Well, I don't much care for Ellis' book, but I love the movie.  I have no problem with the violence in the book and it's clearly not really happening.  But the structure is, pardon me, a god awful mess.  It's like he didn't even bother to structure it at all, just blogged about music, club life, socializing and dissecting people in a simple rotation until he ran out of material, with no discernible moral or point, no particularly interesting perspective and no satisfying pay off.  Even the movie ends with a monologue making that essential point, which is funny because the movie actually DOES have a discernible character arc and point for Bateman.

That said, Ellis is a good enough writer that his actual prose is well worth reading.  And I think Bateman is a great character for our times...more so than the 80s.  In the 80s, everyone was PLAYING at cut throat capitalism while the fundamental structure of our economic world still basically functioned.  Now, that behavior has threatened the very foundation of capitalism itself and the "psychos" are not out there killing women, the homeless and each other...they're killing the world. 

Maybe Bateman could put on a costume and start fighting that kind of crime.  Bateman begins.  We know Christian Bale is up for the role.