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

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Book Reviews of The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night

Book Review: Comprehensive but lacking
Summary: 2 Stars

Summary of The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night

Studio 54 was the icon of excess?a place where Andy, Mick, Bianca, and Elton lounged in the VIP section while patrons did drugs in the fabled unisex bathroom, and wannabes waiting for hours outside hoped to catch the eye of the nineteen-year-old doorman who was, for a brief moment, the ultimate gatekeeper of cool.

The Last Party is the story not just of Studio 54 but of the whole Nightworld, vividly recalled by a writer and reveler who was there on opening night and on many, many nights thereafter. Anthony Haden-Guest takes us past the velvet rope, down onto the pounding dance floor, up into the polymorphously perverse balcony, and into owner Steve Rubell's office, where millions of dollars were surreptitiously skimmed from the golden goose. Vibrant, shocking, nonstop, and revealing, The Last Party is as packed with sparkle, scandal, and celebrity as Studio 54 itself.

The cast of characters includes Andy, Liza, Halston, and Bianca--no last names needed--and other luminaries etched into Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager's exclusive guest list. The anecdotes include lurid details of the revelry and stories like the one about that Halloween when two Lady Godivas were kept outside but their horse was allowed in. Haden-Guest resists the obvious urge to dish too much about the stars and instead examines the club as a social phenomenon. In his book, the front door of Studio 54 swings open just long enough to let escape the shadow of a scene that's long since seen the light of day.

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