Disco Bloodbath / Party Monster
(1999)

Disco Bloodbath is a memoir. It was selected for the consideration of the Members as a result of the following (sheepish) offhand remark:

I’m reading the same book for the third time in a row. I finished it, flipped back to the front page and started it again. It’s like a true crime memoir from the club scene in Manhattan in the 80s and 90s. The narrator is wildly unreliable.

I just got swept away by how it is written. I keep reading it because I love spending time there. It’s just wonderful. But honestly, I think it might be just a terrible, terrible book. I understand that I might get kicked out of book club if I picked it [sic, it’s a Literary Society]. But I just have to know. Like, is it good or just totally terrible?

Member #008

Disco Bloodbath is the debut work of James St. James. He was a club kid in the New York party scene as it was before Mayor Giuliani took aim at the nightlife industry and ruined their fun. To be fair to Giuliani, these kids were certainly a nuisance.

St. James’ “memoir” purports to be a true-crime account of ring-leader Michael Alig’s murder of Andre “Angel” Melendez. Alig was alleged to have killed Melendez over a drug debt. In 1997, Alig pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison and was released on parole in 2010.

Disco Bloodbath offers a window into a moment in time that is, in its own way, enchanting. The story is juicy. The subject matter is scandalous. Despite my advanced liberal sensibilities, I audibly gasped and clutched my pearls twice. Once was at the part about the drag queen with the Christmas lights.

One of the bonus features of Disco Bloodbath/Party Monster is the wealth of YouTube and other online content to explore. The characters were/are real people. There are gems all over the internet. For example, this episode of the Donahue Show featuring Alig in the height of his glory has aged particularly well.

I’ve added a comment section should anyone happen to pick it up – “Like, is it good or just totally terrible?“