This is a profoundly disturbing book. The horrific acts, written in such detail, are difficult to read; purposefully shocking in their depravity and the blasé style in which the protagonist describes them.
Taking into account the time in which this book was written, and the fact that it’s often held up as “the” example of transgressive fiction, I think the commentary on American life still has value over 30 years later.
The extreme differences between Bateman’s crimes and his everyday existence do, I think, work to illustrate the hollowing out of people living under neoliberal capitalism. The transactional nature of every interaction, the hyper-focus by characters on material things, and his extreme selfishness are all heightened examples of “greed is good”.
I think there’s also an argument to be made that Bateman is actually a loser. If you take the side that he didn’t actually commit these crimes (no bodies are ever found, he suffers severe psychosis at various points), then it’s possible to view his persona as being a fantasy he creates to feel powerful. Outwardly, no one recognizes him, and several times tell him to his face that Bateman is a loser (mistaking him for someone else). This is something I think we see in the radicalization of young men today; fantasizing about the power to inflict extreme violence on perceived enemies or people they see as lesser than themselves. The failure of many people to see the book as an example of how this point of view destroys the soul is the great failure of this book. I would say that this story suffers from the same problem as Fight Club: too many people took away the wrong message.
