THE RENDEZVOUS: A Case Study of an After-Hours Club

by Julian & Wolfgang Frese Roebuck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1975

The idea seems rather original: a long-researched, highly structured case study of an after-hours club, ostensibly telling you all you've ever wanted to know and more about who frequents it, why, when, what they do, and what (if anything) it all means. This however is no easy, leisure bedtime book. There is, first, a description of methodology--personal observation and interviews. Then long, detailed reviews of other similar ""time-out, unserious settings"" (e.g., public bars); a discussion of their ""transsituational similaristic differences,"" and more on ""social ecology"" and ""symbolic interactionism."" Finally, a description of the place--jazzy and plush and very sexy. The last third of the book is occupied with all the sophisticated underworld types who patronize the club--hip squares, night people, call girls, party girls, businessmen, thieves of both sexes, con men and ""men on the take""--i.e., crooked cops. We learn about their attitudes, behavior, how they see themselves, how others see them. We also hear about the club's employees, everyone from the manager to the attendant in the women's lounge. It's a book loaded with facts--but to what purpose? After many, many pages we read that an after-hours club is ""a place to validate a status denied them [the patrons] by the respectable social world."" Uh-huh. Sociology in a martini glass-without the olive.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Free Press/Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION