Американдық Психо: 1980-ші жылдардың Манхэттені мен құпия өмір

1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis
the 1991 novel

American Psycho is a novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, vain Manhattan investment banker who supposedly 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 and postmodern qualities". A film adaptation starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman was released in 2000 to generally favorable reviews. Producers David Johnson and Jesse Singer developed a musical adaptation for Broadway. The musical premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London in December 2013. The book has garnered notoriety for its graphic violence and has led to it being censored in multiple countries.

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 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. |Bret Easton Ellis

Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker 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 to his forays into murder by night. Through present tense 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 personal appearance, Bateman gives extensive descriptions of his daily aesthetics regimen. After killing Paul 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, 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 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 Times" (when in fact there was no such advertisement). She tells him to leave and never return. Bateman's mental state continues to deteriorate and he begins to experience bizarre hallucinations such as seeing a Cheerio interviewed on a talk show, being stalked by an 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. The sign seen at the end of the book simply reads "This is not an exit".

Patrick Bateman – the central narrator and villainous protagonist of the novel. Evelyn Richards – Bateman's supposed fiancée. Timothy Price – Bateman's best friend and colleague. Later appears as a teenager in Ellis's novel The Informers. Paul Owen – 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.

"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 – Bateman's colleague; Paul Owen repeatedly mistakes Bateman for Marcus. Donald Kimball – private detective hired to investigate 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 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 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. 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.

Ellis later wrote that people assumed that American Psycho would end his career. although a deluxe paperback was offered. 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. Ellis received numerous death threats and hate mail after the publication of American Psycho. The Los Angeles Timess review—"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. In Germany, the book was deemed "harmful to minors" and its sales and marketing severely restricted from 1995 to 2000. 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. 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. Ellis has commented on this: "I think it's adorable. I think it's cute. I love it". In New Zealand, the Government's 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 wrapped in bookstores. Feminist activist Gloria Steinem was among those opposed to Ellis's book because of its portrayal of violence toward women. 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".

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. 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, though it turned out it actually belonged to his wife and accomplice Karla Homolka; it is unlikely Bernardo ever read it.

In 2000, writer Guinevere Turner and writer/director Mary Harron adapted American Psycho into a dark, comic 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 Elis 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. 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. 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 R rating for the film. It polarized audiences and critics with some showering praise, others scorn. 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". 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". The film received generally positive reviews. 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.

In 2009, Audible. com produced an audio version of American Psycho, narrated by Pablo Schreiber, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks. 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. In 2013, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by Ellis and others to get a musical stage adaptation made. 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. In 2015, the musical was workshopped in New York, with 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. In the announcement, they cited "stiff competition" from more well known musicals like Waitress, Shuffle Along, and 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. In April 2021, Lionsgate Television chairman Kevin Beggs confirmed a TV series is in development. In 2023, Sumerian Comics published a sequel comic adaptation that includes new narratives surrounding Bateman's murders.