'In a liberal society people should be free to read what they want to read.' 'It was a comment on the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street that were ruining the world. 'It was a comment on that period in America, the whole 'greed is good' era. 'It's not a great book at all, but it's a work of satire for goodness sake,' he said. He joked that the book should be banned, not for its shocking content, but for 'its quality of writing'.

Mr Lake said the publishers had been made aware that the classification had not been lifted. 'There is no suggestion the book has been on public display.' 'Police spoke with bookstore staff, who were very co-operative, and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of police,' she said. 'It's the only book on our shelf that we ever have with a plastic wrapper.'Īmerican Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis, was first released in 1991. 'I'd actually always suspected a ploy by publishers to keep it in plastic longer because it makes it stand out on the shelf. 'We just assumed the classification has been lifted,' he said.

Imprints Booksellers co-owner Jason Lake said previous editions had always been plastic-wrapped but the most recent edition was a Picador Classic with an introduction by famous Scottish author, Irvine Welsh, and it did not come plastic-wrapped. It is a satirical book depicting a psychotic high-flying Wall Street worker in an era of 'greedy' America and includes a number of very violent and graphically shocking passages.

The novel, by American author Bret Easton Ellis, has been classified R18 under national censorship legislation since its release in 1991, requiring it to be sold in plastic and only to those aged over 18. An Adelaide bookshop owner has been 'gently raided' by police for selling copies of the cult novel, American Psycho that were not plastic-wrapped.

Picador classic american psycho