Word: psycho
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...American Psycho is one of the most violent, sexually explicit and profane novels ever to appear in the United States. Because the book treats a topic which most Americans feel uncomfortable discussing, it has proven an excellent target for both the "sensitivity" and "decency" police. American Psycho is the literary equivalent of a snuff film...
...Unfortunately, the selective opposition to censorship by those groups that claim to be in favor of freedom of expression has further endangered this freedom. Unnoticed by most, our civil liberties are slowly disappearing. And the best recent example of this is the controversy surrounding Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho...
...American Psycho Ellis tried to do what any artist worth his or her salt would do-get a desensitized people to take a good long critical look at themselves and their practices, indeed, to shock the unshockable. This is social criticism at its most offensive, yet most effective level...
...Angeles Chapter of N.O.W. called Ellis's book "a how-to novel on the torture and dismemberment of women," as if such a manual would create new psychos. Richard E. Snyder, chairman of Simon & Schuster, quickly caved in to the feminists and canceled his company's publication of American Psycho in the name of "taste." Amanda Urban, Ellis's agent, characterized the cancellation as "a giant corporation [Paramount Communications, which owns Simon & Schuster] responding to prepublication controversy and strong-arming its publishing division into abandoning its own tradition of fearless publishing...
...cancellation of American Psycho sends a message to the would-be artist- "sensitivity" and "decency" should be valued more than honesty. Ellis may not be able to shock the reader, or to show our society anything new. Americans are too far gone for that. But if Ellis can show his readers a mirror of themselves, his work should be available for those who are not afraid to look...