James St. James

"There are times when the drugs are flowing and the emotions are running high, the lights and music can make you dizzy - and the world slips out of control. It's like a car accident that happens too quickly... you can't stop it, you can't think about it, you just have to lean back, and watch as everything changes forever

You've lost control, you say to yourself, as the wheel of the world slips away from your hands-- "It's happening too fast" - and all you can do is wait for the ride to end, the car to crash, the world to stop

It's like chasing after time, chasing after the things that have already happened, because the drugs made you too slow. You're thick and awkward, but if you can just catch up, then maybe you can grab it, maybe you can grab at time and stop it -
But no.
It's already happened.
You have no choice.
Play it out.

... that's how Michael described to me the moments leading up to the murder. That's the way he described killing Angel."




[ James St. James & Michael Alig ]






With an introduction like that, I'm not sure why I have never fully grasped an interest in, nor heard word of Disco Bloodbath. True, I'm not the type of person who scouts bookstores, libraries, or underneath friends beds to find a good read. In fact, the last book I read was never even finished. But I appreciate the stories. And I appreciate knowing what a good book entails. Ideally I would have someone sit down with me and TELL me the story, let me ask questions, and hand me the book so that I can read the sections that matter most.

I'm not lazy. I'm not dumb. I'm not illiterate. Staring at tiny lines of words on pages upon pages really messes with me. Eventually it all looks like Chinese and I get really irritated. Dumb book. Why can't you have tiny squares of information so that I can read you like a magazine?

Anyway, I was introduced to the name James St. James through le television and needed to know more about this creature called a human. Research lead me to that introduction. Further research (not much further cause WIKIPEDIA rules everything), lead me to this;




James St. James (born James Clark, August 1, 1966) is a former Club Kid of the Manhattan club scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s and the author of Disco Bloodbath (now published under the title Party Monster). He was notorious for a lifestyle of excess that included heavy drug use, partying, and bizarre costumes.


Personally, I prefer Disco Bloodbath over Party Animal. Continue;



Club Kid Scene

James became a mentor of sorts to Michael Alig (hold onto that name), although at first he and the other Club Kids shunned the newcomer.[4] Undeterred, Alig soon created his own scene by gathering up other creative rejects of the nightlife world, copying St. James' flamboyant style with self-promotion and innovative, themed parties. Alig eventually grew on St. James, and St. James morphed from celebutante to Club Kid while helping Alig create the new scene. Alig and St. James threw many parties together, eventually setting up the Disco 2000 club night at the New York club The Limelight. St. James wrote several columns, most famously for the short lived New York City-based gay publication OutWeek during the magazine's two year life span from 1989-1991.


Come to think about it, I'm pretty sure I have heard word of Disco Bloodbath. This sounds like something an old manager of mine would have told me about.. CONTINUE (it's getting good);



Disco Bloodbath
As Alig got more into drugs, his life spiraled further and further down until he infamously murdered his drug dealer roommate, Andre "Angel" Melendez. St. James' debut novel, Disco Bloodbath, documents the infamous rise to fame of Alig and the murder. To avoid having to testify against Alig or club owner Peter Gatien, St. James fled to Los Angeles, where he presently lives. A documentary and feature film both used the book as their basis.




Nice. Way to go.
Killed your drug dealer, but how?




I'll put it in my own words.

Two killers. One victim. Andre "Angel" Melendez was arguing with Michael Alig about some drug money. Soon after put him into a position, shaking him, banging him off the wall saying "You better get my money or I'll break your neck..." Enter Robert "Freeze" Riggs.
Robert picks up a hammer and hits Angel over the head three times. Michael grabs a pillow in an effort to smother him. Robert Freeze leaves the room only to return to find Michael pouring some chemical down Andre Angels throat from a broken syringe.


"After a few days, the body began to smell. Alig injected himself with heroin, cut the legs off the corpse, and stuffed him in a box and afterward threw the corpse into the Hudson River."




Make sure he's really REALLY dead.
I browsed a few pages on Amazon.com, that's what it's good for. The moral of the story is two-fold.

A) Don't do drugs. And if you do drugs, don't murder your dealer/roommate, don't shoot up heroin, and don't do Special K if you hate syrup.

B) Read Disco Bloodbath if you like flamboyantly gay men in drag who do drugs and murder. (Unless you've already read it - then I'm proud of you.) I plan on picking this up. It's easy reading. And it's surprisingly FUNNY. I laughed a few times at the pages I was allowed to read. It's perfect. No fancy fluff of pretty poetry. This is a story told the way the speaker speaks. Speak well, write well, engage well.


If you want, I'll tell you about it and you can ask me questions and I'll hand you the book so you can read the sections that matter most.