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

The Last Party is Anthony Haden-Guest’s account of Studio 54 and the legendary New York nightlife scene of the ‘70s and ‘80s, now available as an IconIt Classic.Vivid, nonstop, and revealing, The Last Party is as packed with as much sparkle, scandal, and celebrity as Studio itself. |

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.

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“Who better to take us behind the velvet rope of that ‘70s mecca of disco and substance abuse? . . . Haden-Guest’s notorious excesses might seem unseemly or pointless if he weren’t able to collate them into such perceptive pop chronicles. The Last Party is an assiduous mix of memoir and reportage” - Newsweek

“A fascinating account of Studio 54’s hedonistic glory.” - New York Observer

“Elegant . . . a vivid portrait of ‘70s nightlife” - Wall Street Journal