Nocturnal Admissions: Behind the Scenes at Tunnel, Limelight, Avalon, and Other Legendary Nightclubs

A world “unbound by the restrictions... of daytime responsibilities” comes to exuberant life in Adelman’s debut, a chronicling of his decades-long tenure in the nightclub scene. Determined to one day recreate his own version of “Ricky’s Tropicana Club” in I Love Lucy, Adelman left his childhood home in Michigan’s suburbs for N.Y.C. in the mid-1980s. By the early ’90s, he was the 30-something director of five of Manhattan’s largest nightclubs, including the legendary Roxy and the Limelight; in the next 10 years, he’d open clubs in Boston, Hollywood, and Singapore. In stories that pulsate like an EDM track, Adelman gives readers VIP access to that glitzy bygone era’s swirling parties littered with drugs and alcohol. Along the way, he details the “controlled process” of maniacal publicity stunts—fueled by the fascinating symbiotic relationship of celebrities and club promoters who manipulated the press—and offers an entertaining who’s who of club-going stars, from RuPaul to a “recently divorced” Donald Trump, who’d “turn up with a young model type, then call it in himself to the tabloids.” While the New York club scene crumbled under city crackdowns throughout the aughts, Adelman concludes on an optimistic note, claiming that a new golden age of nightlife—“the perfect storm of pent-up demand meeting a changing society”—is approaching. Partygoers will be dazzled. (June)