American Psycho Summary and Reviews

American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis

American Psycho
List Price: $14.45
Our Price: $8.25
You Save: $6.20 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.16 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Bret Easton Ellis
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown)
Published: 2000-04-21
ISBN: 033048477X
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Picador

Book Reviews of American Psycho

Book Review: So grotesque a portrait of life that it must be true
Summary: 5 Stars

The hysterical outrage caused by this novel is, to be fair, understandable. Though the first third of the novel is frustratingly dull, it quickly picks up the pace when a tramp has his eyes gouged out for no reason by the main character and narrator, one Mr Patrick Bateman. 26 years old and possesing more money and tase that Lector in Hannibal, Bateman spends his time eating in overpriced and poncey restaurants, renting horror videos, dating models and brutally murdering people for fun. The novel is supposed to be a satire on the 1980s, and for a while it seems to be so. Nobody remembers anyones name and people are always mistaking each other for someone else; this is New York at it's most anonymous and shallow. Yet Bateman and all his peers are so obsessive in noting the labels of other people's clothes, and Bateman, in one scene, is outraged and sick at the sight of a woman wearing cheap trainers "not even designer, just CHEAP". Bateman is repulsive at the start of the book, but so are his friends and colleagues. Things take a turn when he blinds the old tramp then later stabs and shoots to death a homosexual man after disembowelling the guys dog. Women are brutally tortured in explicit details, a guy has his head hacked to bits with an axe and more police are killed in one shoot-out scene than are killed in all three Robocop films. Despite this violence, Bateman remains an awfully amicable chap. He speaks to the reader in the same way Alex does in Clockwork Orange or Ben the serial killer does in Man Bites Dog. A vicious psychopath he may be, but Bateman is an awfully witty chap. This is, probably not by coincidence, the opinion one formulates for Brett Ellis. His book may be sick and deranged, but the writing is terrific. The conversations flow from the page so easily, description, hyperbole and irony subtle yet have a gestaltic effect in gripping the reader once he/she is only a small way into the book. I can understand why people think this book is sick and should be banned, but it is terribly well written and appallingly readable (if you have a strong stomach). The only drawback is that one gets the impression that Ellis wished to make a point with this book but, after reaching the end, one gets a feeling that if there was a point, you must have missed it a long time ago. Excellent, blood-soaked and probably better than the film (which I haven't seen yet).

Literature & Fiction Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Horribly Enjoyable Books
Divine Filth: Lost Writings by Georges Bataille (Creation Modern Classics) ImageDivine Filth: Lost Writings by Georges Bataille (Creation Modern Classics)
by Georges Bataille
Creation Books (TC); Published: 2004-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $34.46
Maldoror and Poems (Penguin Classics) ImageMaldoror and Poems (Penguin Classics)
by Lautr?amont
Penguin Classics; Published: 1988-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.63
Price in other shops: $15.00
Jim Goad's Gigantic Book of Sex ImageJim Goad's Gigantic Book of Sex
by Jim Goad
Feral House; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.24
Price in other shops: $22.95
Coin Locker Babies ImageCoin Locker Babies
by Ryu Murakami
Kodansha International; Published: 2002-08-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.28
Price in other shops: $18.00
Baise-Moi (Rape Me) ImageBaise-Moi (Rape Me)
by Virginie Despentes
Grove Press; Published: 2003-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.13
Price in other shops: $12.00
Exquisite Corpse ImageExquisite Corpse
by Poppy Z. Brite
Touchstone; Published: 1997-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.40
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Basketball Diaries ImageThe Basketball Diaries
by Jim Carroll
Penguin Books; Published: 1995-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops: $13.00
The 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings ImageThe 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings
by Marquis De Sade
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.24
Price in other shops: $17.95
American Psycho ImageAmerican Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis
Picador; Published: 2000-04-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.73
Price in other shops: $14.45
Less Than Zero ImageLess Than Zero
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 1998-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.66
Price in other shops: $12.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
A Clockwork Orange ImageA Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess
W.W. Norton & Co.; Published: 1986-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.66
Price in other shops: $13.95
Choke ImageChoke
by Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2008-08-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream ImageFear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
by Hunter S. Thompson
Vintage; Published: 1998-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.68
Price in other shops: $13.95
American Psycho ImageAmerican Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 1991-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Informers ImageThe Informers
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 1995-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: $13.95
Glamorama (Vintage Contemporaries) ImageGlamorama (Vintage Contemporaries)
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 2000-03-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops: $15.95
Less Than Zero ImageLess Than Zero
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 1998-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.14
Price in other shops: $12.95
Fight Club: A Novel ImageFight Club: A Novel
by Chuck Palahniuk
W. W. Norton; Published: 2005-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.57
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Rules of Attraction ImageThe Rules of Attraction
by Bret Easton Ellis
Vintage; Published: 1998-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $14.95
American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition) ImageAmerican Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition)
Lions Gate; Release date: 2005-06-21; DVD
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops: $14.98