The Last Days of Disco, With Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards

Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: An unusual novelization of a film after its theatrical release, that also happens to be written by its director/writer. By telling the story of the movie from the point of view of one of its characters -- who knows about the movie, its script, and various other background materials -- The Last Days of Disco, with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards actually improves upon what was an excellent, enjoyable film to begin with. But don't be concerned that this is some trite post-modern, deconstructionist gobbledygook, because Stillman is just as talented a novelist as he is a filmmaker, and he allows the wonderful, affecting story about a group of young people finding their way in the world hold center stage. Set against his marvelous descriptions of New York City at night, and its early 1980s club scene, along with the great dialogue Stillman's films are known for, Stillman's novelization of his own film succeeds greatly on its own.

Rating:
Summary: Ingenious Novelization Reveals Strengths, Shallowness
Review: Ever had a hankerin' for Hemingway? Or found yourself fixin' for some Fitzgerald? Sure, you could go back and reread *The Sun Also Rises* for the fifth time. Or *The Great Gatsby* for the seventh or eighth. But why bother when you want something new, something fresh, something that captures that same decadent ennui while referencing Chic's "Good Times" and Evelyne "Champagne" King's "I Don't Know If It's Alright"? Now, I'm not saying Whit Stillman's debut novel(ization) deserves automatic entry into the canon of Western literature. However, as a refreshing tonic of socio-sexual commentary, I assure you it can't be beat.

Here's what I like most about this novel: The narrative concept. Yeah, I saw the movie and liked it. (If you saw the movie and hated it, move on.) But the movie confused me at times, because -- quite frankly -- most of the male characters looked so similar that I kept confusing them. But, but, but...in the book, Stillman ingeniously casts fictional character Jimmy Steinway as the first-person, omniscient narrator -- with full knowledge of the movie, its script and various other background materials that the film's producers supposedly and graciously granted him. (Not to mention about twenty years of hindsight.) So Steinway can not only tell his side of the story, poor sod, but also elucidate many other goings on, including events to which he himself was not privied.

Long story short, this is indeed a retelling of the film that reveals all the strengths and weaknesses of the original story. The strengths being, first, great (great, great) dialogue. I found myself *thinking* like Stillman's dialogue for hours after I put down the book. Second, the novel (and film) present a very dignified and righteous defense of disco culture. Who knew? I grew up hating disco, believing it fake, stupid and empty like any red-blooded rock 'n roller. How enlightening to learn that disco, like any genre, had its artistes and its scam artists. And, y'know, it's true -- who really dances anymore? Nowadays, you're either thrown to the floor in a mosh pit or trampled to death by hundreds of ecstasy-whacked ravers trying to get the DJ's autograph.

The weaknesses? Well, as in the movie, you really must focus at times to keep the male characters in order. (The ladies aren't so difficult, their characters are clearly drawn and, uh, rounder.) And in the novel as well as the film, the lawyerly character Josh's sudden emergence as the story's driving force took me off guard. He seemed to emerge out of nowhere as this very important sympathetic character well after I'd already settled on Des McGrath and Jimmy as the major players. And, perhaps fittingly, Josh disappears in the very end -- leaving us with Des and Jimmy. Also, the lack of resolution among the characters leaves one a tad aching but, maybe that's a strength in disguise.

To sum up, I guess I'm saying the characterizations were a little shallow. But that's a minor criticism when set against the great verbal repartee and succinct, delightful descriptions of early-80s New York nightlife. Wilt Stillman has done what few writer/directors dare -- dig deeper into one of his movies, not via a sequel, but in the pages of a novel. That's a brave, brave deed, and one well worth an interested reader's time.

Rating:
Summary: Would have given 4 & half, but rounded higher than lower
Review: I have never seen any of Mr.Whitman's films but probably will do so after reading this book. I am impressed with the characters, especially the women, are written and how they end up. Most of all, it is the way the author refers to the film throughout the book as the events transpire that kept my interest. It is a nice technique and demonstrates the power of Hollywood to let the narrator/author reflect on the story from other points of view. Would this book have been written if it were not for the film? The incorporation of the film into the story almost makes me wish that the film had never been made. Everyone would have declared the book a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Not too different from the movie...
Review: I love Whit Stillman. I miss Whit Stillman. We haven't heard a cinematic peep from this fine director, among the best of the 90's, since he moved to Paris. Apparently the City of Light, or at least its ridiculous rents, inspired Whit to write and here we have the results.

Briefly, the literary conceit is that Jimmy the Dancing Ad Man from the film is drafted to do a novelization of the movie. Omnipresent in the film, he is largely a background character, but becomes the point-of-view for the book. The novel rarely ventures too far from the movie, which I thought was the lesser of his three films to date.

Some complaints:
- I was rather hoping that the "with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards" hinted at an expansion of the scope beyond the movie. Although providing us with additional character development, lacking in the film due to the large ensemble cast, the scope of the novel is the scope of the film.
- The entire book is written in the speaking-style of Jimmy the Ad Man. This is extremely funny for the first third, but wears thin. You're investing far more time with Jimmy than the two hour duration of the film and you may tire of the digressions and so forth.

It's still a fine book and I'd recommend to anyone who liked the movie. Just don't watch the film and read the book back to back, or even close together, otherwise you won't get much out of it. It's still very funny and I'd be interested in reading more by Whit should Paris (or the landlord) get him in the mood again. Perhaps something new and original...

Rating:
Summary: Not too different from the movie...
Review: I love Whit Stillman. I miss Whit Stillman. We haven't heard a cinematic peep from this fine director, among the best of the 90's, since he moved to Paris. Apparently the City of Light, or at least its ridiculous rents, inspired Whit to write and here we have the results.

Briefly, the literary conceit is that Jimmy the Dancing Ad Man from the film is drafted to do a novelization of the movie. Omnipresent in the film, he is largely a background character, but becomes the point-of-view for the book. The novel rarely ventures too far from the movie, which I thought was the lesser of his three films to date.

Some complaints:
- I was rather hoping that the "with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards" hinted at an expansion of the scope beyond the movie. Although providing us with additional character development, lacking in the film due to the large ensemble cast, the scope of the novel is the scope of the film.
- The entire book is written in the speaking-style of Jimmy the Ad Man. This is extremely funny for the first third, but wears thin. You're investing far more time with Jimmy than the two hour duration of the film and you may tire of the digressions and so forth.

It's still a fine book and I'd recommend to anyone who liked the movie. Just don't watch the film and read the book back to back, or even close together, otherwise you won't get much out of it. It's still very funny and I'd be interested in reading more by Whit should Paris (or the landlord) get him in the mood again. Perhaps something new and original...

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Insightful
Review: Let me start off by saying that I have always been a fan of Whit Stillman's films (and am sad that there are only 3) so when I saw that he had written this novel I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I ordered it through interlibrary loan and started reading it only a few days after watching the film, The Last Days of Disco, for the third time.
At first I thought the book was going to be exactly like the movie (some scenes and lines are exactly the same, as if Stillman was transcribing the script) but then there are paragraphs of insightfulness from Jimmy and also added scenes or dialogue that is not in the movie.
I love the way Jimmy makes all sorts of commentary on society as well as specific people. For me, this book gave more depth into the movie and characters I already loved and was well worth reading through some things that I already knew really well from the movie.
Another thing that is fun about the book is that at the end ("cocktails at pretrossian afterward") all the charcters meet up again--17 years after the original story took place--after the movie screening! I think it really works well that the book is so self-aware about the fact that it was a movie first. It makes it all that more real feeling.
The only thing I would say against this book is that, well, I can see why Whit turned to film. I really think his way of writing works better in that media. And, although, it's a great book, there are times when the writing or dialogue just seems better suited for film (although, I suppose in film you would miss out on some of the more personal thoughts and commentary that I loved so much in the book). So I guess it's a give and take sort of thing, but as an example, sometimes Stillman seems to repeat certain words which, in a book, doesn't really work that well for me. But in diologue has an interesting effect on screne. But, as the books says at the very beginning, books and films have different strengths and weakenesses, so I guess that sort of thing happens.
Anyway...I would recomend this to any Stillman fans out there (and anyone else interested in a witty and insightful novel). And watch all of Stillman's movies, too!!

Rating:
Summary: A concept novel that works
Review: The term "novelization" conjures images of garishly stylized "Star Wars" covers enclosing a few hundred pages of cringeworthy writing. However, Whit Stillman's "novelization" of the last days of disco is really nothing of the sort -- it is a once a witty story and an original medidation on context, perception and medium. Stillman explores the distortion and selectivity that is inherent in any act of storytelling. And he displays such mastery of characterization that one finds it hard to imagine that a single author produced a movie so unkind to "dancing adman" Jimmy Steinway and, in the novel, a very sympathetic Jimmy Steinway-as-narrator that are entirely true to each other.

This is not to suggest that Stillman has written a hermetic and self-referential meditation on writing -- writing-on-writing being some of the dullest dust around. Stillman has a knack for a sort of anthropology of New York waspdom (which reminds me, a bit oddly perhaps, of George Trow), which he has put to good use in his movies. Yet it really comes to full flower in the novel form, where he can avail himself of a subtlety unsuited to film.

Rating:
Summary: A concept novel that works
Review: The term "novelization" conjures images of garishly stylized "Star Wars" covers enclosing a few hundred pages of cringeworthy writing. However, Whit Stillman's "novelization" of the last days of disco is really nothing of the sort -- it is a once a witty story and an original medidation on context, perception and medium. Stillman explores the distortion and selectivity that is inherent in any act of storytelling. And he displays such mastery of characterization that one finds it hard to imagine that a single author produced a movie so unkind to "dancing adman" Jimmy Steinway and, in the novel, a very sympathetic Jimmy Steinway-as-narrator that are entirely true to each other.

This is not to suggest that Stillman has written a hermetic and self-referential meditation on writing -- writing-on-writing being some of the dullest dust around. Stillman has a knack for a sort of anthropology of New York waspdom (which reminds me, a bit oddly perhaps, of George Trow), which he has put to good use in his movies. Yet it really comes to full flower in the novel form, where he can avail himself of a subtlety unsuited to film.

Rating:
Summary: one can keep going back this nostlgic to this era
Review: When everyone rejected adapting the popular film, "The Last Days of Disco into a novel, Castle Rock Entertainment reluctantly turned to "dancing adman" Jimmy Steinway. Being a closet novelist whose works have always ended in the round file, Jimmy hustles to agree before management changes it's mind.

Jimmy describes the real activities of the "circle" from the perspective of a younger Jimmy when an outsider tries to penetrate the group through romancing one of them. Readers visit THE discotheque through Jimmy's eyes as he introduces the regulars that seem to reside inside the strobe lights. The in-crowd contains regulars like in your face Charlotte Pingree, depressed and depressing assistant district attorney Josh Neff, "Don Quixote" Dan Powers, and romantic focus Alice Kinnon.

Narrated by a middle aged Jimmy Steinway looking back and laughing at a younger Jimmy, the novel uses irony to satirize the movie. As in the movie, sexual strain grips the in-crowd freezing their best moves on and off the dance floor. THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO WITH COCKTAILS AT PETROSSIAN AFTERWARDS is as much fun as its screen predecessor due to Mr. Steinway's ability to amusingly look back at his actions and that of the rest of the in-crowd that makes the players, in retrospect, seem like nons.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable; Goes beyond the film
Review: When I saw this book on Amazon's site as coming soon...I ordered it blindly. I had no idea what I would be getting (this was august) and it took me several months to get to it. Any new Stillman project is like music to my ears (pardon the horrific pun). He takes 4 years between movies and this was something new(ish).

Stillman's movies have been compared to Woody Allen many times, notably by Roger Ebert. While it is unlikely you will find a bigger Woody Allen fan than yours truely, I think the comparison is off the mark. Perhaps they both deal with similar comedy of manners and city life, but Stillman is not Allen. That is a good thing. Stillman, clearly influenced by many sources, is an original voice.

The other reviewers have done an outstanding job of explaining this extraordinary novel. We all say, "the book was better than movie" but when has a book been written after the film, by the screenwriter and turned into a novel that smoothly references the film? Got me. The book WAS better than the movie, but that is besides the point.

I watched the film (for the 3rd time) shortly before the I read the book. While I found the actor's images in my mind, it also made the references to the movie much easier to recall. They work best as companion pieces. I loved getting to know Jimmy, a really good guy. The book was moving and made me nostalgic for the early '80s when I was 6 or 7 and my own growing up years. Stillman touched a nerve. Even if you don't enjoy Stillman, you might enjoy the book.

By now, Stillman's signature style is well known. Ingenious dialogue,confused, but good young people. The film triliogy (Metropolitan remains the masterpiece) is now done, but what a way to end. I loved this book so much. This is not a very clear or literary review, but something about this book struck me very deeply. Not since Nick Hornby has a writer struck me like this. I find myself thinking it over often and looking forward (as I often do with his films) to reading it again.

I particularly enjoyed hearing what had become the characters in the "cocktails at the Petrossian" and "epilogue" sections. Fascinating revelations and lessons. I wonder, what happened to Charlotte? That we never know. No matter.

Poignant, hilarious, and fascinating. Read it. You will be changed.