sole clause and only grounds for personal salvation being that he -- I -- does not, do not, act on such impulses, as does the narator, Mr. Bateman. And then, with one line (page 388 if you must know), the hammer drops, the world inverts upon itself, and a truth far more sinister is revealed. Patrick Bateman believes he is evil. In fact, he is evil, in the most horific, banal way - a way he doesn't even suspect. The man Patrick bates is not the bum on the street, or his mirror associate. It is you.

Rating:
Summary: American Psycho: A Novel Sans Plot
Review: This book was terrible. Ellis' creation was hardly creative; there was no story line, no dialog of note, and no development of characters other than more and more graphic depictions of what the main character had been doing all along. Sure, the book was filled with a lot of words yet very few addressed any thing other than conspicuous consumption (clothing, toys) and violence. The story made no more than a superficial sampling of a serial killer's mind, nor the methods needed to sucessfully engage in such a career. Even the research was lacking. Would a character, so desperate to know every nuance of conspicuous consumption, so desperate to kill those around him (either figuratively or literally), remain so uninformed about the tools of the trade? Where his knives Gerbers? U.S. Military? Japanese folded steel? And what about his guns? A 'TEC nine milimeter Uzi'--isn't that like an Armani-Versace suit? A whole world of one-upmanship unexploited by a man who lives by the idea of keeping-up-with-the-jones! C'mon Ellis, how about a little effort.... If you want to read about serial killers, read about the real things. If you want to read about torture, read the tail end of Fanon's "Wrethced of the Earth," witch hunts, or the inquisitions. As for "American Psycho," avoid it.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: As a disclaimer -- I grew up in NY in the 80s, live there today, and am an investment banker. That notwithstanding, I think that I am capable of giving a fair review of Ellis' best work to date. This work was NOT a condemnation, per se, of 80s-era yuppie consumerism set against a backdrop of vacuous models and druggies. The point is that a Patrick Bateman, cast as a yuppie psychopath, was simply a useful vehicle for an expression of how our whole culture has been comsumed by inaction, or, more to the point, by an absolute INABILITY and UNWILLINGNESS to act. Bateman doesn't really DO any of those things -- the grisly murders, the prostitutes. Bateman only wishes he could be in "Murders and Executions" as he tells one of his models/girlfriends. Allegedly, she misunderstands him and thinks he says "Mergers and Acquisitions." But, of course, that IS what he said. Too many readers of this book have not recognized what an unreliable narrator Bateman is. One cannot believe the reality that he presents, for the simple fact that he is "psycho"; New Yorkers will recognize the paths that he takes on foot and in cabs are NOT POSSIBLE. Bateman will claim the Patty Winters show was about X this morning; two pages later, it was about Y. He is wearing Armani socks; two pages later, Abboud. If you cannot believe him about his cloths, why would you buy a ludicrous story about his killing his ex with an axe, executing his nemesis in his own apartment, etc.? He, like the rest of his friends, is a wimp, who admits to working at Pierce & Pierce because he wants to "fit in." That's just the point: he and his friends walk around like the living dead, each one unaware of what the other one said, going through the motions of having real lives in which they are actors, but in fact they are only REacting and playing the roles they've been cast in. You cannot separate yourself from the last line in the book, "This is Not an Exit," which is clearly a Huis Clos reference. As for his writing style, Ellis weaves multiple perspectives and styles into the novel, and I would compare his mastery of the written word to Faulkner, and I think Ellis compares favorably. The intricacy of American Psycho makes it undoubtedly Ellis' Tour de Force. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: important because of its strangeness
Review: The number of reviews and the variety of their content show that this is a book which strikes the reader between the eyes. Even if this book does spectacularly cross the boundaries of good taste, that is where its importance lies. This is worth reading simply to have a look at life from an angle which hopefully we haven't experienced before

Rating:
Summary: Why?
Review: I have never read such drivel and pretense masquerating as sophistication. The book? No, the reviewers. This is a mirror on the reality of the 1980s? Yes, all young men are one martini away from serial murder, at least if they live in New York and have lots of money. I mean, it's too absurd to really give any credibility to. I saddens me that there are people so hateful. It's good that we live in a free country -- and a capitalist one -- so that you can afford computers to "express" yourselves with. The book is an interesting journey into the mind of a physcho (it's in the title, for chrissakes!), but it is interesting because he is an aberration; a phantom; someone none of us know or will (I hope) ever know (even in New York!)