American Psycho

The story is told in the first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investment banker who lives a double life as a serial killer.Alison Kelly of The Observer notes that while "some countries [deem it] so potentially disturbing that it can only be sold shrink-wrapped", "critics rave about it" and "academics revel in its transgressive and postmodern qualities"."[7] Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy, young investment banker named Patrick Bateman.His murders become increasingly sadistic and complex, progressing from simple stabbings to drawn-out sequences of rape, torture, mutilation, cannibalism, and necrophilia, and his grasp on sanity begins to slip.These incidents culminate in a shooting spree during which he kills several random people in the street, resulting in a SWAT team being dispatched in a helicopter.This narrative episode sees the first-person perspective shift to third-person and the subsequent events are, although not for the first time in the novel, described in terms pertaining to cinematic portrayal.Later, Bateman revisits Paul Owen's apartment, where he had earlier killed and mutilated two prostitutes, carrying a surgical mask in anticipation of the decomposing bodies he expects to encounter.The real estate agent, who sees his surgical mask, fools him into stating he was attending the apartment viewing because he "saw an ad in the Times" when, in fact, there was no such advertisement.Bateman's mental state continues to deteriorate and he begins to experience bizarre hallucinations such as seeing a Cheerio interviewed on a talk show, being stalked by an anthropomorphic park bench, and finding a bone in his Dove Bar.In the dialogue-laden climax, Carnes stands up to a defiant Bateman and tells him his claim of having murdered Owen is impossible, because he had dinner with him twice in London just a few days previously.[12] Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also shows clear signs on how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world, fashioned on consumerism.[14] On the one hand is a rich Wall Street banker, Bateman, concerned and very self-conscious about every detail of his physical appearance, expensive possessions, and control of the people and the world around him.On the other hand, is the inner self of Patrick Bateman, the aboriginal-self, who copes and relinquishes his outer complications and "fake" identity, created by consumerism, through violence on other human beings, who he finds consumable, and expresses absolute control of his desires and true self through his violent fantasies.Serpell brings to light the patterns and trends Ellis expresses through Bateman, the consequences of how "serialized consumer exchanges in an economy where commodities and bodies become interchangeable and indistinguishable",[15] could affect society, and the way affluent people view others whether they are higher, lower, or the same in wealth or social status.[16] Bateman's character and traits, according to Heise, challenge what readers understand as the social norms for the way the elite upper class think and react to society on a normal basis.He continues:[17] The novel subtly and relentlessly undercuts its own authority, and because Bateman, unlike, say, Nabokov's unreliable narrators, does not hint at a "truth" beyond his own delusions, American Psycho becomes a wonderfully unstable account.The most persuasive details are combined with unlikely incidents until we're not only unsure what's real, we begin to doubt the existence of reality itself.It has often been noted that Patrick Bateman is an example of an unreliable narrator, and this feature of American Psycho has been the subject of discussion in several academic works.[37] During the Duke lacrosse case, a team member named Ryan McFayden sent a profane email to several of his teammates alleging he was going to kill and skin some strippers.[43] Upon its theatrical release, however, the film received positive reviews in crucial publications, including The New York Times which called it a "mean and lean horror comedy classic".
American Psycho (film)American Psycho (disambiguation)Bret Easton EllisMarshall ArismanTransgressive fictionpostmodern novelsatireblack comedyhorrorVintageDewey DecimalLC Classsatirical horror novelfirst-personPatrick BatemanManhattanserial killerThe Observertransgressivepostmodernfilm adaptationChristian Balemusical adaptationBroadwaymusicalAlmeida TheatreyuppieconsumeristHigh conceptEmmanuel OlunkwamultiplexAmerican AnthemPsycho IIIWall Streetinvestment bankerNew Yorkpresent tensestream-of-consciousnessetiquettepop musicunreliable narratorpersonal appearancemutilationcannibalismnecrophiliaCheerioanthropomorphicDove BarLondoninauguration of George H. W. BushRonald Reaganall capscapitalismcommodityconsumerismFredric JamesonSerpellHenry BeanNabokovWTF with Marc MaronThe InformershomosexualJay McInerneyStory of My LifeRielle HunterGlamoramaThe Rules of AttractionTom CruiseDonald TrumpSimon & SchusterVintage BooksCentipede PressThe New York TimesRoger RosenblattDorian GrayLos Angeles TimesQueenslandBrisbaneOffice of Film & Literature Classificationshrink wrappedGloria SteinemLunar ParkPhil CollinsStrathfield massacrePaul BernardoToronto SunKarla HomolkaDuke lacrosse caseGuinevere TurnerMary HarronLions Gate FilmsColumbia PicturesWillem DafoeReese WitherspoonSundance Film FestivalFight ClubMotion Picture Association of AmericathreesomeR-ratingdirect-to-videoAmerican Psycho 2Morgan J. FreemanAudible.comPablo SchreiberAttila Hazaimusical stage adaptationDuncan SheikMatt SmithBenjamin WalkerWaitressShuffle AlongHamiltonRiverdaleLionsgate TelevisionSumerian ComicsLuca GuadagninoAestheticization of violenceModern Fiction StudiesJohns Hopkins University PressThe Los Angeles TimesNew York MagazineRosenblatt, RogerEntertainment WeeklyHarron, MaryThe Toronto SunToronto StarThe GuardianHolden, StephenCreative LoafingRotten Tomatoescomplete reviewTVLineDeadline HollywoodThe Hollywood ReporterOpen LibraryInternet ArchiveLess than ZeroImperial BedroomsThe ShardsAmerican PsychoGlitteratiThe CanyonsThe Curse of Downers GroveSmiley Face KillersHip to Be SquareAmerican Psycho (soundtrack)