From the back of the book:Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to head-on collision with American's greatest dream-and it's worst nightmare- American Psycho is bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognise but do not wish to confront.
My Review:
Wall Street;a place renowned for big money, expensive suites, and ambitious young professionals looking to build a profession through hard work and dedication. In AMERICAN PSYCHO, author Bret Eastern Ellis taps into this high speed lifestyle while adding an element of violence that's as unpredictable as it is stomach churning.
The escalation of brutal events that, whilst difficult at
times to read, was strangely addictive – more so for the sheer cliff jump in
Patrick Bateman’s personality and spike in his macabre habits than the shock
value of the indent acts.
Despite taking 100 or so pages to really get into the detail
of Bateman’s underlying psychotic tendencies, I found reading AMERICAN PSYCHO
to be wholly entertaining. Bateman’s obsession with self-image is built in the
first third of the novel along with the early signs that something about this
Wall Street yuppie isn’t quite right. From there the madness transcends in
vivid detail.
What really struck me about AMERICAN PSYCHO was the open
ended conclusion and underlying theme of horror and to a certain extent the
acceptance of this monster Bateman had evolved into. His co-workers and lovers
alike all accept Bateman has a darkness lurking just below the surface yet no
one really cares, even when Bateman freely confesses his crimes. The dynamic
Bateman’s inner circle and their own self minded preservation plays out nicely
alongside Bateman’s disturbed and distorted view of reality.AMERICAN PSYCHO really is one of those books everyone should read at least once. Many have tried to emulate it, yet nothing compares to this macabre masterpiece.
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