Saturday, March 19, 2016

By the Book: Las Vegas

Neon lights of the The Strip at night, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, North America. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 5 Feb 2016.
http://quest.eb.com/search/151_2503456/1/151_2503456/cite
Continuing where By the Book: San Francisco left off, we have compiled a list of books about Las Vegas, Nevada, the "Entertainment Capital of the World". When we think of Vegas, we usually picture something like this:

OCEAN'S ELEVEN (1960) - LAWFORD, PETER; MARTIN, DEAN; SINATRA, FRANK; BISHOP, JOEY; DAVIS JR, SAMMY. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 17 Feb 2016.
http://quest.eb.com/search/144_1562968/1/144_1562968/cite


But, of course, the Rat Pack are gone, as are many of the hotels that featured them in their heyday (and you can watch their implosions in a YouTube video, because, it seems, in Vegas even destruction is played as entertainment).

It's famously said that "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", from gambling losses to raucous parties to ill-advised weddings, but here are some books that tell tales of "Sin City" and its environs - because Las Vegas is more than its infamous Strip. What book best portrays Vegas to you? Let us know in the comments!

Non-Fiction

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson

Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, The Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker by Doug J. Swanson 

Positively 5th Street: Murderers, Cheetah's, and Binion's World Series of Poker by James McManus

About a Mountain by John D'Agata


Fiction

Dragonfish by Vu Tran

Beautiful Children by Charles Bock

We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins 

The Delivery Man by Joe McGinnis, Jr 



Links

Reading American cities: Books about Las Vegas [The Guardian]

Las Vegas, Nevada [Goodreads]
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