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Dec 17, 2009

Kristina rated it:

Okay, so I have the "Party Monster" paperback - less than $300 - version, but still. Mine is corrected on the inside cover by James St. James; he hates that they changed the title. I agree, it is WRONG to take an author's title away from them. Oh well, if you enjoyed the movie, this is almost better. well, more detailed, but there's no Seth Green & Macaulay Culkin so it may be a wash. Very interesting info on how to make Special K, and my favorite phrase for months after reading t More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Faye rated it:

I'm giving this book five stars because for what it set out to accomplish, it did perfectly. It is one man's recollection of the late 80s, early 90s, in which the Club Kids, led primarily by the eccentric Michael Alig, took the NY party scene by storm. James has a delightfully quirky and recognizable voice. I devoured this book in a day. As a person who is fascinated by club scenes, particularly the Club Kids, and has read and watched all articles and videos concerning them online (you're missin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 01, 2011

Anita rated it:

I no longer review "norm" books but this one straddled the line between norm true crime and truly odd true crime. So I won't review it, but because it was such a fantastic book, I'll share some of the best quotes. St. James really does have a fascinating capacity to be glibly deep and deeply glib.

"There is no mystery to death. No complicated pattern, nothing difficult. They are no special. It could happen again. Anytime. Anywhere. Of course. A slight miscalculati More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 21, 2010

Kevin rated it:

I first saw a movie about this topic starring Seth Green and Macaulay Culkin, not realising it was a true story. Straight away I was googling the 'club kids' and watching their appearances on Donahue and various other talk shows. Even tracked down the documentary which is very telling.

Essentially this is a tale about a murder. It's the story of young nightclub entrepreneur, Michael Alig, and his celebrity rise and fall in New York, thanks to a disregard of anyone but himself and by tak More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 25, 2010

CD rated it:

One of many pop-culture, current events books from the near to distant past that I will admit reading.

A dark sordid catty tale soaked in drugs and as nearly pure evil as can be found on the bookshelf. And it's true stuff. Having been a denizen, if for a short time and mostly as an avid voyeur,of the Limelight crowd, one knew something really bad was going to happen. Nobody gets to live at the pace that so many on display at the clubs of the period did and get out unscathed.

More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 14, 2011

Shelby rated it:

I think this book really makes you think. You don't really know where it's going to take you next. Which (even if you've seen the movie) makes it an interesting read. It gives you insight to a generation that sort of faded with time. You might not even to believe some of the things that are talked about so calmly, like none of it mattered. I didn't want to put this book down honestly, and read it in one sitting because I felt like I had to know what was going to happen next. It's weird because t More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Jory rated it:

I know I shouldn't laugh at true crime books because I mean, come on, it's TRUE CRIME, but I'm not going to lie to you, I laughed my ass off throughout this entire book. James St. James has written a shocking, hilarious, and somewhat gruesome depiction of club kids in the 80s and 90s, complete with a murder. I wish I was born earlier, so I could see what being a club kid was like. It's intriging to me. I just want to go out in what of those outfits, to be honest, because they sounded FLAWLESS. More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Ashley rated it:

This book reads about 35% Michael Alig/the Angel Melendez murder, 25% a random look at a not so necessary VH1 behind the music of Freeze's life (accompanied by some random chick named Mavis), 20% wacky random drug use and repetitive descriptions of binging and spiraling out of control, 15% snark, mudslinging, leading, and bragging, and finally, about 5% surprising empathy and warmth. It wasn't what I expected, nor was it as salacious as I had hoped, but I still enjoyed the ride. I am not the fir More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2007

Chris rated it:

Anyone who was into the rave scene, or was a club kid in the early 90s needs to read this book. It's everything that the time was about. Drugs, partying, music, DJs and more.

St. James writes about death in a way that is both disturbing and at times funny. It's weird to say that a book about a ghastly murder had me laughing out loud at parts.

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Dec 17, 2009

BarkLessWagMore rated it:

After finishing this novel about the drug fueled world of the club kids that James St. James describes with great detail I almost felt like I'd overdosed on his writing. A little past the half way mark his constant descriptions of their hedonistic world and the ever-changing group of so-called friends exhausted me. It was an interesting book at turns hilariously funny and yet depressingly melancholy. The lengths these kids took to be the center of attention and fill their lives with excitement w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 15, 2010

Patti rated it:

This book is an interesting moment in time and a classic tale of how greed and gluttony creates monsters.

I think it's an interesting phenomenon that people who do not fit into main stream culture, form their own counter cultures and then proceed to create their own higherarchy within them. Each layer of the social pyramid contains their own smaller pyramids.

On youtube, there are a lot of comments comparing Lady Gaga to the antics of the club kids, which proves that every More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Megan rated it:

James St. James tells the story of Michael Alig and their meeting and how they lived as Club Kids and as drug addicts quite well. Very easy reading book. For the most part it's fairly simplistic. I was caught on only 2 or 3 words; this is a rarity for me as my vocabulary is quite large. To have any book challenge me to any degree gets extra props from me!
Very interesting to read something so crazy AND true. It's hard not to become so interested in this story that you end up glued to your co More...

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May 24, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 14, 2011

Misha rated it:

The flashy style of writing was interesting (and had me mesmerized for the first couple chapters), and the story told is interesting as well for the characters involved. He paints a good picture of the nature of the characters that continually come and go in the story of his life. A picture is painted, as well, of the club kid scene, which is bright and flashy and full of mind-altering substances, and one that I think most readers will want to stay far away from after reading this book.
His More...

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Aug 29, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. It's a true story of drug addiction gone unchecked and true madness. The style isn't literary, but I must say that this book really disturbed me, not only because it was based on a true story but because it smacks of a sad reality and the darkness in the human heart. This is also a story of deep alienation. Definitely not a "feel good" book, but a memorable one nevertheless. Recommended for unconventional and non-mainstream readers. In fact, I would place th More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Tiffany rated it:

To be honest, when I started this book I didn't expect to find myself laughing at a true crime novel. That's something that just doesn't happen.

James St. James changed that. However, the book was hard to follow at points when drug use was occurring or when things just got mixed up in the club scene. I felt a little lost at times and at others I would get annoyed at the childishness and the tone in general of the narrator's voice.

As a whole, the product was worth a read-th More...

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Jul 02, 2011

Jess rated it:

In the late 80s and mid 90s a group of outrageously dressed young people dominated the nightlife of New York City, including the so-called "celebutante" James St. James. He befriended and guided newcomer Michael Alig through the world of clubs, drugs and self-promotion. Their friendship wasn't strong, built mainly on a friendly rivalry, but it all began to shatter when in 1996 Alig and another cohort, Freeze, murdered a drug dealer named Angel. It was to be the swan song of the brightl More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Vanessa rated it:

4.5 stars.

I sourced a copy of this book soon after watching the film 'Party Monster'. I didn't actually love the film like I thought I would from the trailer, but it was a very entertaining watch and the fact that it was a true story made me want to know more. I started watching clips on youtube of interviews with Michael Alig & James St. James, and clips of the Club Kids on various talk shows. They were a truly fascinating, grotesque bunch.
This is the story of Michael Alig, who a More...

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Dec 01, 2010

teacup_carousel rated it:

St James is magic - I'm convinced of it. His bio might have him listed as living in Los Angeles or some other such place but to anyone who's had the delight to finish Party Monster we all know that he really lives in some higher, sparklier realm of existence reserved for the Keebler Elves, Santa Clause, Marilyn Monroe and one of Liberace's fountain heads. If there's another writer on the face of the planet that can feed me the most horrific details of a murder, describe in detail the sawing up o More...

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Nov 18, 2008

Amanda rated it:

Party Monster
James St. James

This book was based off a true story. So I believe the authors purpose, was to get the story out. Maybe, the purpose was to show what drugs and bad people can do to you. You can be one person at one minute and change to a completely different person another. ""Baby I can make you both stars!" That’s how I put it. And they were sold. "You two are going to be, hold onto your hats, CLUB KID DRUG DEALERS! Oh, you'll make a fortune. T More...

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Mar 14, 2008

Chris rated it:

It seems like a vacuous read but I really enjoyed James St. James' drag queen-style black humor and the chance to relive my past a little bit. I now work with people who've been doing hard drugs for decades and I sometimes wonder where I fall in the spectrum of people who have been touched by that lifestyle. The perspective was amazing. St. James is brutally honest (as all drag queens should be), not only about the characters and the scene but about himself and his place in it. He doesn't make h More...

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Mar 02, 2008

Tony rated it:

Perhaps the real horrors in the modern world draw me to these kind of books. The escapism through concern about the pointless is a powerful bromide to the real horrors we face. Now, for the kid who ends up with parts of his severed body all stuffed in a trunk...well...I guess the concerns weren't too mundane for him....but it is hard to stay upset or focus on that detail...because everyone else in this book is just so FABULOUS!

This book is about clubbing, being cool, and exstacy. The More...

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Nov 27, 2007

Jenny rated it:

I heard a story about a guy who was a club kid. I didn't know who club kids were. (Yes, I'm a little out of touch with pop culture...) He killed his drug dealer, chopped off the legs, and threw the pieces into their city's body of water. He told all of his friends, to free himself from guilt..and they all partied another few months before the cops finally found the body and arrested him.

Originally, I started reading this book to try and understand why a (tight knit counter culture) More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Jamie rated it:

A fully fun and enjoyable read, and even better than the movie. It's not great literature or anything, but it's well written in an appropriate vernacular and James St. James's first person account gives the tale a sense of realism (in the unreality in which the Club Kids lived) that is missing from most crime novels, true or not. The characters are despicable and deplorable and all the more intriguing for it. Party Monster is not the best book you'll ever read, but it's better than bubble-gum.

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Dec 26, 2010

Meredith rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 26, 2010

Emily rated it:

I read this book after watching the movie that was based on it. I wish so much that I owned the original version, Disco Bloodbath.
James St. James is excellent at captivating you and this book blurs the lines of what really happened and what St. James' drug addled mind cooked up. I love it because I can live the 80's club scene vicariously through it.

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May 02, 2009

Lucie rated it:

This was an interesting read. It's the (true) story of Michael Alig, who was a club kid in NYC in the 90's. He ended up killing another drug dealer. The book is written by James St. James (who you may recognize from America's Next Top Model) who was also part of Alig's scene. St. James writes mostly about his memories (which are kind of a mess because holy cow did he do a lot of drugs). It's more of a memoir than a true crime novel, but interesting none the less.

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Feb 02, 2012

Gray rated it:

Ahhh, nightclubs in the '80s (and part of the '90s). Weren't they just FABULOUS?

My scene was rather different and on the opposite coast from the Clubland St. James describes, but he does it so well I feel like I might have been there. In a nightmare. Reading this book is also the closest I'm ever going to get to experiencing a K-hole; he conveys that phenomenon quite vividly as well.

Drugs, drag, humor, and a keen sense of the absurd -- it's like a Chuck Palahniuk novel! But More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

A snap shot in time of the early nineties New York club kid scene. Too many drug, too much and too little money, too little self control and a demented fashion sense lead to murder. The charismatically creepy Michael Alig kills another young man and trys for a very short time to escape the law. He is of course way too inept not to be caught. A laugh out loud true crime story, ah there's a new genre every minute.

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Aug 21, 2007

Clare rated it:

I read "Disco Bloodbath" when a friend gave it to me because he got too upset to finish it. I thought it was pretty good - it's a fascinating case from a unique place and time - the murder of drug dealer Michael Alig in Peter Gatien's insane club scene in 1980s New York. St. James can actually write, too - his style isn't self-indulgent, as I had feared it would be judging by his public persona. But the fact of his own involvement in the story, the part he played in the concealment More...

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