Clublife: Thugs, Drugs, and Chaos at New York City's Premier Nightclubs | 
 enlarge | Author: Rob The Bouncer
Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $3.80
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 175413
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061123889
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.959747
EAN: 9780061123887
ASIN: 0061123889
Publication Date: August 1, 2007
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Product Description
"I've always maintained highly ingrained, stringent standards of right and wrong. Repulsed by much of what I've seen while working as a bouncer, my indignation has served to grant me a particularly keen insight into a rarely seen segment of life in New York. This 'code' by which I've chosen to live, at least in my professional life, has given me a unique perspective on human behavior, as seen from the ground up. I've lived my adult life amidst the teeming masses–and, at times, under them–in a successin of dead–end jobs, culminating in bouncing, a field requiring me to cast judgment on some of the worst behavior humanity has to offer...." CLUBLIFE has evolved into one of the most popular internet sites of its kind, generating extraordinary amounts of traffic each day. In honest and descriptive prose, Rob the Bouncer takes us behind the scenes of some of New York City's most notorious night clubs, introducing us to the people who run the show, the vapid fools dying to get in, and the celebrities and bullshitters who get in no matter what. Coworkers, managers, troublesome customers, and even mobsters are observed, quite candidly, as Rob deals with a never–ending variety of humorous, difficult, and even dangerous situations. Rob also describes, in compelling detail, the evolution of a big time Manhattan nightspot–from red carpets and klieg lights to relegation to the city's B list, doomed to open its doors to the locals it tried so hard to keep out.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Could (should?) have been better--but still good. February 1, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Okay, I'm going to unleash some criticism, so let me start thing off first by stating that Rob definitely has writing talent and I enjoyed his book. He does an excellent job portraying the nightclub world as he saw it. The writing is good and sometimes even funny. If you are a guido, a thuggish form of Italian male that Rob definitely despises, then you will either hate this book or love that it puts you and your kind in a momentary limelight.
My main criticism is that I found Rob's stories to be lacking. Or maybe I just bought this book with too high of expectations. I mean come on, you worked in the biggest baddest nightclubs in New York City and these are your best stories? I have friends who work as bouncers and bartenders in some dive bars around the city and they can tell me better stories about the fights and the freaks that they encounter every night. There was also not much dirt spilled about the people around him. A book with nightlife subject matter should have been filled with this kind of juicy stuff. It seemed like Rob was giving us the PG13 rated version of what he really saw. Maybe he didn't want to throw anyone under the bus or maybe the publisher wanted to produce a tame story. Oh yeah, the lists Rob puts together about things like "How you should approach a bouncer" were also kind of lame.
But all in all, it was a good book that I enjoyed. Maybe now that Rob is a published author he can do a sequel that is not so tame.
 Solid and Entertaining October 16, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Clublife is an enjoyable read that offers much more depth then one might expect from the typical "blog to book" hype. Clublife the book started out as Clublife the blog, a popular site where Rob the Bouncer details the antics of the clubgoing masses he contends with as a bouncer in New York's club scene. If you're worried that the book is nothing more than blog entries cobbled together in book form, relax. Rob pulled off a real novel that's worth reading.
The book covers a two year period of Rob's bouncing career, and provides a look at the rise and fall of the nightclub "Axis," as well as an autobiographical look at Rob's personal life, told in an unflinchingly honest style that is at times both touching and hilarious.
Here's what the author had to say about his book:
"I don't think it's long enough. There was a lot more I could have said, and parts of it, instead of contributing to the "plot," read like extended, self-indulgent bitch-fests. There's occasionally too much dialogue. It moves in spots, though, and I suppose that's what counts."
It's not a lengthy book, true; and it wouldn't have hurt anything if a bit of Rob's guido commenary had been trimmed back, but there's gold in Rob's ranting, and he's dead wrong about the dialogue. Rob captures conversation like nobody's business. He has an ear for it, and the conversations we get to "listen in" on are the book's strength.
Clublife is fun, candid, and very much worth reading.
James Frey Watch Out! September 21, 2007
I've been looking forward to this book for a long time. It did not disappoint, as it had some of my favorite passages from his blog, but he put them together in a fresh new story line. Yes, some of the vignettes were familiar, but I liked the ending. It's hopeful but not cheezily so.
"Rob", thanks for putting in my favorite passage, the one about the girl with the glasses and your fantasy of a DUMBO loft. "In those dreams, I loved her for her quirks." I could close my eyes and see you.
50/50 September 14, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's interesting to see it from the bouncer point of view, as these are the people that club promoters deal with the most. But while I will say he is very well spoken compared to most people working the ropes, that isn't saying much. I think a lot of times you will find yourself relating to him, but much the same way you would relate to your buddy in a pub while you grab a drink. I would have liked more of a deeper insight into his personal fears and insecurities. A fun read, especially when you know a lot of the situations he is talking about, but this reads more like a extended version of a magazine article.
Pointless But Entertaining September 11, 2007
Rob the bouncer is full of tips for 'guidos' about how to act in clubs. Unfortunately, real guidos won't be buying, much less reading, his book. So that leaves curious voyeurs who seek a glimpse of the annoying scenes that play out at big clubs like 'Axis' in NYC and others in places like South Beach, where I live. There's no plot, except for a romance with 'Amanda' the bartender. Rob says all he has to say within a few pages, and the rest is repetitive hamburger helper. The prose sounds like a blog, which is where it evidently came from. You wonder if the author pitched it to an agent, or vice versa. Still, I read the thing, depressing though it is. You will, too.
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