I live in the American Gardens building...
on West 81st Street on the 11th floor.
My name is Patrick Bateman.
I'm 27 years old.
I believe in taking care of myself,
in a balanced diet, in a rigorous exercise routine.
ln the morning, if my face is a little pufffy,
I'll put on an icepack while doing my stomach crunches.
I can do a thousand now.
After I remove the icepack, I use a deep pore cleanser lotion.
In the shower, I use a water-activated gel cleanser.
Then a honey-almond body scrub.
And on the face, an exfoliating gelscrub.
Then I apply an herb mint facialmasque,
which l leave on fourteen minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine.
I always use an aftershave lotion with little or no alcohol,
because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older.
Then moisturizer,
then an anti-aging eye balm,
followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman.
Some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me.
Only an entity-- something illusory.
And though I can hide my cold gaze...
and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours...
and may be you can even sense our life styles are probably comparable,
I simply am not there.