American Psycho PDF Free Download

Author John Raptor
My favorite novel of all time
May 1, 2018

The 80s: a time period defined by surface, cut throat capitalism, Reagan economics, Wall Street, cocaine, AIDS, night clubs, awesome pop music, and serial killers. This is the setting of Bret Easton Ellis’s most controversial novel, American Psycho pdf, which when published in 1991, garnered an F review in Entertainment Weekly, put Ellis on the FBI’s watchlist, and infuriated a radical feminist named Tara Baxter.

American Psycho is about the infamous Patrick Bateman–Wall Street yuppie–whose extracurricular activities included clubbing; snorting coke; dining at New York City’s finest restaurants; purchasing overpriced sunglasses, suits, brief cases, bottled water, Walkman headphones; and murdering prostitutes, animals, co-workers, and the homeless.

With graphic and detailed descriptions that include sadomasochism, decapitations, eviscerations, dismemberment, and torture, it is no wonder American Psycho garnered so much controversy. In today’s culture (that has created a genre of film called torture porn), such a novel would probably not get national attention.

But in 1991, before the novel was even published, the controversy was nearly as hostile as the protagonist. Most of American Psycho’s criticism has come from the fact that it depicts scenes that are disgusting, vile, crude, and immoral. What these critics fail to mention is that the novel itself is a looking-glass, reflecting a society that is itself disgusting, vile, crude, and immoral.

What the novel does not do, to any extent, is shy away from truth or sugarcoat the ugliness of a society obsessed with surface and possessions; a society overcome by greed. In the late 70s and in the 80s, America experienced a string of serial killers (Bundy, Gacy, and Manson), that both terrified and fascinated Americans.

Nothing quite captures America’s attention like murder. And this is exactly why Patrick Bateman, the antihero of the novel, is a serial killer set in a time period gripped with greed and fear.

Patrick Bateman is not the only sociopath in the novel. In fact, they populate the streets of New York City, the law firms, the finest restaurants and clubs. They are soulless individuals who do not care about others, only advancing themselves, only possessing, and accumulating more wealth.

They are individuals who use others to their own advantage. In American Psycho, they are Wall Street yuppies, the upper class, the Marxist bourgeoisie–who destroy and use the unfortunate (homeless, prostitutes, children) so they can live in excess.

One reoccurring theme throughout the novel is that Patrick Bateman and his yuppie friends often mistake their co-workers for other co-workers, since there is no distinct individuality, only conformity to an ideal surface. No one really knows who anyone else is; as Patrick Bateman states, “Inside doesn’t matter.”

They are so self-absorbed that they do not take time to notice anyone outside themselves or their possessions, unless a source of ridicule or competition. Patrick Bateman, competing for the Fischer Account (which is never clearly explained, except for the fact that it is the best account), literally axes a co-worker named Paul Owen in the face, in order to get ahead. Talk about cut throat capitalism!

The graphic, deplorable scenes of violence in Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho pdf serve a purpose: to illustrate the inhumanity of a society that puts its value in objects instead of people. Or rather, treats people as objects. The murders and the sex scenes are not the only thing described in pornographic detail. Patrick Bateman is a character sick with obsession; obsession with all the wrong things. In many scenes, Bateman describes, in pornographic detail, his wardrobe, his apartment, brands of bottled water, his music collection, the food at his favorite restaurants. These are the things that consume not only Patrick, but his cohorts. In fact, one could say that a surface obsessed society creates monsters like Bateman. In a society gripped by fear, whose only solace is found in possessing and dominating, there is nowhere to go but down: into madness, psychosis; anything to try and feel, to escape the void. In a chapter entitled “Tries to Cook and Eat Girl,” Ellis underlines the only real thing that can fill the void:

Bateman attempts to turn a dead girl into meat loaf, but then he starts to cry: “The smell of meat and blood clouds up the condo until I don’t notice it anymore. And later my macabre joy sours and I’m weeping for myself, unable to find solace in any of this, crying out, sobbing ‘I just want to be loved’” (Ellis 345). This scene is gross and disturbing, but in some sick, morbid way—you may feel empathy for Patrick. There is only one thing that can fill the hole in Bateman’s consumer-obsessed soul: love. But, living in the society in which he does, love is an illusory concept, just like truth, compassion, and morals. In this society, there is only one truth: nothing matters—except money. In this society, there is no love and there is no escape from one’s emptiness.
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2

TSteinyRN
TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT !!
November 5, 2018

I decided to give this book a chance based on the reviews. This is the 1st and last book I will read from this author. I will not make that mistake again ha ha. Throughout the entire book there were way too many characters introduced that had nothing to do with the book. I never figured out what Patrick actually did for a living or if it was even a “real” job. Probably 30% of the book was describing what people were wearing. The types of fabric and the clothing designer was explained…it got SO old and tiresome. Patrick’s criminal mind didn’t even make sense. If he did do all these deplorable killings over that long of time, the NYPD would have been all over him. The only thing believable is this author has a sick and twisted mind and should not be left alone with females. Save your money, I just summed up the entire book for you!!
8

Candace Williams
Dark, vacuous, repetitive humor
June 11, 2018

This book reminds me of the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld, described as “A Show About Nothing.” Like the characters in Seinfeld, the Wall Street crowd the protagonist runs with are hip, shallow and self-absorbed creatures. Anyone in NYC can ignore the homeless, but why not demonstrate your callous disregard by holding out a crisp bill and pulling it away at the last moment as you walk by in your Armani suit. Oh, I get the dark humor, the social indictment, the vacuous preoccupation with designer labels and the latest trendy restaurant. But unlike Seinfeld, the book’s humor wore thin with repetition and also repetition. Honestly I had a hard time finishing this one
3

Reader2307
A Brilliant Disguise
December 22, 2018

American Psycho pdf is about the very wealthy, good looking and successful Patrick Bateman who has a great job on Wall Street, equally well heeled friends and a ‘hardbody’ of a girlfriend. The only problem is that Patrick is a; soulless, materialistic, narcissistic, racist, homophobic, misogynistic and murderous psychopath. Patrick is the physical embodiment of all that is wrong in the world.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. But it is very boring. It is chock-a-block with passage after passage about what people are wearing, what people are buying, where people went to school, who people know, where they live, who they have slept with and which hot spots they frequent. I understand its purpose is to highlight how superficial the yuppies are but its tedious and gets really old really fast.

I also found it boring because despite very graphic sex scenes and depraved violent acts Bateman does not feel like a real psychopath. He does not scare the reader or unsettle the reader the way reading a true crime novel would or watching a documentary about an actual serial killer would. He feels like the kind of psychopath we see in movies. Over the top, sexy and shallow.

So, why did I give it three stars if its so boring? Ellis is a darkly humorous author who makes lots of biting and acute social commentary which is the scariest part of the novel because in the twenty-seven years since Ellis wrote the book all of the commentary is still completely relevant and accurate. Ellis also does something very brave. He refuses to moralize which he easily could have done considering how appalling some of the behaviour that Patrick and the other characters engage in is. I like books that leave you thinking or even a little confused and American Psycho does both. Once you have finished you can not say for certain if Patrick is an out of control serial killer or if he is still hiding in plain sight and simply imagining all the ways he would act on his violent impulses.
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2

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Top reviews from other countries
NotSherlock
Unreadable – as it should be
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2016

I wonder if there is any other book that I could describe as “unreadable” and still mean it as a compliment. The writing is meticulously crafted to let us watch Patrick Bateman losing himself to his psychopathy. That it is unreadable is only natural.

The soullessly pornographic play-by-play commentary of the sex scenes, and the unflinchingly matter-of-fact descriptions of torture and mutilation; these passages become harder and harder to read, until finally I could only skim them as lightly as possible, and yet they’re so necessary to give you a frank representation of Patrick Bateman’s mind, and his unblinking detachment from these acts.

Even in his more mundane day-to-day dealings, his compulsion to break down the components of outfits, the catalogue-like descriptions of home furnishings and technology, and especially the whole chapters dedicated to his reviews of music artists – these also wear thin over time, but are just as important to show that in which he consistently places value, and on which he relies to maintain his mask of human sanity.

Although Patrick makes for a difficult narrator, Ellis’ skilful writing comes into play outside of this narrative too, in giving a fuller sense of the world he moves in: the repetitive, shallow conversation topics; the interchangeability of Bateman and his peers; how he can give blunt warnings and even admissions of guilt without ever being heard. It’s these touches, as well as Bateman’s increasingly frantic and futile attempts to retain control of himself, that make this book compelling in spite of Patrick’s narrative.
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5

A.J. Sefton
Disturbing, anti-materialistic tale
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2020

American Psycho pdf is the modern equivalent of The Great Gatsby, where money is king and shallow appearances are the only thing that matter. Where Gatsby focuses on the American Jazz era, Psycho is the Yuppie (Young, Upwardly-mobile Professional) decade of the 1980s, set in Wall Street, New York, at the time of the great economic boom.

The first half of the book demonstrates, in great tedious detail, the superficial lifestyle of the wealthy. Every character in every scene is described by their designer clothes, from their sunglasses to their underwear and socks; grooming and television rituals; where and what they eat in expensive trendy restaurants and hotels; their crass and vacuous conversations about other rich people and how to match handkerchiefs and socks.