Section 1

American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis
Pages 3-105

Plot Summary/Characters

• Patrick Bateman, the narrator, is 26 years old, works on Wall Street, and is ridiculously rich. He is obsessed with fashion and goes on for pages about what himself and people around him are wearing. He is also a psychotic murderer, although no one knows this.
• Most of this section is about him going out with his three friends/coworkers Tim Price, David Van Patten, and Craig McDermott.
• They spend their time going to fancy restaurants, talking about fashion, using cocaine, and going to clubs such as Tunnel. At one point Patrick is given what he thinks is cocaine, but it's actually just Sweet n Low. Their dinners are almost all the same: arguing with each other, checking out the "hardbody" waitresses (as Patrick calls them), drinking, and then going to a club afterwards.
• Evelyn is Patrick's fiance, although he continuously goes out with other women. Courtney Lawrence is his other woman. He goes on one date with her to a restaurant with a couple she knows.
• Not much happens, other than when Patrick is out with friends. Other situations that occur include Patrick meeting Tom Cruise in his apartment building, and Patrick arguing with the dry cleaners that can't get blood out of his clothes and sheets.

Personal Reaction

I really like this book. There isn't much of a plot as of now, but I know it's coming. It's kept me hooked, and hearing Patrick ramble on about fashion or how much he hates the people he's around is really entertaining.

There hasn't been any violence yet, except for a few things Patrick mentions that he would like to do to various people. For instance, when a bartender tells him that it is a cash-only bar, he casually mentions that he wants to stab her repeatedly and play with her blood. She doesn't hear him though, since the music in the club is so loud. Paul Owen, another coworker of Patrick's, has been mentioned several times and if the book is like the movie he will end up being axed to death in Patrick's apartment.

The book is written as stream-of-consciousness. It is told from Patrick point of view, and he goes on rants quite a bit. For pages at a time, he describes his clothes, his exercise routines, etc. Very meticulous. Also, when someone is talking to him and he isn't interested, he will ramble on about his own thoughts, which range from him wanting to stab the person to wanting a tanning bed for his apartment.

One thing worth mentioning is how explicit this book is. The few times he mentions violence are very graphic. There have also been some sex scenes, and I won't go into detail but it's very descriptive and very explicit.

Hopefully the book stays interesting. It's an easy read, too, which is always good. But I have a feeling as it goes on it will get more confusing, because that's how the movie was.

Additional Thoughts

I chose this book because I saw and loved the movie. I always like to read the books for the movies I see, or vice versa.

Patrick Bateman is telling the story. I do not trust him, because having seen the movie and just from things he has said, I know he can snap at any point and brutally murder just about anyone. I can't say he's unlikeable though, as he does have several funny moments and his arrogancy is so over the top, it's entertaining. The best way to describe him is as an anti-hero.

The setting is New York. He doesn't go into detail about the city itself, but the places he goes to are very nice. His apartment is nice, and he has the best of everything: paintings, furniture, TVs. Restaurants, such as Dorsia, are frequented and are very nice and VERY expensive. I think the least expensive bill was still over $300. The city itself sounds less appealing however, as it sounds like it's full of drug addicts and homeless people. The book takes place at the end of the 1980s.

The main character so far is Patrick Bateman. His problems include homicidal tendencies and jealousy (in one scene he becomes enraged because his friends have nice business cards).

As for the other characters, I really don't know much about them. Courtney, Patrick's other woman, is drugged out most of the time. Evelyn, his fiance, is only in a couple of scenes and it appears they don't even get along. Price, McDermott, and Van Patten (Patrick always refers to them by last name) are in more scenes but aren't developed enough.

I predict, based on the movie, that Paul Owen is going to get axed to death. I also suspect that it will be left up to interpretation as to whether or not the murders, or anything that happens for that matter, really happened or if Patrick is even crazier than we think and just imagined it all.