博客來When a drably dressed ex-military researcher set out to understand New York City’s nightlife, NYU sociologist Victor Corona had no idea just how dramatic a transformation he would undergo. In order to discover what lay behind the city’s velvet ropes, Victor needed to trade ill-fitting khakis and military IDs for glitter eye shadow and bright highlights in his hair. As his reinvention let him access a gritty world of artists and performers hungry for fame and glamour, Night Class: A Downtown Memoir took shape.
Just as Wednesday Martin gave anthropological voice to the elite Upper East Side in her bestselling Primates of Park Avenue, Victor immerses himself among downtown’s most dazzling tribes. The memoir links his childhood as a closeted, undocumented Mexican boy trapped in suburbia to later encounters with wild New York personas. The players in his story include Lady Gaga’s rowdy Lower East Side crew and show biz collaborators, the remnants of Andy Warhol’s Superstar Factory of drama queens and divas, clubland stars at A-list nightlife hotspots like The Box and Limelight, and, after a summer spent working as his assistant, Party Monster and convicted killer Michael Alig himself.
This is a tale of transformation: of Victor, the New York legends he met, and the downtown world itself. Although many point to creative industries as key parts of any big city, no scholar has had the sustained access to downtown figures that Victor offers. In addition to extended conversations with over eighty key players in these scenes and never before seen photographs, Victor’s intense six-year immersion illuminates the thrill and tragedy brewed in the downtown night.
Just as Wednesday Martin gave anthropological voice to the elite Upper East Side in her bestselling Primates of Park Avenue, Victor immerses himself among downtown’s most dazzling tribes. The memoir links his childhood as a closeted, undocumented Mexican boy trapped in suburbia to later encounters with wild New York personas. The players in his story include Lady Gaga’s rowdy Lower East Side crew and show biz collaborators, the remnants of Andy Warhol’s Superstar Factory of drama queens and divas, clubland stars at A-list nightlife hotspots like The Box and Limelight, and, after a summer spent working as his assistant, Party Monster and convicted killer Michael Alig himself.
This is a tale of transformation: of Victor, the New York legends he met, and the downtown world itself. Although many point to creative industries as key parts of any big city, no scholar has had the sustained access to downtown figures that Victor offers. In addition to extended conversations with over eighty key players in these scenes and never before seen photographs, Victor’s intense six-year immersion illuminates the thrill and tragedy brewed in the downtown night.
