Did the premise of American Psycho seem fanciful, or purely satirical/allegorical, at the time it came out?
that's interesting
idk but assume it that the time it was taken as highly stylized, absurdly exaggerated
which literally it still is - I doubt finance bros are going around and hacking people up with axes
I don't think it's that knowledge of rich, powerful men committing abusive acts and getting away with it has become common knowledge, so much as culture has shifted in the last 30 years - an really, as you say, in the last 10 - to the point where it's no longer acceptable for rich, powerful men to commit abusive acts - that they will (sometimes, at least) not get away with it. Harvey Weinstein is another one "American Psycho" figure (tho he'd fit much better into
Less Than Zero).
American Psycho is so specific to that cultural moment. maybe he hasn't written a good book since b/c his writing only works in the context of the greed for lack of better word is good 80s. Gordon Gekko is more or less a realistic Patrick Bateman.
as I said above, if such a book was written today it would have to be set in the world of private equity. and/or tech. today's Bateman be publicly woke, his company would have "don't be evil" type mission statement, he would be on some kind of raw/vegan/etc diet, he would have one of those doomsday bunkers ultrarich guys have in New Zealand or old nuclear missile silos or wherever.