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The generic American psycho

Eldridge, David

Authors



Abstract

Following Elizabeth Young's 1991 analysis of the controversy surrounding the publication of Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, this article discusses the efforts of the makers of the 2000 film adaptation to "rehabilitate" the novel. It explores the recognition of Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner that Patrick Bateman was constructed from the literary debris of a variety of "debased" genres, how they responded by constructing a specifically cinematic Bateman and how, in doing so, they renegotiated the "pigeonholes" of genre fiction originally used in hostile reviews to dismiss Ellis's authorial intent. © 2008 Cambridge University Press.

Citation

Eldridge, D. (2008). The generic American psycho. Journal of American Studies, 42(1), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875807004355

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Mar 1, 2008
Publication Date 2008-04
Journal JOURNAL OF AMERICAN STUDIES
Print ISSN 0021-8758
Electronic ISSN 1469-5154
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 42
Issue 1
Pages 19-33
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875807004355
Keywords General Arts and Humanities; General Social Sciences
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/395965
Publisher URL https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/generic-american-psycho/CE5CE08CFBF531E06A51DEF2B81C03C4