American Psycho

American Psycho book cover
Brent Easten Ellis
Star Rating
★★★★★
Reviewer's Rating
Oct 2, 2023

I give American Psycho 5 stars. It deals with many adult themes not suitable for children under 14. The book tells the story of a rich investment banker on Wall Street (in New York) named Patrick Bateman. What makes this book so interesting is the way the narrator describes things. Judging from the way he acts the reader can infer that he isn't a reliable narrator. Patrick is a serial killer at night and hides his crimes from everyone. Throughout the story, many inconsistencies make the reader pause and think for themselves what's happening. Over time, the reader can sense Patrick slowly falling into insanity. Many chapters themselves showcase Patrick's odd and eccentric personality, the chapters upon chapters talking plainly of his skincare routine, or his opinion of his favorite bands. Patrick also goes into extreme depth in describing what other people are wearing, down to the brand, showing his extreme materialistic tendencies, only fueled by his environment. This poses the question: Was Patrick's environment helping or hurting his tendencies? Patrick and the people around him are all so self-absorbed to the point that they regularly mistake each other's identity. Patrick wants to desperately fit in, although he can't hide his bloodlust. The fact that Patrick knows he's a bad person and still does what he does shows the true nature of his character and how complex it truly is. Patrick regularly does hard drugs and cheats on his fiancé, not feeling an ounce of remorse, he gathers joy from torturing his victims, (which the book goes into extreme detail).  Although the book goes into extreme detail with the gore and language among other things, it helps paint a more realistic picture of the environment and mental state of Patrick Bateman.

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Sara

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