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Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 216, Bret Easton Ellis

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On the surface, like Patrick Bateman, I had everything a young man could possibly want to be “happy” and yet I wasn’t. I think Fight Club is about this, too—this idea that men are sold a bill of goods about what they have to be in order to feel good about themselves, or feel important. No one can really live up to these ideals, so there’s an immense amount of dissatisfaction roiling through the collective male psyche.

Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 216, Bret Easton Ellis

Really interesting interview with Bret Easton Ellis. I like that he draws this comparison to Fight Club, especially since I read it and American Psycho in quick succession and thought they both sort of hammered on the same notes. I did, however, like Fight Club a lot more than American Psycho.