- Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
- Publisher: Bantam (Jan 2 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0553573497
- ISBN-13: 978-0553573497
- Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 2.7 x 17.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #241,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Former Washington Post reporter Pete Earley, whose several books include a study of Leavenworth Prison, turns his meticulous journalistic eye on yet another notorious venue: Las Vegas. Don't expect him to unearth a spate of scandalous doings, though: Sin City isn't quite what it used to be. "Howard Hughes is now only a historical footnote," Earley writes. "Liberace's trademark candelabra sits in a museum. Elvis has been gone so long that tourists often think his impersonators look more like the King than he did. The old Las Vegas is dead."
The new Vegas, however, is very much alive. In two years of visits, with particular access to the Egyptian-themed Luxor Hotel, Earley gathers a comprehensive history of the city's "gaming" industry, including the biographies of such important figures as the Bellagio's Steve Wynn. He also takes a firsthand look into the lives of several Vegas residents and regulars. The book's chapters, often dense with historical fact, are neatly interrupted by fascinating first-person accounts: an old-time dealer talks about being threatened by Frank Sinatra, a hotel manager at a casino gets chewed out by her boss for renting out a $5,000 room to movie stars, and a cab driver talks about falling out of love with this high-rolling town, though he still tries to get his cut of the money. "The money," he says. "There is so much of it in this town that you learn to close your eyes. I hate it but I can't walk away. Who can?" Perhaps the readers of Super Casino will be able to restrain themselves after they read Earley's explanation of how clearly casino odds are stacked against them. --Maria Dolan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
For a portrait of razzle-dazzle Las Vegas, this is a curiously sober book. Earley, an Edgar and Robert F. Kennedy Award winner (Circumstantial Evidence), gained the cooperation of Circus Circus Enterprises, owners of the new pyramid-shaped Luxor super casino, to write an awkward hybrid of a work: part business history, part vignettes of life in Las Vegas. The first segment, more than one third of the book, tells the history of Circus Circus. It's a solid account of the rise of corporate casinos by Earley, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, but as Vegas tales go, there's nothing hugely dramatic in the Circus Circus story. The book's sprightlier but diffuse second part describes episodes inside the Luxor and the individual characters who populate it: a casino boss, a showgirl, a security guard, etc. Earley showcases some unflattering scenes, such as a security guard's beating of a homeless man, and picks up some only-in-Vegas anecdotes, like the many ways casino dealers have tried to hide stolen chips (e.g., in a brassiere). But only one of these characters is compelling: a young prostitute who opens up to the author to a remarkable degree; surviving the Las Vegas jungle, she trains as a blackjack dealer and ultimately leaves town. Earley does not comment directly on the broader moral issues of gambling: halfway through the book, he quotes a cabbie who says the city is based on greed, but near the end, he cites a Luxor manager who asserts that it's a place "where people come to forget their problems." Andres Martinez's 24/7 (Forecasts, Oct. 25) goes further in conveying the manic energy of Las Vegas, but the city still awaits a stylish chronicler who can fully capture its uniqueness. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Forget the gangsters: Moe Sedway, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Forget the gangsters: Moe Sedway, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I have ever read,
By "johnromeo" (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Super Casino: Inside the "New" Las Vegas (Mass Market Paperback)
I was not able to put this book down. It is broken into two parts. Part one is the history of Vegas, part two focuses on a handfull of its residents over a year. While I was looking for a book on Vegas, I wanted to know more about personal experiences there, like what was in the second part of the book. I figured I wouldn't care for the history part, and would maybe skip it if it got boring. I was totally wrong. The history part was every bit as engaging. It's really a study in business more than history. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and part two was also. I like the way the author spends a year with these people (prostitiute, security guard, showgirl, etc.) and tells their story thoughout the book, instead of all in one chapter. Very well written. Also, very balanced in my opinion. At no point did I feel the author was judging anything, merely reporting it. I could go on and on. It's books like this that make fiction look so dull.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent documentary style writing,
By Jan Martell (North Providence, RI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Super Casino: Inside the "New" Las Vegas (Mass Market Paperback)
I loved this book. I was looking for a descriptive work that provided real inside views of Las Vegas. I particularly enjoyed the financial information provided - revenue numbers, salaries etc.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Makes you want to take a road trip,
This review is from: Super Casino: Inside the "New" Las Vegas (Mass Market Paperback)
Pete Earley's book provides an incredibly rich account of the many facets that make Vegas the city of dreams: the book details the stories of individual dealers, gamblers, prostitutes, dancers, "weekend warriors," casino barons, etc. Super Casino begins with the rise of the mega-casinos -- funded through loans from a Mormon-run bank and junk bonds -- and ends with the grandiose projects completed at the turn of the century.It is the people in this book that make it interesting. The reader feels the energy that drives individual ambitions and dreams. While not every story is a happy one, every story is an interesting one. I gave it four stars only because the book is a bit "light": while entertaining and a quick read, it doesn't really attempt to delve beyond the surface details of the stories presented.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Entertainment > Pop Culture
- Books > History > Americas > United States
- Books > History > United States
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Popular Culture
- Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
