Confessions from the Velvet Ropes: The Glamorous, Grueling Life of Thomas Onorato, New York's Top Club Doorman [Paperback]

Thomas Onorato (Author), Glenn Belverio (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2006

New York's top doorman, Thomas Onorato, raises the ropes and gives readers a sneak peak into some of the world's most exclusive parties.

"If you are not on the guest list or if I don't know you or if I don't like you, you are NOT GETTING INTO THIS PARTY!"
The doorman. The gatekeeper of the night. These silent observers see it all and yet say nothing. Until now. In Confessions from the Velvet Ropes, New York's top club doorman, Thomas Onorato, lifts the ropes and lets ordinary readers into this exciting world. The book is an entertaining and hilarious collection of tales from the worlds of nightlife, fashion shows and celebrity parties. Highlights include: The night Madonna DJed at an intimate downtown club, Courtney Love's surprise concert that ended in her arrest, the crazed stalker who attacked Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, the aerial attack on Adrien Brody's birthday party, Diddy's surprise appearance at an electro-punk event and more. Onorato was always on hand and brings his insider info and nightlife wisdom to readers of Confessions from the Velvet Ropes. Combining elements of juicy gossip columns, rock star fan memoirs and nightlife social studies, Confessions from the Velvet Ropes is a tell-all with style, including humorous side-bars and tips on how readers might make it past the velvet ropes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Belverio follows Thomas Onorato, a Manhattan club doorman, night after night, event after event, punctuated only here and there with glimpses of his personal life. Journalist Belverio put in considerable time gathering his material, interviewing and apparently hanging out with his subject because the narrative has an immediate vividness. The deluge of up-to-the-minute detail (in this context meaning proper names, from designers to mashup bands to celebrities whom most haven't yet heard of) matches the gossip-column commotion a doorman is trying to create, or avoid. The focus occasionally shifts to other doormen around New York, and the book includes sidebars on subjects like "Bad Party People" (the promoter and the disgruntled reject) and "Myths of Studio 54" ("Marc Benecke didn't let Cher into Studio") The result is the literary equivalent of a Bravo reality show or a dinner composed entirely of chocolate: gimmicky yet entertaining; irresistible yet containing little nutritional value. Though this chronicle becomes tiresome at points, it could become a quirky hit, along the lines of The Original Preppy Handbook. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Glenn Belverio has a devastatingly urban eye. An ultra-hip arbiter of style, he commands the fine line between fashion and flash. He is a superb guide to the underworld of earthly delights." --Bestselling author and Culture Critic Camille Paglia
"Belverio's corrosive humor cuts to the quick of the social body. He has Wildean wit and a superb sense of the absurd. His wry, entertaining writing style puts you right at the center of any V.I.P. event. This is gonzo journalism at its most compelling, full of celebration and sharp insight." --Bruce Benderson, author of The Romanian: Story of an Obsession and User
"Imagine a literary cocktail composed of equal parts Suzy Menkes, Truman Capote and Jacqueline Susann, then add a twist of New York street smarts and the result is Glenn Belverio. If David Sedaris wasn't a virgin, he might write something like Belverio." --Bruce LaBruce, filmmaker and author of The Reluctant Pornographer

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (July 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312354592
• ISBN-13: 978-0312354596
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and Sweet..., July 18, 2006

By 

Mina Estevez (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions from the Velvet Ropes: The Glamorous, Grueling Life of Thomas Onorato, New York's Top Club Doorman (Paperback)

are probably pretty unexpected adjectives for a book profiling someone known, not always affectionately, as "Door Bitch." But Belverio humanizes his subject with a behind-the-"behind-the-velvet-ropes" look at Onorato's decidedly unglamorous daily grind. Though the book has plenty of entertaining anecdotes and gossip, what I found most interesting were the details about the "day life" that supports NYC's nightlife. And Belverio's mini-history of famous doormen of the ages, people like Mark Benecke, Kenny Kenny and Derek Neen, also gives his book a fascinating historical perspective.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I got hooked, July 15, 2006

By 

Position "Vis-a-Vis" (Paris) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions from the Velvet Ropes: The Glamorous, Grueling Life of Thomas Onorato, New York's Top Club Doorman (Paperback)

I dipped into the first page of this book, thinking I'd scan it for gossip. But I got totally caught up in Belverio's sharp, sardonic view of New York night life and couldn't put it down. The book has hysterically funny moments. It also updated me about what's happening NOW in the New York night scene. I've been going to clubs all my adult life but I never understood what makes a doorman tick as clearly as I do now. This was a fascinating read.The author has a finely honed wit and a great eye for detail.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Funny!, August 14, 2006

By 

B. Bruce "Countercharm" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Confessions from the Velvet Ropes: The Glamorous, Grueling Life of Thomas Onorato, New York's Top Club Doorman (Paperback)

The author of this book has a keen observational eye for the details of New York nightlife and its denizens. He takes what might first appear as a frivolous or superficial subject and manages to extract some real anthropological significance from it. But you can still read it at the beach.