American Psycho: April Fools Summary & Analysis

The novel begins with a quote from Dante’s Inferno, “Abandon all hope ye who enter here”, seen scrawled along the side of a bank in red graffiti letters. Suddenly, a bus pulls up with an advertisement for “Les Misérables” and blocks the view.

Patrick Bateman, the novel’s protagonist and narrator, is taking a cab through New York City with his friend Timothy Price, a fellow Wall Street investment banker. Price is complaining about hating his job and listing off the terrible occurrences that have been reported in the day’s paper: from AIDS to Nazis, mafia violence to gridlock. Bateman stays silent and allows his friend to continue on and on for most of the ride. Staring out the window, he sees another Wall Street colleague, Luis Carruthers; he watches as Carruthers waves to Price in the passing vehicle, but is ignored.

Price spots a homeless person on the street, begging for money, and swears. He is disgusted by the woman and by himself for growing so accustomed to seeing homeless people on the streets of New York City. He tells Bateman that he’s been counting homeless people all day, and over the course of the ride he’s reached a total of 30. As they near their destination, Price continues to complain, now discussing his plans to break up with his girlfriend. Eventually, he apologizes to Bateman for his attitude, telling him that the steroids he’s been taking have made him tense.

The two finally arrive at the home of Evelyn Richards, Bateman’s fiancée, where they’re planning to meet Evelyn and her friend Courtney for dinner. Price apologizes for being late, blaming the “inept Haitian cabbie.” The women announce that Evelyn has ordered sushi and they will be dining at home. Bateman flirts with Courtney when he sees her, but she brushes off his advances. Meanwhile, his fiancée Evelyn is obsessively re-arranging the sushi she’s ordered on a platter. She wasn’t able to get a reservation at the restaurant she’d hoped and now is preparing their take-out like a fine work of art, complete with fresh ginger, (embarrassingly) room temperature soy sauce, and large bottles of imported beer. The whole time, she is deeply concerned that everything is “a mess.” When Bateman steals a piece of sushi and tells her that it’s “delicious,” her anxiety seems to subside.

Price returns to the kitchen and announces that there are other people who he doesn’t know sitting in Evelyn’s living room. Courtney says that their names are Stash and Vanden, and that they are friends of Evelyn’s. Price finds the two strange; they’re artist-types, dressed in all black, Vanden with a streak of bright green in her hair. They’re sitting on the couch smoking, “doped up,” and staring entranced at a heavy metal music video on the television.

Under Evelyn’s guidance, everyone makes their way to the table to eat. She and Price briefly excuse themselves and return “flushed” about 20 minutes later. Evelyn insists that her guests sit boy-girl, so the guests re-arrange and sit down to the beginning of an awkward dinner. Stash skewers a piece of sushi with his chopstick and stares blankly at his plate, while Vanden sits reading a newspaper called “Deception” that bears the headline “THE DEATH OF DOWNTOWN” – Price finds this preposterous. Courtney seems amused by the whole affair.

Stash finally speaks to correct Vanden’s pronunciation of a new night club (she’s been calling it “Sri Lanka”) and discusses the war crimes currently being committed in that country, which leads Bateman into a long speech about the numerous foreign and domestic policy issues of the United States. He discusses ending apartheid, slowing the nuclear arms race, and making sure that America is a respected world power where all young people have access to affordable college education. He criticizes the current economic situation in the United States, demanding that there must be a way to decrease inflation, interest rates, and the national deficit while still promoting economic and business growth. He continues on even more, discussing welfare, abortion, illegal immigration, and so forth. When he finally finishes, Evelyn, unsure of what to do, offers everyone sorbet for dessert.

Stash and Vanden head out and Courtney goes to meet up with her boyfriend Luis Carruthers, leaving Evelyn, Price, and Bateman behind to keep drinking. The three end up in Evelyn’s bedroom, with Evelyn preparing for sleep and the men lying on her bed. Price teases Bateman and Evelyn, subtly flirting with Price, tells him to knock it off. The three gossip about Courtney’s unhappy relationship, as well as the last time Bateman met (or believes he met) Stash. The men mock Stash for being such a strange artist-type.

All of a sudden, Price is sitting behind Evelyn as she brushes her hair. Bateman watches as Price clearly flirts with Evelyn, even smelling and licking her neck and kneeling in front of her, trying to push his head up underneath her robe. Bateman tells the reader “I’m pretty sure that Timothy and Evelyn are having an affair. Timothy is the only interesting person I know.”

Evelyn abruptly announces that it’s time for Price to leave, and Bateman pushes him out of the apartment. The two men are both quite drunk. Bateman returns to the bedroom and crawls on top of Evelyn, passionlessly kissing her. He “[attempts] to have sex with her,” but she keeps interrupting, telling Bateman that Stash has been recently diagnosed with AIDS and will probably try to sleep with Vanden. She criticizes Bateman, telling him that he could be in better shape and asking if his hairline is receding. Eventually, Bateman gives up. He rolls off of Evelyn, finishes his last drink, and walks to his apartment, where he masturbates (thinking about Evelyn, then Courtney, then a model from a Calvin Klein ad.)