Bret Easton Ellis: Lunar Park

Have you read or seen American Psycho?

Lunar Park is narrated by the writer who wrote American Psycho, the psychological thriller/slasher satire that graphically portrayed murders by an extremely wealthy Manhattan businessman while satirizing the American culture of greed and self-centeredness that characterized the 80s. The key words in the last sentence are “narrated by” because Lunar Park functions as sort of a journal of the author in the way that it blends reality with fantasy thereby creating a satirical investigation of the act of writing fiction while also lambasting American suburbia in a way that illustrates just how creepily we live. Patrick Bateman, the protagonist of American Psycho, returns to haunt the author that created him. In order to resolve his issues with the psychopath, the author must break down a number of walls that stand between fiction and reality. And he does this in a terrifying, gruesome kind of way.

This novel should be respected, if nothing else, for the fine prose that leaves the reader turning the page. This is not necessarily a “page-turner” but a novel that flows and leaves the reader wanting to know what turns up next.