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Nights at Rizzoli
Salvador Dalí, Jerome Robbins, Jackie Onassis. Gregory Peck, Mick Jagger—S. J. Perelman—I. M. Pei. Philip Johnson, Josephine Baker, John Lennon: they, and so many more who made New York City the center of the universe in the 1970s, all had one thing in common besides their adopted hometown—they shopped at a legendary palace of books, music and art: Rizzoli Books at 712 Fifth Avenue. There, Kennedys and Rockefellers mingled with tourists and “regular” customers under the watchful gaze of sophisticated employees, themselves a multi-talented, international collection of artists, scholars and rogues.
Nights at Rizzoli is the memoir of Felice Picano, an aspiring but near-starving young writer who in 1971 lucked into a part-time job at the stunningly elegant store via a friend. It metamorphosed into a life-changing experience, one that exposed him to some of the brightest lights in the world’s cultural capital. At the store, he himself became a key player on a stage that opened every night to a new drama that often featured romance, at times violence, and of course always the books and their readers.
And when his shift was over, in this post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS era, the handsome young bookstore manager stepped from one world into another, prowling the piers, bars and very private clubs of a different New York City.
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
3 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Felice Picano
99 books211 followersFelice Anthony Picano was an American writer, publisher and critic who encouraged the development of gay literature in the United States. His work is documented in many sources.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 13, 2017
A fun romp through gay NY of the 1970s, which is apparently one of those eras (like 1920s Berlin, 1930s Paris, or 1960s London) that stands out from the usual drab march of history thanks to a confluence of artistic fabulosity and social innovation. Picano is a great guide, being observant and gossipy, but never overtly nostalgic.
May 28, 2018
Uma extraordinária memória de vida em Nova Iorque nos anos 70, por um dos seus mais destacados protagonistas (ícones?) literários, construída a partir dos anos em que o autor trabalhou na livraria frequentada pelas maiores celebridades da época, em especial por causa da ligação da sua actividade editorial ao mundo das artes plásticas. Mas se Picano depressa ascendeu na hierarquia dos empregados do distinto estabelecimento, o livro explora igualmente as suas aventuras fora do horário laboral, particularmente hedonistas, nomeadamente em matéria de liberdade sexual. Tudo enquanto ainda lhe sobrava tempo para se dedicar com afinco à escrita das suas primeiras obras literárias. Ou seja, um turbilhão de vivências, que se lê com o mesmo fôlego com que parece terem sido vividas.
February 26, 2018
What can I say that hasn't already been said about the great Felice Picano ? Mr. Picano isn't just a great author, he's a living legend and I love sitting at his feet for a spell as I read one of his books. In this autobiographical book, the author discusses a period of time in the seventies when he worked for the flagship Rizzoli bookstore in NYC where he regularly served customers like Jackie O, Bianca Jagger, Maria Callas and Rose Kennedy. Being a long term employee of Barnes & Noble, I was able to greatly relate to his time as a bookseller. I would recommend this book to fans of the author or people interested in gay history and the history of New York in the 1970's.
May 10, 2017
Packed in the cutely designed little book are stories of the author's early days in 1970s New York City, his interactions with famous patrons of the equally famous high-end bookstore, and some history of the Manhattan early '70s scene in arts and the growing gay community and sexual subculture. Picano name-drops with elan and provides some juicy historical gossip.
July 13, 2025
This was a fantastic surprise! It had been on my TBR list for several years now and I found it as an audiobook on Audible this week (interesting because it looks like it was primarily released as a Kindle or audiobook, with very limited print editions existing).
Felice Picano was one of the gay literary icons, part of the Velvet Quill Club in the early years of gay lit, and he passed away in March 2025. I had the good fortune to hear him on a panel at the Gay Literary conference I attended in Boston, back in 1992!
Up until this week, I'd only read one Picano book and found it a slog (although I will attempt to reread it now) and I plan to read a couple more of his early novels that he cites in this amazingly fun memoir of his early years working in the legendary Rizzoli bookstore in Manhattan in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Picano tells stories of the famous patrons (Rose Kennedy, Jackie O, Salvador Dali, Garbo, and so many others) that he met, talked to, became friendly with, or was inspired to keep writing by their words of wisdom. I was speechless listening to his encounter with Jackie O.
Even more unexpected was the various stories Picano told of his sexual life in those days. These were heady days for gay men in NYC. Bath clubs, sex clubs, the Pier, the Trucks, all written about over the years, but there's something more wide-eyed in Picano's stories and it made me wish I could have been a part of that era, that place. Of course, as Picano wraps up this memoir with his departure from Rizzoli's and his burgeoning career as a novelist, he reminds us that within a few years, many of those friends, his community would be dead. Picano himself lost his partner in the epidemic and despite his own wild behavior then, he was either very lucky not to have contracted the virus, or he was fortunate enough to outlast it until AZT and the turn in controlling the virus.
I'm saving this book in my Audible library and I'll be revisiting it soon to hear the stories again and gain more inspiration for my own writing (which has been neglected now for several years). I'm also on the hunt for a physical copy.
Felice Picano was one of the gay literary icons, part of the Velvet Quill Club in the early years of gay lit, and he passed away in March 2025. I had the good fortune to hear him on a panel at the Gay Literary conference I attended in Boston, back in 1992!
Up until this week, I'd only read one Picano book and found it a slog (although I will attempt to reread it now) and I plan to read a couple more of his early novels that he cites in this amazingly fun memoir of his early years working in the legendary Rizzoli bookstore in Manhattan in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Picano tells stories of the famous patrons (Rose Kennedy, Jackie O, Salvador Dali, Garbo, and so many others) that he met, talked to, became friendly with, or was inspired to keep writing by their words of wisdom. I was speechless listening to his encounter with Jackie O.
Even more unexpected was the various stories Picano told of his sexual life in those days. These were heady days for gay men in NYC. Bath clubs, sex clubs, the Pier, the Trucks, all written about over the years, but there's something more wide-eyed in Picano's stories and it made me wish I could have been a part of that era, that place. Of course, as Picano wraps up this memoir with his departure from Rizzoli's and his burgeoning career as a novelist, he reminds us that within a few years, many of those friends, his community would be dead. Picano himself lost his partner in the epidemic and despite his own wild behavior then, he was either very lucky not to have contracted the virus, or he was fortunate enough to outlast it until AZT and the turn in controlling the virus.
I'm saving this book in my Audible library and I'll be revisiting it soon to hear the stories again and gain more inspiration for my own writing (which has been neglected now for several years). I'm also on the hunt for a physical copy.
June 18, 2024
Helping Rose Kennedy with photos for her memoir because he'd been such a help to "Mrs. Onassis", helping Elton John furnish a flat, stealing a cab from Angela Lansbury. All part of Picano's rise through management at the original Rizzoli bookstore at the time that it was pivoting from Italian to English books and beginning to feature art. Simultaneously, the story of the post Stonewall, pre AIDS gay NYC that brought the author into contact with Marsha P. Johnson and the changing West Village. Enjoyed the info on Hamilton's ghost, as well as how Jane, Christoper etc. Streets got their names. A solid read, although I found the narrator grating at times.
June 7, 2018
A little pretentious and didn’t have as much substance as I expected
October 11, 2021
Interesting book if you were alive in the 1970s, and if you were/are gay.
Read
September 6, 2022Did not finish. Did enjoy the parts about Rizzoli.
June 27, 2021
Engaging and star-studded, this short memoir takes its reader to New York in the early 1970s where before he became a published author, Felice Picano worked at Rizzoli Books catering to the likes of Jackie Onassis, John Lennon, Salvador Dalí and many more celebrities. Between tales from the bookstore and tales of the city's gay nightlife, this made for a thoroughly entertaining read.
November 27, 2014
4.0 of 5 stars – Delightful Snippet of a Gay Life in Early 70's NYC.
(I'm excited to have won this as a Goodreads First Read – so thanks, OR Books!)
II'm a fan Felice Picano's work, and with this one I hoped to learn more of his personal background behind the stories. What I got was that and more. In his wonderful storytelling style, Picano gave me a look at what seemed like an enchanting time in NYC. It'd be nostalgic for those who lived it, and an engaging picture of the place and time for those who didn't.
You would think that a story about working in a bookstore would be boring, but not this one; and not just because Picano also tells of his after-hours life (including a pretty wild sex life) once he closed the store doors for the night. Picano writes in a deft prose, yet still with a nice economy of words in picturing the surroundings and characterizing his colleagues and customers. He also set a good pace, keeping me engaged and reading further for the next vignette. He told his stories from a customer-clerk perspective, sort of a semi-insider, not a full member of the inner circle of famous artists and elegant people, but mingling with them.
This was chock full of info about lower Manhattan in the early 70's, and even leading up to the 70's with the history of some of the streets, buildings, shops and bars. It gave me a flavor of the times - NY's West Village, Rizzoli in the heart of Madison Ave. across from Tiffany's, the gay bars and discos, sex on the pier and in the truck trailers, the city's corruption and bankruptcy, the consequent shaking down of the bars, the potpourri of artists and artistic explosion (before being devastated by AIDS). It certainly would be nostalgic for anyone having lived there at the time. For others, it would give a sense of what it was like, even wanting to have experienced it oneself. It made me wish I could say "Ah, those were the days."
Yet, with all the place- and name-dropping, it did at times have a tinge of pretention, yet with Picano's style it's still in an agreeable sort of way. To explain, for non-NYers, we do see in some NYers (not all) a kind of "attitude", or at least a hint, that is rather egocentric/geocentric - beyond just NY pride that NY is the best, but also that NY is the ultimate center of fashion, art, theater, culture … universe, thus acting like all revolves around NY and thinking that non-NYers are second-class citizens. Some don't realize how much they do this, others don't care. And interestingly, even Picano himself was confused and didn't see it when someone commented about this in relation to Rizzoli. But I have to say again, these stories are told in enough of a charming way, and they did happen, so who could blame him for relating, even bragging a bit about these experiences.
Overall, this was a light, fun read, which is complemented by its interesting 6x8 format, and a good supplement to Picano's body of work.
(I'm excited to have won this as a Goodreads First Read – so thanks, OR Books!)
II'm a fan Felice Picano's work, and with this one I hoped to learn more of his personal background behind the stories. What I got was that and more. In his wonderful storytelling style, Picano gave me a look at what seemed like an enchanting time in NYC. It'd be nostalgic for those who lived it, and an engaging picture of the place and time for those who didn't.
You would think that a story about working in a bookstore would be boring, but not this one; and not just because Picano also tells of his after-hours life (including a pretty wild sex life) once he closed the store doors for the night. Picano writes in a deft prose, yet still with a nice economy of words in picturing the surroundings and characterizing his colleagues and customers. He also set a good pace, keeping me engaged and reading further for the next vignette. He told his stories from a customer-clerk perspective, sort of a semi-insider, not a full member of the inner circle of famous artists and elegant people, but mingling with them.
This was chock full of info about lower Manhattan in the early 70's, and even leading up to the 70's with the history of some of the streets, buildings, shops and bars. It gave me a flavor of the times - NY's West Village, Rizzoli in the heart of Madison Ave. across from Tiffany's, the gay bars and discos, sex on the pier and in the truck trailers, the city's corruption and bankruptcy, the consequent shaking down of the bars, the potpourri of artists and artistic explosion (before being devastated by AIDS). It certainly would be nostalgic for anyone having lived there at the time. For others, it would give a sense of what it was like, even wanting to have experienced it oneself. It made me wish I could say "Ah, those were the days."
Yet, with all the place- and name-dropping, it did at times have a tinge of pretention, yet with Picano's style it's still in an agreeable sort of way. To explain, for non-NYers, we do see in some NYers (not all) a kind of "attitude", or at least a hint, that is rather egocentric/geocentric - beyond just NY pride that NY is the best, but also that NY is the ultimate center of fashion, art, theater, culture … universe, thus acting like all revolves around NY and thinking that non-NYers are second-class citizens. Some don't realize how much they do this, others don't care. And interestingly, even Picano himself was confused and didn't see it when someone commented about this in relation to Rizzoli. But I have to say again, these stories are told in enough of a charming way, and they did happen, so who could blame him for relating, even bragging a bit about these experiences.
Overall, this was a light, fun read, which is complemented by its interesting 6x8 format, and a good supplement to Picano's body of work.
November 20, 2014
I hadn't read anything by Mr. Picano before, and the name of the book had me at first glance. Rizzoli bookstore, at the time Picano worked there, was the epitome of class, good taste, worldly intellectualism. It is no wonder Picano had interactions with Rose Kennedy and Maria Callas: the bookstore was a glorious, safe haven for those who reveled in quiet thought and beauty.
The other part of the book deals with Picano's nightlife after he closed the store, and offers some anecdotes about the freedom of cruising until dawn.
Unfortunately, the book is mostly about Picano's take on events in his life, all of which could have opened up into lovely short stories, but instead are alluded to and dropped fairly quickly. Why, for instance, does Picano use full names for everyone except handsome Italian bookstore manager, Mr. M.? I was assuming we'd get to a juicy bit about an interaction between the two, but the relationship (professionally and personally) goes nowhere. And, although this is a biography, give us more! Although I have personally visited Rizzoli hundreds of times, Picano gave me no real insight into the power of that institution in its heyday. Also, if cruising was a huge part of his life (an I'm assuming he delves into more details in his other books), let's have it. It's as though the time was important in Picano's life, but he either doesn't remember it that well, or just doesn't want to share personal interludes. But then, why write a book about it?
The other part of the book deals with Picano's nightlife after he closed the store, and offers some anecdotes about the freedom of cruising until dawn.
Unfortunately, the book is mostly about Picano's take on events in his life, all of which could have opened up into lovely short stories, but instead are alluded to and dropped fairly quickly. Why, for instance, does Picano use full names for everyone except handsome Italian bookstore manager, Mr. M.? I was assuming we'd get to a juicy bit about an interaction between the two, but the relationship (professionally and personally) goes nowhere. And, although this is a biography, give us more! Although I have personally visited Rizzoli hundreds of times, Picano gave me no real insight into the power of that institution in its heyday. Also, if cruising was a huge part of his life (an I'm assuming he delves into more details in his other books), let's have it. It's as though the time was important in Picano's life, but he either doesn't remember it that well, or just doesn't want to share personal interludes. But then, why write a book about it?
November 16, 2014
Nights at Rizzoli by Felice Picano
This is a very nice vignette from the famous writer who gave us Like People in History, The Lure, and Dryland's End.
In 1964, Angelo Rizzoli opened Rizzoli Bookstore at 712 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Built in 1907 by architect Albert S. Gottlieb and inspired by the classical style of 19th century Parisian town houses, the Rizzoli Building attracted legions of customers with its "marble floors, oak paneling, sparkling chandeliers."
Set in the early 70's, Mr. Picano narrates from the first person point of view his wonderful adventures at the Rizzoli store in New York City. Unemployed and in need of a job, Felice is convinced by his friend Dennis Sanders - a current employee at the store - to speak with the manager - the famous Mr. M. Because Felice was a struggling writer and he spoke several languages, he's hired.
At Rizzoli Felice brushes with the rich and famous of New York City: The Kennedys, The Rockefellers, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Mick and Bianca Jagger....
Felice both interacts and is influenced by the bright and famous of the era, including brushes with Erte and Dali - both of which had exhibitions at the Bookstore.
The book is full of anecdotes that not only include these famous people and it also narrates the gay scene in the 70's, especially the "A - gay" scene - which Felice was a central part after his shift ended.
A very easy and pleasant read.....
This is a very nice vignette from the famous writer who gave us Like People in History, The Lure, and Dryland's End.
In 1964, Angelo Rizzoli opened Rizzoli Bookstore at 712 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Built in 1907 by architect Albert S. Gottlieb and inspired by the classical style of 19th century Parisian town houses, the Rizzoli Building attracted legions of customers with its "marble floors, oak paneling, sparkling chandeliers."
Set in the early 70's, Mr. Picano narrates from the first person point of view his wonderful adventures at the Rizzoli store in New York City. Unemployed and in need of a job, Felice is convinced by his friend Dennis Sanders - a current employee at the store - to speak with the manager - the famous Mr. M. Because Felice was a struggling writer and he spoke several languages, he's hired.
At Rizzoli Felice brushes with the rich and famous of New York City: The Kennedys, The Rockefellers, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Mick and Bianca Jagger....
Felice both interacts and is influenced by the bright and famous of the era, including brushes with Erte and Dali - both of which had exhibitions at the Bookstore.
The book is full of anecdotes that not only include these famous people and it also narrates the gay scene in the 70's, especially the "A - gay" scene - which Felice was a central part after his shift ended.
A very easy and pleasant read.....
February 4, 2015
I don't write reviews very well because I am not one to tell you the synopsis of the book in my review. If you want that please look at the good reads page or amazon or barnes and noble.
I was fairly excited when I won this book because I thought I was going to be reading about an authors exciting nights in an art gallery rubbing elbows with famous people. This is what it sounds like the book is going to be about when you read the synopsis, or at least it did for me. It isn't.
It is about a poor gay man in the 70s trying to make it as a writer and it is about how many famous names the writer can throw our way. He wants us to know how many famous people he met.
The book isn't exciting. It is boring.
It isn't well written, it is a rambling account. The writer starts out telling one story and 3 sentences later he is on a completely different thought without having completed the first story.
I did finish the book but I had to force myself to complete it. I just didn't find it compelling at all.
I was fairly excited when I won this book because I thought I was going to be reading about an authors exciting nights in an art gallery rubbing elbows with famous people. This is what it sounds like the book is going to be about when you read the synopsis, or at least it did for me. It isn't.
It is about a poor gay man in the 70s trying to make it as a writer and it is about how many famous names the writer can throw our way. He wants us to know how many famous people he met.
The book isn't exciting. It is boring.
It isn't well written, it is a rambling account. The writer starts out telling one story and 3 sentences later he is on a completely different thought without having completed the first story.
I did finish the book but I had to force myself to complete it. I just didn't find it compelling at all.
March 31, 2025
Enjoyed this!
Great book about the famous Rizzoli bookstore in NYC, working up from stock boy to manager. Good stories. It’s also a biography of an author, struggling to find time to write, and the multiple times he was torn between the store and writing, and his ultimate success.
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
Great book about the famous Rizzoli bookstore in NYC, working up from stock boy to manager. Good stories. It’s also a biography of an author, struggling to find time to write, and the multiple times he was torn between the store and writing, and his ultimate success.
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
February 17, 2015
Fun, quick read. Author's anecdotes about working at a famous NYC bookstore while beginning his writing career. Loved his stories about the gay scene in NYC in the 1970s.
October 3, 2015
Fine period piece capturing the scene in NYC - mainly in the 70s.
December 15, 2015
Nights at Rizzoli by Felice Picano: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwid... 2015 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)
June 10, 2016
A disappointing book. Less about Rizzoli and more about the author's Fabulous Life.
February 5, 2016
Memoir of Felice's time as clerk at the famous Rizzoli Book Store in NYC.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews