American Psycho

Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and works on Wall Street; he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream - and its worst nightmare - "American Psycho" is a bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront. "Serious, clever and shatteringly effective." - "Sunday Times." ""American Psycho" is a beautifully controlled, careful, important novel...The novelist's function is to keep a running tag on the progress of the culture; and he's done it brilliantly...A seminal book." - Fay Weldon, "Washington Post." "For its savagely coherent picture of a society lethally addicted to blandness, it should be judged by the highest standards." - John Walsh, "Sunday Times." "That the book's contents are shocking is downright undeniable, but just as Bonfire of the Vanities exposed the corruption and greed engendered in eighties politics and high living, "American Psycho" examines the mindless preoccupations of the nineties preppy generation." - "Time Out." - Amazon

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Average: 4.6 (29 votes)

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Thu, 06/11/2009 - 22:06
#1
clerval4
Joined: 06/11/2009
User offline. Last seen 3 years 48 weeks ago.

I read that one the first time I was in New York. I was in a sad looking but very expensive room close to the Madison Square Garden. Being a shy (stupid) and ignorant canadian from the suburb, I bought books to spend the night while I was working on a project over there. I was not particularly afraid (altough my brother told me, before I left, about a guy he knew who told him about a friend who woke up in a NY alley with one kidney removed - Urban legend, anyone) but I was very depressive at the time so I bought a few books (American Psycho, Last exit to Brooklyn and a poem book from Bukowski) to cheer me up.
I never read anything by Easton Ellis but I admit that I found it very refreshing and so on target. There are some parts like the Huey Lewis and the news comments and the business cards debate that underline so well this "inhuman" view of life from the main protagonist that you are ready to argue with him as if he was real. A bit like a Jerry Springer thing when it get so ludicrous that you start talking back to the TV.
a 4 stars book for me.

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Fri, 06/12/2009 - 00:27
#2
JKabol
yeah, we talked
JKabol's picture
From: le rock
Joined: 12/03/2003
User offline. Last seen 5 weeks 6 days ago.

fantastic book, an excruciating read. i felt that novel. all one hundred and sixty thousand words.

clerva, look for kiss me, judas by will christopher baer
talk about exploring an urban legend.. and the writing is infective-

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Fri, 06/12/2009 - 20:13
#3
rkdaley
rkdaley's picture
From: Austin, Texas
Joined: 09/25/2004
User offline. Last seen 21 weeks 1 day ago.

This book is next on my list. I saw that the movie was on the tv last night and was like "oh i should watch that!" Then the writer inside of me, a little fella I swallowed at a young age when we do silly things like that, said "read the book asshole".

Jkabol, email me at rkdaley@gmail.com so I have your correct info. I'd love to ketchup.

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Sat, 06/13/2009 - 03:39
#4
JKabol
yeah, we talked
JKabol's picture
From: le rock
Joined: 12/03/2003
User offline. Last seen 5 weeks 6 days ago.

oh, man. dailey. ive miss you, brother. i saw you in the shoutbox and even nudged jen to view it. i'm glad to see youre about-

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Mon, 07/06/2009 - 00:28
#5
bryanandrus
Joined: 05/18/2009
User offline. Last seen 3 years 46 weeks ago.
Dennis wrote:
Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and works on Wall Street; he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to a head-on collision with America's greatest dream - and its worst nightmare - "American Psycho" is a bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognize but do not wish to confront. "Serious, clever and shatteringly effective." - "Sunday Times." ""American Psycho" is a beautifully controlled, careful, important novel...The novelist's function is to keep a running tag on the progress of the culture; and he's done it brilliantly...A seminal book." - Fay Weldon, "Washington Post." "For its savagely coherent picture of a society lethally addicted to blandness, it should be judged by the highest standards." - John Walsh, "Sunday Times." "That the book's contents are shocking is downright undeniable, but just as Bonfire of the Vanities exposed the corruption and greed engendered in eighties politics and high living, "American Psycho" examines the mindless preoccupations of the nineties preppy generation." - "Time Out." - Amazon
i have only read two of the author's novels. American Phsyco was the one of the better books i've read in quite some time. I have to say I'm usually a slower reader but in this case, it was a very fast read for me. At many points of the story i felt like it was written by a murderous phsycopath.
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Fri, 04/23/2010 - 00:12
#6
theAbsurd_student
S. C. Nierenberg
theAbsurd_student's picture
From: Unknown in the U.S.
Joined: 04/22/2010
User offline. Last seen 2 years 46 weeks ago.

i saw your comment about will christopher baer. i was curious so i decided to look him up.

i've got to admit...i'm damn well intrigued.

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Wed, 01/11/2012 - 05:10
#7
princesspear
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Joined: 01/03/2012
User offline. Last seen 1 year 15 weeks ago.

I should have expected this book to be on the Chuck Palahniuk Book Club! Tongue crazy book!

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