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The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night
Studio 54 was the epicenter of disco culture and pre-AIDS debauchery. Now, journalist and nightworld denizen Anthony Haden-Guest takes us behind the velvet rope that separated the celebrities from the wanna-bes, into an all-night world of revelry, sensation, and decadence.Going beyond the endless partying with Liza, Bianca, Halston, Andy, and Mick, Haden-Guest probes the seamy underside of Studio 54: the drugs, the deaths, and the corruption that eventually shuttered the club. It is the story of Studio 54's flamboyant owners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who achieved early success beyond their wildest imaginings, came within a hair's breadth of great power, and then crashed and burned.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
November 15, 2016
It's very rare to come across a book where it's greatest positive also happens to be it's greatest negative. Somehow Haden-Guest has accomplished this with his memoir on NYC nightlife. From pre-Studio 54 days to the death of the club kids in the 1990's, all the information you could ever want is in here, along with a whole lot that you could probably do without. It took me a year to get through this, I'd read chunks, get bored, toss it aside for months and come back to it when I was choosing what to get into next. By being part of the scene itself, Hayden-Guest strength turns into weakness because you can tell the subject matter, and the people are too close to him. Trying to edit it down to just the necessary facts was clearly impossible for him, so we end up reading a lot of useless stories about people only those in the scene would know. Theres just so many detours and scattered recollections and gossip from nobodies about nobodies that by the end you'd swear this five hundred page book is actually closer to a thousand.
If you're looking for a breezy fun read about the club scene this isn't for you. Only die hards who want to know ALL the facts from ALL players need apply.
*Thank you Open Road Media and Netgalley for this review copy.
If you're looking for a breezy fun read about the club scene this isn't for you. Only die hards who want to know ALL the facts from ALL players need apply.
*Thank you Open Road Media and Netgalley for this review copy.
February 9, 2015
I would like to begin my review by stating that I'm a huge fan of Studio 54. I've watched dosens of documentaries featuring the club and the disco era in general, read plenty of articles, i even collect rare photos from within the club and its most notable patrons, so i was so excited when i stumbled upon this book on Netgalley.
My excitement though, was sadly and pretty early on, dissipated. Although i enjoyed many aspects of the book, like the intriguing and highly detailed stories and the 2009 intro, the biggest part wasn't what i hoped it would be. In my opinion the book naration was pretty much, an endless series of names and places, scattered thoughts and memories and void descriptions. Mainly, its core theme wasn't the Studio, but the nightlife until the early 90's.
The Nightlife. A word that was so overused it made my head spinning and my eyes rolling a handful of times. 400 pages are not enough to decribe the nightlife in New York for two decades, but they weren't even enough to capture the 70's nostalgia i was craving for, from the moment i opened the book.
Of course, that wasn't the only problem i encountered. Primarily i would say that the book is a subcultural, social and historical, decorum. But later on the feeling of a memoir slithered in, and made me as a reader wonder. I didn't like all the details that held no meaning to the main story, and the way the author many times lost his train of thought.
But i came to love many passages and features. Firstly, i believe that the book provides a fine example of the reality inside the club, the graphic stories, the exhibitionist tendencies, the commercial solicitation of drug abuse, the extrovert and uninhibited sexual acts, the daring parties, the fantasy world that only opened for very few chosen ones every night, along with the rise of disco music and later on the fall from grace, not only for the two owners of the club but for a whole generation at the same time an end of an epoch. The revolve that followed from a glamourous and acentric partying to a vibrant and buoyant revelry.
Many issues maybe glitterized, but the main idea is very clear and poignant. I have to say i noted also, the sigificant difference after AIDS became a reality and the meaning of those times in the acceptance of the homosexual community.
Notable Patrons:
Andy Warhol
Mick Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Grace Jones
Diana Ross
Liza Minnelli
Gia Carangi
Truman Capote
Elizabeth Taylor
Halston
Sally Lippman earned her moniker "Disco Sally".
Jerry Hall
Woody Allen
Michael Jackson
Brooke Shields
Freddie Mercury
Annie Lennox
Divine
Madonna
Donna Summer
Calvin Klein
Diane von Furstenberg
and many, many more.
ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you!
My excitement though, was sadly and pretty early on, dissipated. Although i enjoyed many aspects of the book, like the intriguing and highly detailed stories and the 2009 intro, the biggest part wasn't what i hoped it would be. In my opinion the book naration was pretty much, an endless series of names and places, scattered thoughts and memories and void descriptions. Mainly, its core theme wasn't the Studio, but the nightlife until the early 90's.
The Nightlife. A word that was so overused it made my head spinning and my eyes rolling a handful of times. 400 pages are not enough to decribe the nightlife in New York for two decades, but they weren't even enough to capture the 70's nostalgia i was craving for, from the moment i opened the book.
Of course, that wasn't the only problem i encountered. Primarily i would say that the book is a subcultural, social and historical, decorum. But later on the feeling of a memoir slithered in, and made me as a reader wonder. I didn't like all the details that held no meaning to the main story, and the way the author many times lost his train of thought.
But i came to love many passages and features. Firstly, i believe that the book provides a fine example of the reality inside the club, the graphic stories, the exhibitionist tendencies, the commercial solicitation of drug abuse, the extrovert and uninhibited sexual acts, the daring parties, the fantasy world that only opened for very few chosen ones every night, along with the rise of disco music and later on the fall from grace, not only for the two owners of the club but for a whole generation at the same time an end of an epoch. The revolve that followed from a glamourous and acentric partying to a vibrant and buoyant revelry.
Many issues maybe glitterized, but the main idea is very clear and poignant. I have to say i noted also, the sigificant difference after AIDS became a reality and the meaning of those times in the acceptance of the homosexual community.
Notable Patrons:
Andy Warhol
Mick Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Grace Jones
Diana Ross
Liza Minnelli
Gia Carangi
Truman Capote
Elizabeth Taylor
Halston
Sally Lippman earned her moniker "Disco Sally".
Jerry Hall
Woody Allen
Michael Jackson
Brooke Shields
Freddie Mercury
Annie Lennox
Divine
Madonna
Donna Summer
Calvin Klein
Diane von Furstenberg
and many, many more.
ARC provided via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. Thank you!
January 21, 2015
Subtitled, “Studio 54, Disco and the Culture of the Night,” this is a new edition of a previously published book, with a new introduction. Although Studio 54 is central to the book, it is also about the nightlife of New York in the 1970’s and 1980’s generally. There is, obviously, a lot about the excesses which took place, celebrity culture and the characters involved; including Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who spent time in prison after raids on the club.
If you are looking simply for stories of decadent behaviour, then this may not be the book for you. Yes, there are big names- Mick and Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, Liza Minelli and more – but this is also an exhaustive story of how the club and whole Disco scene evolved. Journalist Robin Leach announced it where, “Sodom and Gomorrah met the High Street,” and, indeed, it was the heyday of reckless glamour –a brief and luminous time when, it seemed, anything went. In between the rolling skating disco dancers and nights on the dance floor, though, there is a darker side. Children allowed beyond the velvet ropes to drink in the club for example. For the press were happy then to take celebrity snaps and then step back and this less intrusive attitude led to much more mixing of the rich and famous with the beautiful people on the dance floor.
At its height, Studio 54 was seen as a brand. The giddiness of success led to suggestions of a Studio 54 record or film company, before the age of Disco seemed to be over, the feds moved in and AIDS loomed over the gay community. This is a really in depth read about an era now gone, in a city which no longer welcomes outrageous behaviour, but practices zero tolerance. An interesting history of New York’s nightlife and of a nightclub which obviously still holds many good memories for those who were involved at its height. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
If you are looking simply for stories of decadent behaviour, then this may not be the book for you. Yes, there are big names- Mick and Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, Liza Minelli and more – but this is also an exhaustive story of how the club and whole Disco scene evolved. Journalist Robin Leach announced it where, “Sodom and Gomorrah met the High Street,” and, indeed, it was the heyday of reckless glamour –a brief and luminous time when, it seemed, anything went. In between the rolling skating disco dancers and nights on the dance floor, though, there is a darker side. Children allowed beyond the velvet ropes to drink in the club for example. For the press were happy then to take celebrity snaps and then step back and this less intrusive attitude led to much more mixing of the rich and famous with the beautiful people on the dance floor.
At its height, Studio 54 was seen as a brand. The giddiness of success led to suggestions of a Studio 54 record or film company, before the age of Disco seemed to be over, the feds moved in and AIDS loomed over the gay community. This is a really in depth read about an era now gone, in a city which no longer welcomes outrageous behaviour, but practices zero tolerance. An interesting history of New York’s nightlife and of a nightclub which obviously still holds many good memories for those who were involved at its height. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
June 10, 2008
I picked up this book because I have an interest in nightlife, gay culture, the 1970s, and disco. Okay, really, I'm a nerd. I've wanted to read this book for a long time, and I have to say, I was actually disappointed with it. I couldn't tell what the author's point was in writing the book: was it an elegy for the nightlife that Studio 54 ushered in, a condemnation of an oversexed, overindulged, celebrity class, was it a mixture of the two? The title is misleading; it really should be something akin to Studio 54's impact on the nightlife of New York City. That's what it really is. The first third is the development of Studio 54, the second third is actually Studio 54, and the final third is what came after Studio 54.
Interestingly, the author ends with the story of Michael Alig, the club kid who brutally murdered and dismembered another club kid. He glosses over the story, but I'd be interested to read something that really academically tracks how we get from Studio 54 to Michael Alig. I think the author was going for that, but his thoughts were too scattered.
Interestingly, the author ends with the story of Michael Alig, the club kid who brutally murdered and dismembered another club kid. He glosses over the story, but I'd be interested to read something that really academically tracks how we get from Studio 54 to Michael Alig. I think the author was going for that, but his thoughts were too scattered.
November 18, 2025
This was really detailed and interesting read about the NYC night world beginning in the 1970s, but the focus on business deals largely and with few exceptions eclipsed the story of the night world as a whole, the human element, the dangerous and suppressed bits no one knows about, the stuff that never makes it onto the pages of history books—here unfortunately glossed over as everywhere else, protecting the powerful and ignoring the voices of those victimized and forgotten that desperately need their stories told.
January 10, 2018
I only read a little more than half of this book. I liked the writer and his cultural comments, also his actual history of nightclub attendance. It just seemed very long, even for a history of nightclubs. A completist history.
Read
April 26, 2019It was a DNF for me so no rating..not the right book for me..the cover was stunningly awesome though.
March 2, 2020
Tim Lawrence's books on New York's club scene of the '70s and early '80s make it sound like a vibrant subculture where gay men and/or people of color found a home. THE LAST PARTY makes it sound like a bunch of rich jerks getting coked up and dancing all night to "Disco Duck" remixes.
May 11, 2015
Second reading, May 2015
The Last Party was originally published in 1997. By coincidence, it came out around the same time filming of 54 with Michael Myers began, but one did not beget the other. I read the book when it first came out, and eighteen years later I'm transferring entries on my hand-written book log to Goodreads. Now, the log had four stars on this entry, but after some digging I found what I had written on Amazon all those years ago:
I admit it was the subject matter that prompted me to pick up this book, but I was disappointed. If anything, The Last Party is a much better chronicle of 54's history than that Michael Myers film, but it is essentially a slow-moving story.
That doesn't sound like a four-star review I'd write, so when I see Party has been re-released this year and slightly updated, I figure why not re-familiarize myself with the story and see if my opinion has changed. Journalist Haden-Guest (half-brother of Spinal Tap's Christopher) may be better known in some circles as a frequent guest, and while The Last Party chronicles the "Nightworld" as a whole - its early chapters a brief guide to popular discos of the time - it's clear in the 70s there was only place to party.
Party, though, isn't exclusive to Studio 54. Studio is perhaps the best known of the New York clubs that thrived in the brief disco era, but Haden-Guest touches on a myriad of imitators and (often unsuccessful) competitors. Party reads like a hybrid of micro-history and memoir, as Haden-Guest injects his personal experience in numerous vignettes within the book. It's a muddle story that plows through Studio 54, which enjoyed a life akin to a shooting star - an incredibly bright flame out and gradual fizzle into darkness. As you read a book like this, you might expect gossip to turn your hair white. You get snatches (heh) of it, but overall the book is a roll call of club promoters, developers, and people who are more New York/nightlife famous than world famous. There's a lot to muddle through and if you stick with Party you may ask yourself how a book about a place once considered the most exciting on the planet comes off so dull.
Yes, the slow-moving assessment remains. The book isn't much of a party for me, but you're into peeling back glitter for the seamy underbelly of nightlife you'll get more tales of creative accounting than blind item coke snorting here.
The Last Party was originally published in 1997. By coincidence, it came out around the same time filming of 54 with Michael Myers began, but one did not beget the other. I read the book when it first came out, and eighteen years later I'm transferring entries on my hand-written book log to Goodreads. Now, the log had four stars on this entry, but after some digging I found what I had written on Amazon all those years ago:
I admit it was the subject matter that prompted me to pick up this book, but I was disappointed. If anything, The Last Party is a much better chronicle of 54's history than that Michael Myers film, but it is essentially a slow-moving story.
That doesn't sound like a four-star review I'd write, so when I see Party has been re-released this year and slightly updated, I figure why not re-familiarize myself with the story and see if my opinion has changed. Journalist Haden-Guest (half-brother of Spinal Tap's Christopher) may be better known in some circles as a frequent guest, and while The Last Party chronicles the "Nightworld" as a whole - its early chapters a brief guide to popular discos of the time - it's clear in the 70s there was only place to party.
Party, though, isn't exclusive to Studio 54. Studio is perhaps the best known of the New York clubs that thrived in the brief disco era, but Haden-Guest touches on a myriad of imitators and (often unsuccessful) competitors. Party reads like a hybrid of micro-history and memoir, as Haden-Guest injects his personal experience in numerous vignettes within the book. It's a muddle story that plows through Studio 54, which enjoyed a life akin to a shooting star - an incredibly bright flame out and gradual fizzle into darkness. As you read a book like this, you might expect gossip to turn your hair white. You get snatches (heh) of it, but overall the book is a roll call of club promoters, developers, and people who are more New York/nightlife famous than world famous. There's a lot to muddle through and if you stick with Party you may ask yourself how a book about a place once considered the most exciting on the planet comes off so dull.
Yes, the slow-moving assessment remains. The book isn't much of a party for me, but you're into peeling back glitter for the seamy underbelly of nightlife you'll get more tales of creative accounting than blind item coke snorting here.
May 13, 2015
I got this book from Net Galley, and I'm not sure if it was an e-ARC or what, but there are a lot of typos throughout. I haven't seen the finished edition, but it's worth noting.
Besides that, this is an interesting journey through New York nightlife from the late 60s to the mid-90s, primarily centered around Studio 54 (understandable, considering their massive presence for a long time and how they changed things), but there are lots of interviews and a handy "Cast of Characters" at the back of the book because there are a LOT of names to keep track of. Maybe there are no earthshattering revelations to people who lived through the time, but for someone who was only a teenager binging on Behind The Music episodes and such about this time, it's a fascinating book.
Besides that, this is an interesting journey through New York nightlife from the late 60s to the mid-90s, primarily centered around Studio 54 (understandable, considering their massive presence for a long time and how they changed things), but there are lots of interviews and a handy "Cast of Characters" at the back of the book because there are a LOT of names to keep track of. Maybe there are no earthshattering revelations to people who lived through the time, but for someone who was only a teenager binging on Behind The Music episodes and such about this time, it's a fascinating book.
October 7, 2017
Very mediocre. Each page is pretty much the same. (Name) wanted to start a dance/after hours/live music club. So they talked to (name) and (name) to fund it. Then (name) came in and wanted a piece of the action. Then they brought in (name) to throw parties at the club and everyone came, including such celebrities as (name), (name), and (name) and such NY nightlife personalities as (name) and (name). Then a new club, (name), opened up downtown, funded by (name and name) and it became hot for a while as (name) and (name) frequented it.
July 24, 2017
One of my guilty pleasures is reading about and seeing pictures from Studio 54's heyday in the 70s, so I was really excited to read this book. Sadly I was disappointed. This book spent too much time on competitive NYC clubs and not enough on Studio 54. The chapters about 54 were interesting, but the other did not keep my attention.
February 22, 2021
Gossipy but enjoyable collection of tales from the hottest club in NYC for a time. I don't know if the book needed all the weirdass third-person digressions. And the narrative definitely lost traction near the end in the 1980s. But there's still quite a lot to enjoy here (partygoers abseiling from the rooftop to get into 54 and other wild tales).
November 7, 2024
I gave this 3 stars because of the amount of info included in this book. I agree with another reviewer in that the book wasn't so much about the activities of the celebrities who went to Studio 54 as the nuts and bolts of finding property, setting it up and the opening & closing of all other clubs in New York over the years.
August 21, 2025
3.5 stars
Engaging and enlightening; it truly opened my eyes to a world I'd known very little about. I was, perhaps, a bit more interested in the first half of the book, but overall it was a good read.
Engaging and enlightening; it truly opened my eyes to a world I'd known very little about. I was, perhaps, a bit more interested in the first half of the book, but overall it was a good read.
May 7, 2017
The lack of a photo section in the Kindle edition ruined it for me.
March 20, 2018
A little too bitchy and mean for my taste but written pretty well.
i-quit
May 24, 2020I didn’t know it was possible for a book about Studio 54 and the nightlife to be so dreadfully dull, but here we are.
January 28, 2021
this was interesting, it is a story of a time that seems long ago, but yet more current. It was well researched , but a but dispassionate.
July 9, 2021
It was ok. There were some shocking stories, but overall if you know anything about Studio than you won't find the book that great. Too many characters and at times the book felt all over the place.
April 6, 2022
Very long book but overall good. Learned about things that I didn't know before like the investors and the owner were involved in the restaurant business and that the night club was once owned by CBS
July 2, 2023
My advice? Read up until Rubell and Schrager go to the pokey.
January 4, 2024
The first half, which was mostly about Studio 54 was far better than the second, which was the other night spots of its time.
July 3, 2021
This really surprised me: it takes a fascinating subject and makes it hard to follow and dare I say it - dull. The author was part of the scene at the time and I think that affected his ability to pick a narrative through line and make it make sense. Characters appear for a couple of pages and then vanish again. It jumps from club to club but also around in time a bit. I learnt a few new things, but not nearly as much as I expected and it was hard going all through. I would definitely read more about this time period and this club scene - it just needs more focus.
April 9, 2013
Studio 54: the Roman Empire of NYC Nightlife
New York City and the 1970s: a dysfunctional marriage that spawned a myriad of cultural icons; one of them being Studio 54. With THE LAST PARTY, Anthony Haden-Guest details the “perfect storm” scenario that allowed Studio 54 to become the patriarch of the city’s competitive social scene until it imploded … a victim of owner self-indulgence and arrogance. While the book’s intention is to highlight the zeal of the nightclub scene in NYC from the disco era through the 80s, it is obvious that Studio 54 set the tone from the beginning and cast a shadow that loomed large, long after its demise.
Hayden-Guest’s journalistic perspective of New York’s night life pays homage to the ingredients that made the magic: the investors/owners/promoters that facilitated the venues, the celebrity culture that used these venues as their personal playgrounds and the wannabes that simply wanted a taste of the upscale life. A roughly chronological journey that takes readers through the short-lived life-cycle of Studio 54 and many other clubs that dominated New York’s nightlife, the book clearly defines a by-gone era. Although numerous other clubs are detailed, none have the substantive clout that defined Studio 54 at its peak or the example it set when its owners were imprisoned for tax evasion. Because of this, Studio 54 dominates the pages of the book.
While I was expecting somewhat of a detailed historical overview of Studio 54 and its societal impact, I found the book more of a wistful remembrance of someone who experienced those days first-hand. As a columnist/critic, Hayden-Guest had a front-row seat to the social scene back then and rubbed elbows with New York’s social royalty (including the club owners). THE LAST PARTY encapsulates the recollection of experiences from those who shared the rise and fall of Studio 54 and the club scene through the 70s and 80s. Their voices, while offering veracity to the storyline, tend to merge and disrupt the book’s reading flow. But through it all, we get a fly-on-the-wall perspective that details the decadence of an era where fun was a nothing more careless behavior (drugs and sex) in a seedy environment. There is plenty of celebrity coursing through the book as Studio 54 (and some of the lesser clubs) served as THE watering-hole for the day’s social elite (Warhol, Halston, Grace Jones, Bianca/Mick Jagger and a myriad of designers, artists, models and musicians). The book was written in the 90s, so many of the stories likely won’t carry the shock value they surely had almost 20 years ago. Still, it represents an interesting look at what was considered “cutting-edge” back in the 70s and 80s, when hardcore drug-use, sexual proclivities and AIDS were not “mainstream” issues.
While I found THE LAST PARTY interesting, it never gave me that nostalgic kick that I expected … in other words, I don’t feel I missed-out on anything special by not experiencing Studio 54. But I did enjoy the book’s manner of peeking under the veil that covered the lurid, murky world of greed, violence, lust, intoxication and inhibition that defined New York nightlife back then.
New York City and the 1970s: a dysfunctional marriage that spawned a myriad of cultural icons; one of them being Studio 54. With THE LAST PARTY, Anthony Haden-Guest details the “perfect storm” scenario that allowed Studio 54 to become the patriarch of the city’s competitive social scene until it imploded … a victim of owner self-indulgence and arrogance. While the book’s intention is to highlight the zeal of the nightclub scene in NYC from the disco era through the 80s, it is obvious that Studio 54 set the tone from the beginning and cast a shadow that loomed large, long after its demise.
Hayden-Guest’s journalistic perspective of New York’s night life pays homage to the ingredients that made the magic: the investors/owners/promoters that facilitated the venues, the celebrity culture that used these venues as their personal playgrounds and the wannabes that simply wanted a taste of the upscale life. A roughly chronological journey that takes readers through the short-lived life-cycle of Studio 54 and many other clubs that dominated New York’s nightlife, the book clearly defines a by-gone era. Although numerous other clubs are detailed, none have the substantive clout that defined Studio 54 at its peak or the example it set when its owners were imprisoned for tax evasion. Because of this, Studio 54 dominates the pages of the book.
While I was expecting somewhat of a detailed historical overview of Studio 54 and its societal impact, I found the book more of a wistful remembrance of someone who experienced those days first-hand. As a columnist/critic, Hayden-Guest had a front-row seat to the social scene back then and rubbed elbows with New York’s social royalty (including the club owners). THE LAST PARTY encapsulates the recollection of experiences from those who shared the rise and fall of Studio 54 and the club scene through the 70s and 80s. Their voices, while offering veracity to the storyline, tend to merge and disrupt the book’s reading flow. But through it all, we get a fly-on-the-wall perspective that details the decadence of an era where fun was a nothing more careless behavior (drugs and sex) in a seedy environment. There is plenty of celebrity coursing through the book as Studio 54 (and some of the lesser clubs) served as THE watering-hole for the day’s social elite (Warhol, Halston, Grace Jones, Bianca/Mick Jagger and a myriad of designers, artists, models and musicians). The book was written in the 90s, so many of the stories likely won’t carry the shock value they surely had almost 20 years ago. Still, it represents an interesting look at what was considered “cutting-edge” back in the 70s and 80s, when hardcore drug-use, sexual proclivities and AIDS were not “mainstream” issues.
While I found THE LAST PARTY interesting, it never gave me that nostalgic kick that I expected … in other words, I don’t feel I missed-out on anything special by not experiencing Studio 54. But I did enjoy the book’s manner of peeking under the veil that covered the lurid, murky world of greed, violence, lust, intoxication and inhibition that defined New York nightlife back then.
January 17, 2015
ARC for review.
This book was originally published in 1987, when the Michael Alig/Club Kid murder was still big news this book covers a time frame of the Nightlife(trust me, you get used to the capital letter) from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, which is a LOT to cover adequately in just one book, especially because the title leads one to believe that the book will be about Studio 54 but actually covers so much more (I had only read 35% of the book when Steve Rubell was sent to prison, which effectively ended the heyday of Studio). Afterward we are treated to a laundry list of every important club that came after, but the focus was on the business of getting them opened, not necessarily the fun and hedonism which occurred at them (and I was definitely looking for the latter).
Haden-Guest seems to have been a part of the Studio 54 crowd and he makes a good case that the rise of Studio was also the rise of the papparazzi, but also the last time that those photographers had a sense of decorum in that certain photos were not printed or even taken, especially within Studio itself. I also didn't realize that Steve Rubell kept on trucking for a while after his release from prison and that there were many attempts to revive Studio, which shows that Haden-Guest is correct in his description that, much like Haight-Ashbury, Studio became a piece of "psychic real estate" that extended far beyond its actual physical space.
While perhaps Studio 54 really did capture the zeitgeist of the 1970s and the disco era this book talks much less about the glitter, glitz and fabulousness of the place (and all that came after) and almost reads like a flow chart of the business deals and legal hassles involved, including primarily names I didn't know (one that I did though, Ann Magnuson who is from here in Charleston and with whom I had dinner a few years ago). Perhaps it's because I'm not from the era so it isn't directed at me as a reader, but I was really interested....just not in the interchangeable names of a dozen businessmen who opened/owned/ran clubs in the city.
Haden-Guest is also a bit of a name-dropper....I can't imagine caring about an ex-husband of a niece of Winston Churchill, but Haden-Guest thought that I should. Perhaps I should also have cared more about Maurice Brahams, Jerry Brandt, Eric Goode and Ian Schrager, but I didn't even know who they were and, truthfully, after I finished, I still didn't care very much. I'm sure there is a great Studio 54 book out there and covers the glamorous parts, but this isn't it (but for the 80s section I might recommend Party Monster by James St. James (he also appears in the latter half of this book.
So, overall, if you lived in New York during this period and were into the club life, you would probably find this far more interesting than someone like me who missed it all.
This book was originally published in 1987, when the Michael Alig/Club Kid murder was still big news this book covers a time frame of the Nightlife(trust me, you get used to the capital letter) from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, which is a LOT to cover adequately in just one book, especially because the title leads one to believe that the book will be about Studio 54 but actually covers so much more (I had only read 35% of the book when Steve Rubell was sent to prison, which effectively ended the heyday of Studio). Afterward we are treated to a laundry list of every important club that came after, but the focus was on the business of getting them opened, not necessarily the fun and hedonism which occurred at them (and I was definitely looking for the latter).
Haden-Guest seems to have been a part of the Studio 54 crowd and he makes a good case that the rise of Studio was also the rise of the papparazzi, but also the last time that those photographers had a sense of decorum in that certain photos were not printed or even taken, especially within Studio itself. I also didn't realize that Steve Rubell kept on trucking for a while after his release from prison and that there were many attempts to revive Studio, which shows that Haden-Guest is correct in his description that, much like Haight-Ashbury, Studio became a piece of "psychic real estate" that extended far beyond its actual physical space.
While perhaps Studio 54 really did capture the zeitgeist of the 1970s and the disco era this book talks much less about the glitter, glitz and fabulousness of the place (and all that came after) and almost reads like a flow chart of the business deals and legal hassles involved, including primarily names I didn't know (one that I did though, Ann Magnuson who is from here in Charleston and with whom I had dinner a few years ago). Perhaps it's because I'm not from the era so it isn't directed at me as a reader, but I was really interested....just not in the interchangeable names of a dozen businessmen who opened/owned/ran clubs in the city.
Haden-Guest is also a bit of a name-dropper....I can't imagine caring about an ex-husband of a niece of Winston Churchill, but Haden-Guest thought that I should. Perhaps I should also have cared more about Maurice Brahams, Jerry Brandt, Eric Goode and Ian Schrager, but I didn't even know who they were and, truthfully, after I finished, I still didn't care very much. I'm sure there is a great Studio 54 book out there and covers the glamorous parts, but this isn't it (but for the 80s section I might recommend Party Monster by James St. James (he also appears in the latter half of this book.
So, overall, if you lived in New York during this period and were into the club life, you would probably find this far more interesting than someone like me who missed it all.
February 18, 2013
This book felt like it took me ages to read.
But you know what? I really, really enjoyed it. And that's saying a LOT, seeing as I'm usually the last person to enjoy nonfiction. But this was, in many respects, extremely entertaining. It almost felt like reading one long gossip column, what with all of the celebrities who kept getting mentioned. (Of course, that was also disappointing to me, as it was a little sad to realize how pretty much everyone important at that time was a drug addict or something similar).
My only point is, the book's style became both way too predictable and way too confusing, particularly for someone who previously knew NOTHING about the story inside (born in '94, whattup?) It would mention a thing that would connect to another thing, then connect that thing to the people involved and give us a brief biography of them. Which was fine, and I understand the only way to give the full story of Nightworld, but I just got a little lost and a little bored sometimes in the endless sea of new players.
Still, though, a fascinating read, and I'm glad I know something about this now.
But you know what? I really, really enjoyed it. And that's saying a LOT, seeing as I'm usually the last person to enjoy nonfiction. But this was, in many respects, extremely entertaining. It almost felt like reading one long gossip column, what with all of the celebrities who kept getting mentioned. (Of course, that was also disappointing to me, as it was a little sad to realize how pretty much everyone important at that time was a drug addict or something similar).
My only point is, the book's style became both way too predictable and way too confusing, particularly for someone who previously knew NOTHING about the story inside (born in '94, whattup?) It would mention a thing that would connect to another thing, then connect that thing to the people involved and give us a brief biography of them. Which was fine, and I understand the only way to give the full story of Nightworld, but I just got a little lost and a little bored sometimes in the endless sea of new players.
Still, though, a fascinating read, and I'm glad I know something about this now.
January 19, 2016
Although there are many of my generation who will heartily deny any association with disco, I must say that it was a formative part of my early adulthood and that I loved it, and still listen to the songs. And though trapped in the far hinterlands distant from the Nightlife of New York, in Tampa, and the mecca of Studio 54, I often pined to one day witness the chaos that was described. I would never have been admitted however. So I have learned of the shenanigans that went on there in documentaries and stories, and now with this remembrance and social history by a noted partier himself. The result was a bit messier than I had hoped and covers a broader array of clubs than expected, but it is an interesting tale. I was not really amazed by what went on there, but was surprised how easy it was for extremely young kids getting themselves in there. Of course, disco lives on, in permutation and generally known as dance music. And I don't think anything today comes close to the excess displayed at this bar. And the story also is a cautionary tale for those who overindulge and are excessively greedy.
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