Clublife : Thugs, Drugs, and Chaos at New York City's Premier Nightclubs

on The Surface, New York City's Nightclub Scene Is A World Of Glamour And Glitz-- A Playground Where The Wealthy Rub Shoulders With Celebrities While The Bridge And Tunnel Crowd Clamor To Get In. But Rob The Bouncer Knows The Truth About What Really Happens Behind The Club's Doors. As A Bouncer At Some Of New York's Premiere Nightclubs, He Saw It All-and It's A Far Cry From A Party Paradise. In clublife: Thugs, Drugs, And Chaos At New York City's Premier Nightclubs , Rob Takes Readers On A Harrowing Tour Of The Seedy, Dangerous, And Often Deranged World Of New York's Hottest Nightclubs. In The Tradition Of kitchen Confidential And the Tender Bar , clublife Is A Remarkable Memoir Of The Nightclub Business And How Drugs, Alcohol, Troublemakers, And Violence Conspire Against The Men Clubs Enlist To Keep It All Under Control. Brutally Honest And Filled With Incredible Tales Only A True Insider Could Tell, clublife Gives Readers A No- Holds-barred Guide To The Heretofore Unexamined Subculture Of New York Nightclub Security -- From The Front Door To The Dance Floor And Beyond. in 2005, Rob Began The Blog Clublife Standingonthebox.blogspot.com, Which He Calls An Online Journal Of The Nightly Nonsense Endured By A Bouncer At Two Of New York's Most Popular Nightclubs. Since Its Launch, Clublife Has Become One Of The Most Popular Sites Of Its Kind, Featured On Gawker.com, The new York Post And newsweek , And Drawing Legions Of Dedicated Fans In The Process. Now, In clublife , Rob Takes Readers Inside These Clubs, Detailing His Two Year Stint As A Bouncer At Axis, Once New York's Hottest New Club,chronicling Its Meteoric Rise And Equally Spectacular Fall Along With His Own Journey Toward Finding A Better Life For Himself Outside Of Work. rob Writes Of His Earliest Experiences Working In Bars As A Bouncer-a Career Born Of A String Of Failed Relationships, Personal Disappointments, And Shattered Dreams. He Explains With Often Hilarious Detail The Intricacies Of Bouncing, The Unwritten Codes Bouncers Must Adhere To, Frustrating Dealings With Steroid-fueled Tough Guys And Drunks, And Why Working At Even The Hottest Clubs Can Be A Thankless And Frequently Repulsive Job. Bouncing's Like Anything Else-you Learn It Only By Doing, Rob Writes. I Found That I Could To Talk Just About Anybody Out Of Anything Because I Was The Bouncer. The Title, Along With The Big, Block-lettered Staff Sign Across The Back Of My Shirt, Seemed To Make People Listen. When They Didn't, All I Needed To Was Get Behind Them And Choke Them Until They Did. rob Also Details Axis' Lifecycle, Giving Readers An Illuminating Glimpse Into The Inner Workings Of A Premiere Nightclub, Including How It Was Built, Promoted, And Then Killed By Its Own Success In A Matter Of Months. He Offers Fascinating Examples Of How The Club Was Managed, How He And His Fellow Bouncers Dealt With An Endless String Of Drug Dealers And Mobsters, And How Axis' Demotion To The City's B-list Reflected The Truth About What Nightclubs Really Are After The Hype Fades Away. Taking, After All, Is What The Nightclub Business Is All About, Rob Writes. It Takes And Takes And Takes, And Gives Nothing Back. The Customers Buy In. First The Celebrities, Then The Tourists, And Finally The Bridge And Tunnel Crowd, Scraped Up From The Farthest Reaches Of New York's Outer Boroughs. They Swallow It Whole And Accept It As Real At The Same Time Those Of Us Who Work There Start Waking Up To The Fact That It's A Farce. clublife Also Reveals The Extraordinary Levels Of Violence That Take Place Inside Nightclubs -- From Endless Verbal Abuse And Fistfights To The Ever-present Threat Of Knife And Gun Violence. Rob Writes Of Some Of His Most Dangerous Encounters, From Routine Fights And Shoving Matches To Having An Artery Severed By A Box Cutter-wielding Customer And The Night He Nearly Choked A Customer To Death Out Of His Frustrations With His Own Life. What Happens Is This: Night After Night, Hour After Hour, The Customers Insist Upon Heaving Bouncers, Kicking And Screaming, Into Their Cauldrons Of Bullsh*t, Rob Writes. Let Them Fight, I Say. You Get Tired Of Babysitting. You Burn Out On Keeping People From Doing Harm To Themselves And Everyone Around Them. What Happens At The Club Is That People Look For Their Respect. It's The Wrong Place To Do It, But Every Single Night, They're Searching For The Respect That's Eluded Them Everywhere Else In Their Lives. gritty, Compelling And Brutally Honest, clublife Is An Unforgettable Journey To The Dark Side Of New York's Urban Nightlife. A New York City bouncer and author of the popular Clublife blog offers an insider's tour of some of the region's most notorious nightclubs, where he has witnessed a wide spectrum of humorous, unsettling, and sometimes dangerous situations, in an account that also traces the evolution of Manhattan's big-time night spots. Reprint. 15,000 first printing. Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 14, 2008).