INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this modern classic, the acclaimed author of The Shards explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other.
"A seminal book.” —The Washington Post
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.
“A masterful satire and a ferocious, hilarious, ambitious, inspiring piece of writing.... An important book.” —Katherine Dunn, bestselling author of Geek Love
American Psycho Book Review
"After reading American Psycho, I would have to give it 4 out of 5 stars. Patrick Bateman, the protagonist, is an extremely fascinating character. Throughout the story, we learn how he is obsessed with status, appearance and brands. It seems as if he invented “looksmaxxing” in the 1990s. The story does a great job of displaying materialism and wealth. We see how Bateman and his acquaintances show no remorse for others and are extremely self-centred. For example, whenever they encounter a homeless person, they are rude and arrogant towards them. Bateman, especially, believes he is better and like a god to them. It is also hilarious to see how seriously these Wall Street businessmen take applying face masks. One thing in particular I did not enjoy about this book was the pacing. The story takes an extremely long time to build up to the climax. The first half of the story is literally only about Patrick Bateman shopping and critiquing his friends' outfits. As the story progresses, as readers, we see how Bateman’s view of reality lessens. I will not spoil anything, but he becomes extremely violent, and it came to a point where it made me question whether it was in his head or not. To conclude my review, it is a great book. Besides the only flaw I mentioned, it really is an amazing book. I would 100% read more books by Bret Easton Ellis. He does an excellent job of highlighting the effects of consumerism and capitalism on one's head. Mr. Ellis drew inspiration from Wall Street figures, which in turn allows us to see how these finance bros act. This is an entertaining and mind-boggling novel that I would recommend to anyone who likes finance and thrillers with a splash of horror. Now this is important: only people over 15 should be reading this book! It has a lot of swearing, and it is graphic."
