I’ve read American Psycho.  Must’ve been back in the eighties when I was reading a number younger, brat-pack-ish authors like Jay McInerney, Tama Janowitz, and Ellis.  I think I read another of Ellis’s offerings too.  I love the title:  Less Than Zero.  I don’t remember much about either book, but scenes from the movie versions still dance in my head ocassionally.

Scrum - 11 May 2007 05:22 PM

Must’ve been back in the eighties when I was reading a number younger, brat-pack-ish authors like Jay McInerney, Tama Janowitz, and Ellis.

Ha, that’s funny, I went through exactly the same thing. Slaves of New York, another great title.

American Psycho was actually a pretty good book. It’s like the movies Taxi Driver and Barton Fink where all the action is really taking place inside the narrator’s head and not really happening (okay, people will usually arugue Taxi Driver, but Barton Fink is just an annoying visual puzzle, too precious, the worst kind of ‘literary’ djones is right about).

I gotta think that post about American Psycho was going for sarcastic. I gotta….

Just for the record, Ellis stole the title Less Than Zero from Elvis Costello, who had a song by that name on his first album, My Aim Is True, 1977.

Lacrimatty, that post was worthy of Patrick Bateman himself.

Cinophiles will note that a dog gets heartlessly killed in American Psycho, as happens all too often in Elmore Leonard books.

I found a Brett Eaton Ellis discussion forum. 135 members, most of them illiterate. I’m not sure whether any of them would find it strange someone having Patrick Bateman as a role model either. I’m going to join their forum & pose the question. Who knows, I might run into Barton Road again.