A review by stronlibrarianvibes
The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night by Anthony Haden-Guest

2.0

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.