American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis, Mariano Antolín Rato · first published 1991
20% recommend75% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Dark, darkly funny satire of 80s Wall Street greed and excess, told through a horrifying narrator. Its obsessive brand and fashion detail conveys the vacuous materialism; the book is preferred over the film.
Common criticism: Heavy catalogs of brands and clothing can be tedious for some readers
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
American Psycho is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan investment banker. 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".
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
American Psycho
Patrick Bateman
0 recommend · 3 mentioned0 recommend · 3 mention0 recommend · 30 recommend
2016–2026This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 72 recommend · 7 mention2 recommend · 72 recommend
2011–2026The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 116 recommend · 11 mention6 recommend · 116 recommend
2007–2025Bible
Recommended by 24 · mentioned by 3224 recommend · 32 mention24 recommend · 3224 recommend
2011–2025Maus
Art Spiegelman
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 167 recommend · 16 mention7 recommend · 167 recommend
2008–2026Crash
J. G. Ballard
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 167 recommend · 16 mention7 recommend · 167 recommend
2013–2026A river runs through it
Norman Maclean
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 174 recommend · 17 mention4 recommend · 174 recommend
2009–2026His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman
Recommended by 27 · mentioned by 5227 recommend · 52 mention27 recommend · 5227 recommend
I'm sure you'll get plenty of comments on hacker fiction, so here's some "business" fiction: * "The Bonfire of the Vanities" by Tom Wolfe. The classic novel of 80s Wall Street at its peak. * "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis. A pretty terrifying picture of greed and excess, again on 80s Wall Street. If you've seen the movie, you know what to expect -- only in greater detail. * "Atlas Shrugged" by…
on “Ask HN: Recommend any good business/hacker fiction?” ↗American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis. I learnt everything I know about fashion and business cards from this important book.
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗One is reminded of other fictional works such as American Psycho, by Brett Easton Ellis. These works are valuable to read not because they are overly pleasant, but specifically because they are such transparent and horrific reflections of the inner mental state of…
on “Review of the DSM-V as a piece of dystopian fiction” ↗American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis. Dark, shocking, yet refreshingly hilarious.
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite novel? Why?” ↗…There are lots of good books out there though, and I'm glad you discovered something above the airport bestsellers. May I suggest to absolutely anyone Hunger, by Knut Hamson Ask The Dust, by John Fante American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk Porno, by Irvine Welsh
on “How “The Great Gatsby” took over high school” ↗Just like American Psycho. That was a prescient book.
…Roombahs. Ha! Also, tech workers are not so powerful that they deserve satire. A better attempt at making SV amusing is the book Chaos Monkeys. And a very good example of how to skewer an industry is American Psycho (book, not movie).
on “This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley” ↗Fight Club was published in the 90s. That book was responsible for getting a lot of people to read a novel who had previously not been interested in reading. Also, American Psycho deserves a mention.
on “What literature do we study from the 90s?” ↗…strongly disliked Morrison's books when I read them, though I'll happily concede they're expertly written. Some fiction books I've read as an adult and appreciate: Gone with the Wind, Fields of Fire, American Psycho, The Turn of the Screw, Anna Karenina Some from school: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Frienheit 451, Moby Dick, Brave New World Some of the more pop fictiony: American Gods, The Stand,…
on “Toni Morrison's Rejection Letters” ↗I will lightly defend a lot of this description in American Psycho. I agree that I generally gloss over that sort of description, but in the case of this one book I felt like the obsessively-materialist descriptions in it did a great job of helping communicate the vacuuous…
on “What happens in a mind that can't 'see' mental images” ↗I so wish you were a bot, but judging on grammar mistakes it can’t be… I have abook recommendation for you, American Psycho, especially when Patrick discusses his musical tastes. I’m sure you like it. There’s a film, but the book is better.
on “YouTube to automatically label AI-generated videos” ↗…or wherever; generally only read things you have heard of or that you saw on a list somewhere; don't randomly pick off the shelf. Teenager classics like 1984, Book of the New Sun, Kafka on the Shore, American Psycho, Lord of the Rings are fun and easy reads that have meat on the bone. Ignore the airport novel and anything published recently. The average book has the same lack of value as the average TV show, just…
on “The Age of Reading Is Over” ↗…retire early or keep up with the joneses. I promise you that few if any of these people will care about your plight. They certainly don't see suits and dull dreary offices as part of the problem. Watch American Psycho. Many like the suits (because they are probably wearing Armani and Gucci suits and then spend their evenings in restaurants and bars where women notice that kind of thing). The fact that you are wearing…
on “Ask HN: Ideas on how to change the Culture at a big Corporate Bank” ↗…of the original artists it borrows tropes from, the pecularity of synthwave is it does it all without any edge. It's the easiest of smooth listening, which I think is its point. Bret Easton Ellis wrote American Psycho about the very people original synthwave was written for in the 80's, and I suppose that's what makes it such an amazing and appealing retro movement today. The music is like the bland, empty affect…
on “Gunship “Tech Noir” Breakdown” ↗…in effect; Cronenberg's ‘Videodrome’ is likewise good (however his ‘Crash’ doesn't really have the feel). Of later stuff, Bret Easton Ellis is proficient in such immersion, and funny enough has a pair ‘American Psycho’-‘Glamorama’ that are close in the themes to each other but are related in execution like the two books of Ballard's, and likewise the film is its own thing by necessity. Of very current authors, I know…
on ““Mother Will Be Pleased”: How It Feels to Be Run over (1900)” ↗