It is 1989. Wall Street greed is at its peak, and investment banker Patrick Bateman is determined to achieve the highest echelon of status in his image-driven, yuppie world. Restaurant reservations and swanky business cards are identifiers of success in his crowd, and Patrick meets his nemesis in Paul Owen, a rival banker who seems to have it all. But as Patrick enjoys the luxuries of consumerist greed, he feels increasingly disconnected from his world until his homicidal impulses can no longer be controlled. On his 27th birthday, Patrick commits his first murder--and takes off on a psychotic killing spree, taking out Paul, prostitutes, and anyone who even mildly annoys him. Patrick expresses his murderous desires to his fiancee Evelyn and his best friend Tim, but no one seems to hear, or even see, his torment. Patrick becomes one of the serial killers that have intrigued him for so long, and even yearns for the fame and notoriety that those killers possessed. Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho is an intriguing and disturbing take on yuppie disillusionment and greed set to a 1980s rock score.
American Psycho guide sections
