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Word count: 3578. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The Descent of "Man"
A hugely important book about the nature of american society.Living in a world where everyone is young and rich and ambitious, where everyone is wearing, saying, and doing the same things - Literally - Patrick's monstorous actions are the only "true" experiences he is able to have.His monolouge at the beginning of the book makes clear that the society he lives in is full of paradoxes and mixed messages.He himself inhabits an insular, homogenous world where any new influence that might shake things up and even make them fun is put down almost violetly by the dismissal and distain of his tiny, interchangeable circle of acquaintances.His pathetic, unmaginative speaches about Whitney Houston et al read like a deadpan plea for help, a plea for anything.His atrocious crimes against women seem like a desperate attempt to get to something real - I cried when I read this book.

1980's Manhattan makes for a sexy setting, but this story could really be set anyplace where cash is flowing like there's no tomorrow, every convenience is easily at hand, and the pressure to conform brings with it so many things that all seem, at first, like so much pleasure.

One of my very favorites.

...No.Calmer, Bateman.I think I 'm smiling.
After reading this novel, I find myself wondering how much of the story could actually be a reality.And after pondering a while, I find that it's all too real.Patrick Bateman, the main character, is the man of nightmares; the kind that our society is unwilling to accept as one of us.Mr. Bateman is not only rich, sophisticated, well known, charming, and handsome, but he is also a psychopath.His character reflects upon the inner mind of a crazy serial killer.However this mind is trapped in a well-respected man's body.Put them together and you have the most terrifying person in today's world.The black comedy in the novel underlies our perception of the world.What Mr. Ellis (the author) has laid before us to grasp is our world, our society, which has made Mr. Bateman what he is.In a sense I feel sorry for the man.Through his every detail you can sense that he is loosing himself even more in our superficial society.Nonetheless, his resort to violence and torture leaves me at times with horror and disbelief.The book is beautifully written in such a way that we become Mr. Bateman himself instead of looking at him through a third person's eyes.What he has to tell you will change your outlook on life.I highly recommend this book to mature adults that can appreciate what Mr. Ellis has written as a piece of fiction that is all to close too reality.

wonder how "her head would look like on a stick."
American Psycho is the best black humor book i have ever read. Of course, if i failed to mention about the gory details, the right atmosphere is not set while the reader is reading this book. The sudden shifts of paradigm from an average successful businessman to a psychotic killer is eerie and gut-wrenching. This book has no plot to it. But, that in itself should not be the basis for judging it's entertainment factor! This book is a "beautiful" satire criticizing the whole yuppie lifestyle in New York's Manhatten during the "Manhatten Era" in the 80's. Its about a guy - Patrick Bateman who knows he is good-looking and is 'well-tanned' living in New York. He thinks that all the girls like him because he's got the looks, green bucks, and the styles. But, the quirky part is, he's into serial killers and he quotes one of them while he was talking ot his friends about the usual stuff - 'women.' He 'jokes' about one serial killer, wisonsin in the fifties - Ed Gein, "He said, 'when i see a pretty girl walking down the street I think two things. One part of me wants to take her out and talk to her and be real nice and sweet and treat her right...the other part wonders what her head would look like on a stick." According to the blurb, it's all a part of his "American Dream" which is unrevealed as yet which is for me to know and for u to find out~!!

wonder how "...her head would look like on a stick."
American Psycho is the best black humor book i have ever read. Of course, if i failed to mention about the gory details, the right atmosphere is not set while the reader is reading this book. The sudden shifts of paradigm from an average successful businessman to a psychotic killer is eerie and gut-wrenching. This book has no plot to it. But, that in itself should not be the basis for judging it's entertainment factor! This book is a "beautiful" satire criticizing the whole yuppie lifestyle in New York's Manhatten during the "Manhatten Era" in the 80's.Its about Patrick Bateman who knows he is good-looking and is 'well-tanned' living in New York. He thinks that all the girls like him because he's got the looks, green bucks, and the styles. But, the quirky part is, he's into serial killers and he quotes one of them while he was talking ot his friends on the usual topic - 'women.' He 'jokes' about one serial killer, Wisconsin in the fifties - Ed Gein, "He said, 'when i see a pretty girl walking down the street I think two things. One part of me wants to take her out and talk to her and be real nice and sweet and treat her right...the other part wonders what her head would look like on a stick." According to the blurb, this is all a part of his "American Dream" which is for me to know and for you to find out~!

Seen the film?- forget it right now and read the book!
The start of the book is very very slow - i almost stopped reading it in-fact but decided to carry on reading... and i'm SO glad i did! This book is madness. It is one of the best books that i have ever had the pleasure of reading and allows you to get so deeply involved with Patrick Bateman (The main chararacter) that i almost felt sorry for him. Most scenes are quick and filled with adrenaline, but allow the situation to show its true colours with the deep descriptions of what is happening. Nearly all in first person perspective, it allows you to know Patric inside out - and i liked the way that the third person perpective came into action when Patric was being chased by the police - almost telling us that Patrick's soul was coming out of his body and analyzing the very dangerous and scary scenario he was in.This book is discusting and very very sexual to say the least, yet still has that mysterious twist of humour throughout. I would rate it 18 if books had age limits on them yet its a great read for anyone who thinks that reading is boring (or has just got into reading/not read a book for a while)so i urge you to get it! If you've seen 'American psycho' the film - you'll wish you hadn't when you've read the book - unfortunately the film is a let down of the book and could put you off reading the story. I read the book before i saw the film so i could see what a discrase the film was copared to the book itself. Thanks for reading my thoughts on this fabulous classic, happy reading and don't have nightmares! ... Read more

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This tutorial on the use of the Macintosh computer and its new System 7 operating system is one of ten tutorials in the "First Look" series. Designed to be used in a short course, the book contains the most needed concepts and commands in an easy to follow tutorial format. Self-testing materials and command summaries are included in each chapter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What Was This?
Patrick Bateman is a wealthy New Yorker with a penchant for sex and killing people. The characters were very annoying. There were chapters on the music of Genesis, Whitney Houston, and Huey Lewis and the News, and I don't know what they had to do with the story. There wasn't a conclusive ending. What the hell was this? (B) ... Read more

Product Description
Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980sManhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns hisfortune on Wall Street by day while spending his nights in ways wecannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture andmurder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society couldbear to confront.

Blurb in Spanish: Mucho se ha hablado de American Psycho. Y lo ciertoes que había razón para tanta polémica, pues esta novela de BretEaston Ellis constituye una de las críticas más feroces que unescritor norteamericano ha hecho a su propio país: una sociedadautocomplaciente y orgullosa de si misma. Para su denuncia, el autorha escogido un camino arriesgado: Patrick Bateman, el protagonista, noes un rebelde ni un paria; Patrick es un joven de éxito que, sinembargo, también es capaz de violar, torturar y asesinar. Como dijoFay Weldom, American Psycho es de alguna forma el oscuro complementode La hoguera de las vanidades, por cuanto descubre aquellos puntosnegros de la vida de los supuestos triunfadores que la novela de TomWolfe quiso obviar. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Enter the mind of Patrick Bateman...
I love this book. It's hilarious, and Patrick Bateman may be the most fascinating character I've ever read about. Ellis's writing is flawless, biting and witty except on the rare occasions when he chooses to be somber (and the book is actually pretty sad when he does). There's a lot of intense violence in this book; but because you read about it in such a blunt, matter-of-fact way, you don't feel it at all, and it actually amuses, rather than appals, you. The people Patrick kills (or rapes, or tortures) don't seem real, and it's as if Patrick (and, by extension, the reader) is God, and those people are merely insignificant, lesser beings who serve no purpose other than to be killed (or raped, or tortured). In short, we enter the mind of a serial killer. And no one can deny that it's an interesting place to be.

Oh yeah, and it's really entertaining to watch as Patrick spins further and further out of control, and no one notices. Probably the best social commentary/satire I've ever read =) ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 824 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and textual cross-references to related essays. ... Read more

Product Description
In American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis imaginatively explores the incomprehensible depths of madness and captures the insanity of violence in our time or any other. 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.
... Read more