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Content snapshot
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Violence
Very heavy
Extremely graphic torture and murder scenes; some of the most explicit violence in literary fiction
Language
A lot
Pervasive strong language and misogynistic language throughout
Sexual Content
Very heavy
Explicit sexual content including assault and degradation
Substance Use
Some
Cocaine and alcohol throughout; yuppie lifestyle
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
A complete moral void at the center; extreme nihilism; psychopathic perspective rendered in mundane detail
What this book is about
Patrick Bateman, a handsome Harvard-educated investment banker, obsessively catalogs designer labels, business cards, and reservation-getting—while possibly torturing, murdering, and cannibalizing his victims in elaborate detail. Ellis's notorious novel satirizes 1980s consumer culture by taking its values to their logical extreme. Whether Bateman's murders are real or fantasy is deliberately ambiguous. Among the most disturbing novels ever published, with content that remains genuinely shocking.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Among the most graphic torture and murder scenes in published fiction
Explicit sexual violence
Extreme misogyny
For mature readers with serious intent only
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