View source for American Psycho


{{about|the 1991 novel|the film adaptation|American Psycho (film){{!}}''American Psycho'' (film)|other uses|American Psycho (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox book
| author            = [[Bret Easton Ellis]]
| image             = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis first US paperback edition 1991.jpg
| caption           = Cover of the first American paperback edition, with model Nigel Paul Redding as [[Patrick Bateman]]
| cover_artist      = [[Marshall Arisman]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marshallarisman.com/illustration/pages/1americanpsycho.htm |title=Marshall Arisman illustrations |publisher=Marshallarisman.com |access-date=February 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330182904/http://www.marshallarisman.com/illustration/pages/1americanpsycho.htm |archive-date=March 30, 2012}}</ref>
| language          = English
| genre             = {{hlist|[[Transgressive fiction]]|[[Postmodern literature|postmodern novel]]|[[black comedy]]|[[satire]]|[[horror fiction|horror]]<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/06/books/bret-easton-ellis-answers-critics-of-american-psycho.html | work=The New York Times | first=Roger | last=Cohen | title=Bret Easton Ellis Answers Critics of 'American Psycho' | date=March 6, 1991 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20241030165120/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/06/books/bret-easton-ellis-answers-critics-of-american-psycho.html | archive-date=October 30, 2024}}</ref>}}
| publisher         = [[Vintage Books|Vintage]]
| release_date      = March 6, 1991
| pages             = 399
| isbn              = 978-0-679-73577-9
| dewey             = 813/.54 20
| congress          = PS3555.L5937 A8 1991
| oclc              = 22308330
}}

'''''American Psycho''''' is a [[horror novel]] by American writer [[Bret Easton Ellis]], published in 1991. The story is told in the [[First-person narrative|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 fiction|transgressive]] and [[postmodern literature|postmodern]] qualities".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jun/27/imperial-bedrooms-bret-easton-ellis-book-review |title=Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis |work=The Guardian |last=Kelly |first=Alison |date=June 27, 2010|access-date=July 28, 2010 |location=London| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100630110116/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/27/imperial-bedrooms-bret-easton-ellis-book-review| archive-date= June 30, 2010| url-status= live}}</ref>

[[American Psycho (film)|A film adaptation]] starring [[Christian Bale]] as Patrick Bateman was released in 2000 to generally positive reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/americanpsycho?q=american%20psycho |title=Metacritic reviews for American Psycho |publisher=Metacritic.com |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-date=December 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032630/http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/americanpsycho?q=american%20psycho |url-status=dead }}</ref> Producers David Johnson and Jesse Singer developed a [[American Psycho (musical)|musical adaptation]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/theater/american-psycho-as-a-musical.html | work=The New York Times | first=Adam W. | last=Kepler | title='American Psycho' as a Musical | date=April 22, 2012}}</ref>. The [[American Psycho (musical)|musical]] premiered at the [[Almeida Theatre]], London in December 2013 before then transferring to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. In 2023 a five-issue graphic novel<ref>{{Cite web |last=Squires |first=John |title=American Psycho Comic Book Brings Patrick Bateman Back to Life |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3770014/american-psycho-comic-book-adaptation-will-expand-upon-the-2000-movie-starring-christian-bale/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230721121351/https://bloody-disgusting.com/comics/3770014/american-psycho-comic-book-adaptation-will-expand-upon-the-2000-movie-starring-christian-bale/ |archive-date=2023-07-21 |access-date=2026-02-08 |website=bloody-disgusting.com |language=en-US}}</ref> version of the book was released, but it strays heavily from the story of the book. 

The book has garnered notoriety for its graphic violence and has led to it being censored in multiple countries.

==Development==
{{blockquote|Bateman was crazy the same way I was. He did not come out of me sitting down and wanting to write a grand sweeping indictment of [[yuppie]] culture. It initiated because of my own isolation and alienation at a point in my life. I was living like Patrick Bateman. I was slipping into a [[consumerism|consumerist]] kind of void that was supposed to give me confidence and make me feel good about myself but just made me feel worse and worse and worse about myself. That is where the tension of ''American Psycho'' came from. It wasn't that I was going to make up this serial killer on Wall Street. [[High concept]]. Fantastic. It came from a much more personal place, and that's something that I've only been admitting in the last year or so. I was so on the defensive because of the reaction to that book that I wasn't able to talk about it on that level.<ref name=oregonlive>{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2010/07/qa_bret_easton_ellis_talks_abo.html|title=Q&A: Bret Easton Ellis talks about writing novels, making movies|last=Baker|first=Jeff|work=[[OregonLive.com]]|access-date=2010-07-09|date=July 2010}}</ref> |Bret Easton Ellis}}

=== Title ===
In an interview with ''November Magazine''<nowiki/>'s [[Emmanuel Olunkwa]], Ellis notes that, while on a visit to a [[Multiplex (movie theater)|multiplex]] during the mid-1980s, the theater's marquee simply read out "American Psycho"; this was because titles of ''[[American Anthem]]'' and ''[[Psycho III]]'' would not properly fit on it. Ellis remarks, "When I saw that, I said, 'Boom!' That’s the title of what I'm working on now."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olunkwa |first=Emmanuel |title=November: Bret Easton Ellis |url=https://www.novembermag.com/content/bret-easton-ellis/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=November Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

==Plot==
Set in [[Manhattan]] during the [[Wall Street]] boom in 1989, ''American Psycho'' follows the life of a wealthy, young [[investment banker]] named Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, narrates his everyday activities, from his recreational life among the Wall Street elite of [[New York City|New York]] to his forays into murder by night. Through [[present tense]] [[Stream of consciousness writing|stream-of-consciousness]] narrative, Bateman describes his daily life, ranging from a series of Friday nights spent at nightclubs with his colleagues—where they snort cocaine, critique fellow club-goers' clothing, trade fashion advice, and question one another on proper [[etiquette]]—to his loveless engagement to fellow yuppie Evelyn and his contentious relationship with his brother and senile mother. Bateman's stream of consciousness is occasionally broken up by chapters in which he directly addresses the reader in order to critique the work of 1980s [[pop music]] artists. The novel maintains a high level of ambiguity through mistaken identity and contradictions that introduce the possibility that Bateman is an [[unreliable narrator]]. Characters are consistently introduced as people other than themselves, and people argue over the identities of others they can see in restaurants or at parties. Deeply concerned with his [[vanity|personal appearance]], Bateman gives extensive descriptions of his daily aesthetics regimen.

After killing Paul <!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ALLEN; ALLEN IS MOVIE NAME, OWEN IS BOOK NAME! -->Owen, one of his colleagues, Bateman appropriates Paul's apartment as a place to host and kill more victims. Bateman's control over his violent urges deteriorates. His murders become increasingly sadistic and complex, progressing from simple stabbings to drawn-out sequences of [[rape]], torture, [[mutilation]], [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]], and [[necrophilia]], and his grasp on sanity begins to slip. He introduces stories about serial killers into casual conversations and on several occasions openly confesses his murderous activities to his coworkers, who never take him seriously, do not hear what he says, or misunderstand him completely—for example, hearing the words "murders and executions" as "mergers and acquisitions". 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. Bateman flees on foot and hides in his office, where he phones his attorney, Harold Carnes, and confesses all his crimes to an answering machine.

Later, Bateman revisits  Paul <!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ALLEN; ALLEN IS MOVIE NAME, OWEN IS BOOK NAME! -->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. He enters the perfectly clean, refurbished apartment, however, filled with strong-smelling flowers meant, perhaps, to conceal a bad odor. 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 ''[[The New York Times|Times]]''" when, in fact, there was no such advertisement. She tells him to leave and never return. It is implied that the apartment was cleaned up by the building owners and the murder or murders covered up in order to ensure the highly valuable property does not diminish in price.

Bateman's mental state continues to deteriorate and he begins to experience bizarre hallucinations such as seeing a [[Cheerios|Cheerio]] interviewed on a talk show, being stalked by an [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] park bench, and finding a bone in his [[Dove Bar]]. At the end of the story, Bateman confronts Carnes about the message he left on his machine, only to find the attorney amused at what he considers a hilarious joke. Mistaking Bateman for another colleague, Carnes claims that the Patrick Bateman he knows is too much of a coward to have committed such acts. 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.

The book ends as it began, with Bateman and his colleagues at a new club on a Friday night, engaging in banal conversation. All the men in the bar agree that economic success does equal happiness before reruns of the [[inauguration of George H. W. Bush]] and a [[Ronald Reagan]] speech appear on the bar's TV.

The book closes with a description of a sign in the bar — with the text appearing in [[all caps]] and in a different font from all the rest of the novel's text — that reads "THIS IS NOT AN EXIT."

==Themes==
According to literary critic Jeffrey W. Hunter, ''American Psycho ''is largely a critique of the "shallow and vicious aspects of [[capitalism]]."<ref>''Contemporary Literary Criticism''. Jeffrey W. Hunter (ed.). ''Vol. 229''. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007, pp. 228–294. From ''Literature Criticism Online.''</ref> The characters are predominantly concerned with material gain and superficial appearances, traits indicative of a [[postmodernism|postmodern]] world in which the "surface" reigns supreme. This leads Patrick Bateman to act as if "everything is a [[commodity]], including people",<ref>''Contemporary Literary Criticism''.</ref> an attitude that is further evident in the rampant brutalization of people that occurs in the novel. This distancing allows Bateman to rationalize his actions;<ref>{{cite journal|first=Leigh|last=Brock|title=Distancing in Bret Easton Ellis' ''American Psycho''|journal=Notes on Contemporary Literature|publisher=West Georgia College|location=Carrollton, Georgia|volume=24|issue=1|date=January 1994|pages=6–8}}</ref> in one scene in which he cannibalizes a victim, Bateman remarks "though it does sporadically penetrate how unacceptable some of what I'm doing actually is, I just remind myself that this thing, this girl, this meat, is nothing{{spaces}}..."<ref>Ellis, Bret Easton. ''American Psycho''. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Page 345</ref>

Patrick Bateman's consumption of what he views as nothing more than a piece of meat is an almost parodically literal interpretation of a monster created by consumer culture. This, combined with sex, violence, drugs, and other desires of the [[Id, ego and super-ego#Id|id]], is how Bateman enacts his sociopathic violence in a superficial world.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ruth|last=Heyler|title=Parodied to Death: The Postmodern Gothic of ''American Psycho''|url=https://faculty.fiu.edu/~harveyb/46.3helyer.pdf|journal=[[Modern Fiction Studies]]|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|location=Baltimore, Maryland|volume=46|issue=3|date=Fall 2000|pages=725–746|doi=10.1353/mfs.2000.0052|s2cid=161130128}}</ref>

Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also show clear signs of how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world fashioned on [[consumerism]]. As described by the critic Jennifer Krause in her intertextual analysis of the novel, which relies on the work of postmodern theorist [[Fredric Jameson]], Jameson "blames the schizophrenic's ills on the incoherence of postmodern media and capitalistic consumption".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Polan|first1=Dana|last2=Foster|first2=Hal|date=1984|title=The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture|journal=New German Critique|issue=33|pages=264–269|doi=10.2307/488367|issn=0094-033X|jstor=488367|url=http://www.gbv.de/dms/bowker/toc/9780941920018.pdf}}</ref>

Jameson's critique is expanded by Krause, who writes: "We can see a distinctly popular culture schizophrenia arise, a disease spread by the postmodern culture industry, which ruptures personality and isolates the fractured self. Though Jameson does not specifically reference two different types of schizophrenia in his writings, he implies an artistic schizophrenia versus a more popular form—one more or less accepted, and the other anathema. This raises questions about how popular culture might act as a potential cure for madness".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Krause|first=Jennifer|date=February 16, 2016|title=The Killing Cure: Popular Culture and Postmodern Madness inOnde andará Dulce Veiga?andAmerican Psycho|journal=Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction|volume=57|issue=2|pages=166–177|doi=10.1080/00111619.2015.1019409|s2cid=147597210|issn=0011-1619}}</ref> 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, whom he finds consumable, and expresses absolute control of his desires and true self through his violent fantasies. His consumer, artificial self, proceeding in society as a wealthy consumer would live and spend his income, versus his natural self, who, instead of spending money, would hunt and prey on the weak and vulnerable, usually women (which we observe in the repetitive use of the word "girls"), whom he deems expendable. Bateman treats the people around him just like any other consumer product because of the void he still battles with and wishes to fulfill from within, hence, having dual personas, having the dull artificial identity, compared to his free limitless persona of his mind.

Observing another side of potential behavior coming from the affluent American society of consumerism is explained through C. Serpell: "Though serialized violence in ''American Psycho'' is an extension of the deadening effects of serialized consumer exchanges in an economy where commodities and bodies become interchangeable and indistinguishable, this point largely escaped the notice of the novel's harshest critics".<ref name="Serpell 47–73">{{Cite journal|last=Serpell|first=C. Namwali|date=January 2010|title=Repetition and the Ethics of Suspended Reading inAmerican Psycho|journal=Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction|volume=51|issue=1|pages=47–73|doi=10.1080/00111610903249864|s2cid=143613558|issn=0011-1619}}</ref> Despite critics arguing over the aesthetic properties of the novel from rapid patterns and transitions of self-consciousness and murder, [[Christopher Serpell]] claims critics have overlooked the key themes and motives of the novel. 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",<ref name="Serpell 47–73"/> could affect society, and the way affluent people view others, whether they are higher, lower, or the same in wealth or social status. The critic Thomas Heise states that "the uncertainty about the reality of Patrick's violence has become the chief critical debate on ''American Psycho'', and it serves as a convenient introduction to the entanglement of epistemology and ethics in the novel".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heise|first=Thomas|date=2011|title=''American Psycho'': Neoliberal Fantasies and the Death of Downtown|journal=Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory|volume=67|issue=1|pages=135–160|doi=10.1353/arq.2011.0001|s2cid=143076157|issn=1558-9595}}</ref> 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. Bateman's epistemology and ethics in regards to his actions and way of thinking throughout the novel is a reflection, through his violence, which raises the questions of the moral and ethical understanding of all individuals in Bateman's position and status, and how they might act and think similarly or completely identically in a consumer world built on [[capitalism]] as people see in today's American society.

Citing the many bodies that are never found, [[Henry Bean]] wonders "is it possible that the murders themselves never occurred?" He continues:{{r|bean19910317}}

{{blockquote|The novel subtly and relentlessly undercuts its own authority, and because Bateman, unlike, say, [[Vladimir Nabokov|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lundberg |first=Robin |date=September 1, 2014 |title=Unreliable narration in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho and Jeff Lindsay's Darkly Dreaming Dexter |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:781673/FULLTEXT01.pdf |access-date=September 3, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Phillips |first=Jennifer |date=January 1, 2009 |title=Unreliable narration in Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho: Interaction between narrative form and thematic content |url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/currentnarratives/vol1/iss1/6 |journal=Current Narratives |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=60–68 |issn=1837-0314}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |date=November 2020 |title=Subtle Sign Posts: Uncovering Moral Meaning in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho |last=Thompson |first=John Bryan |degree=[[Master of Liberal Arts]] |publisher=[[Harvard Extension School]] |url=https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d4e0b371-2c07-4b05-90a4-0cc1cb252910/content}}</ref> In a 2014 appearance on the ''[[WTF with Marc Maron]]'' podcast, Ellis stated that Bateman's narration was so unreliable that even ''he'', as the author of the book, did not know if Bateman was honestly describing events that actually happened or if he was lying or even hallucinating.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_552_-_bret_easton_ellis|title=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 552 - Bret Easton Ellis|work=wtfpod.com|date=November 20, 2014 }}</ref>

== Characters ==
=== Major characters ===
* [[Patrick Bateman]] – the central narrator and villainous protagonist of the novel.
* Evelyn Richards – Bateman's supposed fiancée.
* Timothy Price (renamed to Timothy Byrce in the film) – Bateman's best friend and colleague. Later appears as a teenager in Ellis's novels ''[[The Informers]]'' and ''[[The Shards]]''
* Paul <!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ALLEN; ALLEN IS MOVIE NAME, OWEN IS BOOK NAME! -->Owen (renamed to Paul Allen in the film) – Bateman's colleague who is later murdered by Bateman.
* Jean – Bateman's secretary, whom Bateman refers to as "Jean, my secretary who is in love with me".
* Luis Carruthers – a closeted [[homosexual]] co-worker who is attracted to Bateman, something that disgusts the latter.
* Courtney Lawrence – Luis' fiancée who is having an affair with Bateman.
* Craig McDermott – Bateman's colleague, part of a social foursome alongside Bateman, Timothy Price and David Van Patten.
* David Van Patten – Bateman's colleague, also part of Bateman's main social group.

===Minor characters===
* "Christie" – a prostitute, employed and badly abused by Bateman on multiple occasions before he eventually murders her in a grisly fashion. Bateman gives her this name; her real one is never revealed.
* Elizabeth – a dinner date of Bateman's, drugged and coerced into having sex with "Christie" before being violently murdered.
* Marcus Halberstam – (renamed to Marcus Halberstram in the film) Bateman's colleague; <!-- We are using book names, so "Owen" is correct, not "Allen" -->Paul Owen repeatedly mistakes Bateman for Marcus.
* Donald Kimball – private detective hired to investigate <!-- We are using book names, so "Owen" is correct, not "Allen" -->Paul Owen's disappearance.
* Harold Carnes – Bateman’s lawyer who misidentifies him then refuses to believe Bateman’s confession at the climax of the novel.
* Alison Poole – sexually and physically assaulted by Bateman; created by Ellis's friend [[Jay McInerney]] in his novel ''[[Story of My Life (novel)|Story of My Life]]''<ref name=NYMag>{{cite news | title = Allow Bret Easton Ellis to Introduce You to Alison Poole, A.K.A. Rielle Hunter | work = [[New York Magazine]] | date = August 6, 2008 | url = http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/08/allow_bret_easton_ellis_to_int.html | access-date = August 6, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080807213908/http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/08/allow_bret_easton_ellis_to_int.html| archive-date= August 7, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> and based on McInerney's former girlfriend [[Rielle Hunter]], reappears as a main character in Ellis's later novel ''[[Glamorama]]'', where she is involved with the lead character, Victor Ward.
* Sean Bateman – younger brother of Patrick Bateman and also the lead character of ''[[The Rules of Attraction]]''.
* Paul Denton – friend of Paul <!--DO NOT CHANGE TO ALLEN; ALLEN IS MOVIE NAME, OWEN IS BOOK NAME! -->Owen, who also appears in ''The Rules of Attraction'' where he is possibly romantically involved with Patrick's brother Sean.
* Christopher Armstrong – Bateman's colleague at Pierce & Pierce.
* Bethany – an old girlfriend of Patrick's whom, after a date, he tortures and subsequently murders.
* Stash – Evelyn's friend, who is HIV positive.
* Vanden – Evelyn's friend from the East Village who claims to attend Camden College, the main setting of ''The Rules of Attraction''.
* Al – a homeless man whom Bateman blinds and disfigures with a knife.
* [[Tom Cruise]] – lives in the same apartment building as Bateman, in the penthouse.
* [[Bono]] – the leader singer of Irish rock band [[U2]]. Appears in a chapter in which Bateman and his colleagues attend a U2 concert.
* [[Donald Trump]] – Bateman's celebrity "obsession".
* Patty Winters – the host of a talk show which Bateman frequently views. As the novel progresses the subject of her programs become more and more absurd, implied to be no more than a figment of Bateman's imagination.

== Release ==
Ellis later wrote that people assumed that ''American Psycho'' would end his career.<ref name="rosenblatt19901216"/> It was originally to have been published by [[Simon & Schuster]] in March 1991, but the company withdrew from the project because of "aesthetic differences". [[Vintage (publisher)|Vintage Books]] purchased the rights to the novel and published the book after the customary editing process. The book was not published in hardcover in the United States until 2012, when a limited hardcover edition was published by [[Centipede Press]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centipedepress.com/horror/americanpsycho.html|title=American Psycho|work=centipedepress.com|access-date=February 27, 2015}}</ref> although a deluxe paperback was offered.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/article/1990/11/30/american-psycho-drama/ | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | first=Giselle | last=Benatar | title=American Psychodrama | date=November 30, 1990 | access-date=July 14, 2024 | archive-date=December 8, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208114129/https://ew.com/article/1990/11/30/american-psycho-drama/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Reception==
Writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Roger Rosenblatt]] quipped, "''American Psycho'' is the journal [[Dorian Gray]] would have written had he been a high school sophomore. But that is unfair to sophomores", and he approved of its canceled publication.<ref name="rosenblatt19901216">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/16/books/snuff-this-book-will-bret-easton-ellis-get-away-with-murder.html |title=Snuff This Book! Will Bret Easton Ellis Get Away With Murder? |last=Rosenblatt |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Rosenblatt|date=December 16, 1990 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 17, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ellis received numerous death threats and hate mail after the publication of ''American Psycho''.<ref name="messier">{{cite journal
 | last = Messier
 | first = Vartan
 | year = 2005
 | title = Canons of Transgression: Shock, Scandal, and Subversion from Matthew Lewis's ''The Monk'' to Bret Easton Ellis's ''American Psycho''
 | journal = Dissertation Abstracts International
 | volume = 43
 | issue = 4
 | pages = 1085 ff
 | url = http://grad.uprm.edu/tesis/messiervartan.pdf
 | access-date = April 16, 2006
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100624124729/http://grad.uprm.edu/tesis/messiervartan.pdf
 | archive-date = June 24, 2010
| url-status = dead}} (University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez). Chapter ''Pornography and Violence: The Dialectics of Transgression in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho'' provides an in-depth analysis of the novel.</ref><ref>{{IMDb name|0254735|Bret Easton Ellis}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{'}}s review<ref name="bean19910317">{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-17-bk-622-story.html |title=SLAYGROUND : AMERICAN PSYCHO By Bret Easton Ellis (Vintage: $11, paper; 399 pp.) |last=Bean |first=Henry |date=March 17, 1991 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=April 17, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0458-3035}}</ref>—"the one good review in the national press", he said—resulted in "a three-page letter section of all these people canceling their subscriptions".

In the United States, the book was named the 53rd most banned and challenged book from 1990–1999 by the American Library Association.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Office of Intellectual Freedom|date=March 26, 2013|title=100 most frequently challenged books: 1990-1999|url=https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade1999|access-date=June 15, 2021|website=American Library Association|language=en}}</ref>

In Germany, the book was deemed "harmful to minors" and its sales and marketing severely restricted from 1995 to 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Salvatierra |first=Pablo |date=2016-11-01 |title=Banned Books: American Psycho |url=https://www.slamedia.org/topmenu/american-psycho-review/ |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=www.slamedia.org}}</ref>

In Australia, the book is sold shrink-wrapped and is classified "R18" under national censorship legislation (i.e., the book may not be sold to those under 18 years of age). Along with other Category 1 publications, its sale is theoretically banned in the state of [[Queensland]], and it may only be purchased shrink-wrapped.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-17/american-psycho-removed-from-adelaide-bookshelves/6628846|title=Police ask for new edition of American Psycho to be removed from Adelaide bookshelves|work=ABC News|date=July 17, 2015}}</ref> In [[Brisbane]], the novel is available to those over 18 from all public libraries and can still be ordered and purchased (shrink-wrapped) from many book stores despite this prohibition.<ref name="Classification.gov.au">[https://routinebias.com/routines/patrick-bateman-morning-routine/] Patrick Bateman’s Morning Routine from Routine Bias</ref> Ellis has commented on this: "I think it's adorable. I think it's cute. I love it".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD1gb4NXszA | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/UD1gb4NXszA | archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live | title=Bret Easton Ellis Slams Self-Censorship Among Artists | date=October 29, 2010 | publisher=YouTube | access-date=February 15, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://fora.tv/2010/08/07/American_Psycho_Author_Bret_Easton_Ellis_In_Conversation |title=American Psycho Author Bret Easton Ellis: In Conversation |publisher=FORA.tv |access-date=February 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016142115/http://fora.tv/2010/08/07/American_Psycho_Author_Bret_Easton_Ellis_In_Conversation |archive-date=October 16, 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> In New Zealand, the Government's [[Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)|Office of Film & Literature Classification]] has rated the book as R18 (i.e., the book may not be sold or lent in libraries to those under 18 years of age). It is generally sold [[shrink wrap]]ped in bookstores.<ref>{{cite web|first=Domagoj|last=Valjak|url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/08/bret-easton-ellis-novel-american-psycho-is-sold-shrink-wrapped-in-australian-bookstores-to-prevent-minors-from-reading-it/?safari=1|title=Bret Easton Ellis's novel "American Psycho" is sold shrink-wrapped in Australian bookstores to prevent minors from reading it|website=The Vintage News|date=March 8, 2017|accessdate=January 25, 2022}}</ref>

Feminist activist [[Gloria Steinem]] was among those opposed to Ellis's book because of its portrayal of violence toward women.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Venant|first1=Elizabeth|title=An 'American Psycho' Drama: Books: The flap surrounding Bret Easton Ellis's third novel flares again. NOW is seeking a boycott of his new publisher. Other observers raise questions of censorship.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-11-vw-6308-story.html|access-date=October 23, 2015|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=December 11, 1990}}</ref> Coincidentally, Steinem is the stepmother of [[Christian Bale]], who played Bateman in the film. This coincidence is mentioned in Ellis's mock memoir ''[[Lunar Park]]''.

[[Phil Collins]], whose solo career is referenced in the book, recalled: "I didn't read it. At the time, I just thought, 'That's all we need: glorifying all this crap. I'm not interested'. Then the film came out, and I thought it was very funny".<ref>{{cite journal|first= Terri |last= White |title= Cash for questions |journal= [[Q (magazine)|Q]] |date= December 2014 |page= 33}}</ref>

=== Connections to real-life crimes ===
A copy was found in possession of Wade Frankum, perpetrator of the 1991 [[Strathfield massacre]] in Sydney, Australia. It was suggested that the novel had inspired Frankum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/reliving-an-australian-massacre-only-a-few-people-seem-to-remember/news-story/646bc84c1c317654209d116eb7664ba7 |title=Reliving an Australian massacre only a few people seem to remember|website=News.com.au|access-date=May 29, 2022}}</ref>

During the trial of Canadian serial killer [[Paul Bernardo]], a copy was discovered in Bernardo's bedroom. The ''[[Toronto Sun]]'' reported that Bernardo "read it as his 'bible{{'"}},<ref name="riskyterritory">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/09/movies/film-the-risky-territory-of-american-psycho.html|title=FILM; The Risky Territory Of 'American Psycho'|date=April 9, 2000|first=Mary|last=Harron|author-link=Mary Harron|access-date=April 14, 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="Cairns">{{cite news | url=http://www.thefreeradical.ca/copycatCrimes/lifeImitatesArtInBernardoBible.html | work=[[The Toronto Sun]] | first=Alan | last=Cairns | title=Life imitates 'art' in Bernardo 'bible' | date=September 1, 1995 | access-date=December 28, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128202826/http://www.thefreeradical.ca/copycatCrimes/lifeImitatesArtInBernardoBible.html | archive-date=January 28, 2012 | url-status=dead}}</ref> though it turned out it actually belonged to his wife and accomplice [[Karla Homolka]]; it is unlikely Bernardo ever read it.<ref name="riskyterritory" />

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. The administrators asserted the email was an imitation of Bateman. McFayden subsequently received numerous death threats.<ref>Parrish, R. B. (2009) ''The Duke Lacrosse Case: A Documentary History and Analysis of the Modern Scottsboro'', pp. 159-61; {{ISBN|1-4392-3590-2}}.</ref>

In the [[Murder of Jun Lin]] in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Luka Magnotta killed and dismembered their partner with an ice pick in a video recording posted online in 2012.  "True Faith" by [[New Order (band)|New Order]], is a song featured in the opening scenes of the novel's film adaptation, and is present throughout the video recording.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Cara |title=Canadian Psycho: The True Story Of Luca Magnotta |date=July 2015 |publisher=RJ Parker Publishing |isbn=9781515117506 |location=Toronto, Ontario |publication-date=July 2015 |pages=1–132 |language=English}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

== Adaptations ==
===2000 film===
{{Main|American Psycho (film)}}

In 2000, writer [[Guinevere Turner]] and writer/director [[Mary Harron]] adapted ''American Psycho'' into a dark, comic [[American Psycho (film)|film]] released by [[Lions Gate Films]] in United States and [[Columbia Pictures]] in other territories. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself. Bateman is played by [[Christian Bale]] with [[Willem Dafoe]] and [[Reese Witherspoon]] in supporting roles. As a promotion for the film, one could register to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman, supposedly to his therapist.<ref name="Howell">{{cite news | last= Howell | first= Peter | title=''American Psycho''s Web Promo Sickens Star | work=[[Toronto Star]] | date=March 8, 2000 | location=Toronto}}</ref> The e-mails, written by a writer attached to the film and approved by Ellis, follow Bateman's life since the events of the film. ''American Psycho'' premiered at the 2000 [[Sundance Film Festival]] where it was touted as the next ''[[Fight Club (film)|Fight Club]]''.<ref name=guardian3>{{cite news | title=''American Psycho'' hits Sundance | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=January 26, 2000 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jan/26/sundancefilmfestival2000.festivals | access-date=July 27, 2010 | location=London}}</ref> The [[Motion Picture Association of America]] (MPAA) gave the film an [[NC-17]] rating for a scene featuring Bateman having a [[threesome]] with two sex workers. The producers excised approximately 18 seconds of footage to obtain an [[MPAA film rating system|R-rating]] for the film.<ref name=guardian4>{{cite news |title=''American Psycho'' cut to appease censors|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 29, 2000 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/feb/29/news |access-date=July 27, 2010}}</ref>

It polarized audiences and critics with some showering praise, others scorn.<ref name="corliss2">{{cite magazine | last= Corliss | first= Richard | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995904,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023033855/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,995904,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 23, 2007 | title=Sundance Sorority | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=January 24, 2000 | access-date=April 8, 2009}}</ref> 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".<ref name="holden">{{cite news | last= Holden | first= Stephen | author-link=Stephen Holden|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/film/041400psycho-film-review.html | title=Murderer! Fiend! Cad! (But Well-Dressed) | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=April 14, 2000 | access-date=April 8, 2009}}</ref> Ellis said, "''American Psycho'' was a book I didn't think needed to be turned into a movie", as "the medium of film demands answers", which would make the book "infinitely less interesting".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clatl.com/culturesurfing/archives/2010/06/19/1534716-bret-easton-ellis-talks-film-adaptations-at-scad |title=Bret Easton Ellis talks film adaptations at SCAD |publisher=[[Creative Loafing]] |access-date=June 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624060251/http://clatl.com/culturesurfing/archives/2010/06/19/1534716-bret-easton-ellis-talks-film-adaptations-at-scad |archive-date=June 24, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The film received generally positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Psycho |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_psycho |access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref>

A [[direct-to-video]] sequel, ''[[American Psycho 2]]'', was released and directed by [[Morgan J. Freeman]]. This film was not based on the novel or the original film, as its only connection with the original is the death of Patrick Bateman (played by Michael Kremko wearing a face mask), briefly shown in a flashback.

===Other adaptations===
In 2009, [[Audible.com]] produced an audio version of ''American Psycho'', narrated by [[Pablo Schreiber]], as part of its ''Modern Vanguard'' line of audiobooks.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120710063219/http://markets.ibtimes.com/ibtimes/?Page=MediaViewer&GUID=9742903&Ticker=AMZN Audible Announces New ''Modern Vanguard'' Line of Audiobooks]. International Business Times</ref> A Hungarian version of the novel was written by [[Attila Hazai]] (1967–2012) called ''Budapesti skizo'' ("Budapest Psycho", 1997); it was Hazai's best known work but as of his death never translated into English.<ref name=cr>[http://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/201204a.htm#bf3 Hazai Attila (1967–2012)], ''[[complete review]]'', "The Literary Saloon", April 10, 2012.</ref>

In 2013, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by Ellis and others to get a [[American Psycho (musical)|musical stage adaptation]] made.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1798121016/american-psycho|title=AMERICAN PSYCHO|website=Kickstarter.com|access-date=February 27, 2015}}</ref> The premiere of the musical, with music and lyrics by [[Duncan Sheik]] opened at the [[Almeida Theatre]], London in December. The role of Patrick Bateman was played by [[Matt Smith (actor)|Matt Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|website=Almeida.co.uk|title=American Psycho|url=http://www.almeida.co.uk/event/americanpsycho|access-date=May 23, 2013|archive-date=June 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601132928/http://www.almeida.co.uk/event/americanpsycho|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2015, the musical was workshopped in New York, with [[Benjamin Walker (actor)|Benjamin Walker]] re-assuming the role of Patrick that he had originally taken on in 2011. It premiered in early 2016, but closed on June 5 of that year after a run of only 54 regular performances.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/american-psycho-takes-final-stab-at-broadway-today|title=American Psycho Ends Broadway Run Today|last=Viagas|first=Robert|date=June 5, 2016|website=Playbill|access-date=December 11, 2018}}</ref> In the announcement, they cited "stiff competition" from more well-known musicals like ''[[Waitress (musical)|Waitress]]'', ''[[Shuffle Along]]'', and ''[[Hamilton (musical)|Hamilton]]''. A version of the musical is the focus of the musical episode titled "Chapter One Hundred and Twelve: American Psychos" of the sixth season from the series ''[[Riverdale (2017 TV series)|Riverdale]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://tvline.com/casting-news/riverdale-sabrina-kiernan-shipka-returning-season-6-musical-american-psycho-1234818955/|title=Riverdale: Kiernan Shipka to Return as Sabrina – Plus, Season 6's Musical Episode Will Tackle American Psycho|last=Nemetz|first=Dave|magazine=[[TVLine]]|date=April 9, 2022|access-date=April 10, 2022}}</ref>

In April 2021, [[Lionsgate Television]] chairman Kevin Beggs confirmed a TV series is in development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/lionsgate-television-strategy-john-wick-saw-american-psycho-series-kevin-beggs-interview-1234718117/|title = Lionsgate TV's Kevin Beggs Talks Indie Studio's Expansion, Deal Strategy, Covid Impact, 'The Continental' Details & 'Saw' Series Rumors|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date = April 23, 2021}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Sumerian Comics]] published a sequel comic adaptation that includes new narratives surrounding Bateman's murders.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patrick Bateman returns in 'American Psycho' comic book |url=https://ew.com/events/comic-con/american-psycho-comic-book-sumerian-comic-con/ |access-date=2023-11-09 |website=EW.com |language=en}}</ref>

In October 2024, Lionsgate confirmed that a new adaptation is in the works, with [[Luca Guadagnino]] in negotiations to direct, with the screenplay written by [[Scott Z. Burns]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/luca-guadagnino-american-psycho-lionsgate-1236035288/ |title = Luca Guadagnino in Talks to Direct New 'American Psycho' Film for Lionsgate|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=October 18, 2024}}</ref> However, Bret Easton Ellis felt this was all "fake news".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=Kevin |date=2025-01-07 |title=American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis says reports of Luca Guadagnino's reboot is "fake news" |url=https://www.joblo.com/american-psycho-bret-easton-ellis-reboot-fake-news/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=JoBlo |language=en-US}}</ref> In April 2025, Guadagnino reiterated in [[CinemaCon]] 2025 that the project was pushing forward.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gajewski |first=Ryan |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Luca Guadagnino Teases New 'American Psycho' Movie |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/american-psycho-movie-luca-guadagnino-1236177949/ |access-date=April 6, 2025 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Aestheticization of violence]]
* [[Transgressive fiction]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Bret Easton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd_mGRCwW1QC&pg=PP1|title=American psycho: a novel|date=March 6, 1991|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|isbn=978-0-679-73577-9|edition=1st|series=Vintage contemporaries|location=New York|language=en-US|lccn=90010247|oclc=22308330|ol=1857983M}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Wrethed|first=Joakim|date=Fall 2021|title=Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho as a Palimpsest of the Theories of Girard, Gans and de Andrade|url=http://anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap2701/2701wrethed/|journal=[[Generative anthropology#Anthropoetics|Anthropetics: The Journal of Generative Anthropology]]|volume=XXVII|issue=1}}

== External links ==
* {{OL book}}

{{BretEastonEllis}}
{{American Psycho}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:American Psycho}}
[[Category:American Psycho| ]]
[[Category:1990s horror novels]]
[[Category:1990s in comedy]]
[[Category:1991 American novels]]
[[Category:1991 controversies]]
[[Category:American black comedy novels]]
[[Category:American horror novels]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into plays]]
[[Category:American satirical novels]]
[[Category:BDSM literature]]
[[Category:Books published after being cancelled]]
[[Category:Censored books]]
[[Category:Censorship in the arts]]
[[Category:Fiction about crimes against sex workers]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Tom Cruise]]
[[Category:Existentialist novels]]
[[Category:Fiction about animal cruelty]]
[[Category:Fiction about sexual addiction]]
[[Category:Novels set in 1989]]
[[Category:First-person narrative novels]]
[[Category:Comedy horror]]
[[Category:Horror novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Novels about American prostitution]]
[[Category:Novels about cannibalism]]
[[Category:Novels about consumerism]]
[[Category:Novels about infidelity]]
[[Category:Novels about mass murder]]
[[Category:Novels about mental health]]
[[Category:Novels about music]]
[[Category:Novels about necrophilia]]
[[Category:Novels about rape]]
[[Category:Novels about serial killers]]
[[Category:Novels about stock traders]]
[[Category:Novels about substance abuse]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into comics]]
[[Category:Novels by Bret Easton Ellis]]
[[Category:Novels set in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Novels with unreliable narrators]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in literature]]
[[Category:Postmodern novels]]
[[Category:Splatterpunk novels]]
[[Category:Works about finance]]
[[Category:Works about narcissism]]
[[Category:Works about pop music]]
[[Category:Works about torture]]
[[Category:Works featuring villain protagonists]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=American Psycho|access_date=2026-02-25}}