Anyone who is not shocked by this book is dead. It is not, however gratuitous. Violent in the extreme, but it has a point to make. Some people suggest that Patrick Bateman is more like ourselves than we want to imagine. Some suggest that it is an indictment of 1980s society and the lack of interest in other people. Whatever you think of this book it is one that is going to leave some sort of stain on your life.