Overview

In this lively and probing book, award-winning author Pete Earley traces the extraordinary evolution of Las Vegas -- from the gaudy Mecca of the Rat Pack era to one of the country's top family vacation spots. He revisits the city's checkered history of moguls, mobsters, and entertainers, reveals the real stories of well-known power brokers like Steve Wynn and legends like Howard Hughes and Bugsy Siegel, and offers a fascinating portrait of the life, death, and fantastic rebirth of the Las Vegas Strip. Earley also documents the gripping tale of the entrepreneurs behind the rise and fall and rise again of one of the largest gaming corporations in the nation, Circus Circus -- to which he was given unique access. In his trademark you-are-there style, he takes us behind the scenes to meet the blackjack dealers and hookers, the heavy hitters and bit players, the security officers, cabbies, and showgirls who are caught up in the mercurial pace that pulses at the heart of this astounding city.

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9780553573497

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Reviews

Truly the best book ever written about Las Vegas, and I think I've read them all. -- Nelson DeMille Revealing and poignant ... with Studs Terkel-style personal narratives. A timely and deft examination. -- Kirkus Reviews A fascinating, highly readable mix. [Earley's] book will probably be the closest anyone comes to getting Vegas right. -- American Way magazine A portrait of razzle-dazzle Las Vegas ... part business history, part vignettes of life. -- Publishers Weekly An intoxicating scrapbook of tales and images ... for anyone who has ever wondered what's behind the glittering lights, marveled at the opulence or been repulsed by the underbelly of 'sin city.' -- Copley News Service

Truly the best book ever written about Las Vegas, and I think I've read them all. <br>-- Nelson DeMille <br> Revealing and poignant ... with Studs Terkel-style personal narratives. A timely and deft examination. <br> -- Kirkus Reviews <br> A fascinating, highly readable mix. [Earley's] book will probably be the closest anyone comes to getting Vegas right. <br>-- American Way magazine <br> A portrait of razzle-dazzle Las Vegas ... part business history, part vignettes of life. <br>-- Publishers Weekly <br> An intoxicating scrapbook of tales and images ... for anyone who has ever wondered what's behind the glittering lights, marveled at the opulence or been repulsed by the underbelly of 'sin city.' <br>-- Copley News Service <br>

"""Truly the best book ever written about Las Vegas, and I think I've read them all."" -- Nelson DeMille ""Revealing and poignant ... with Studs Terkel-style personal narratives. A timely and deft examination."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""A fascinating, highly readable mix. [Earley's] book will probably be the closest anyone comes to getting Vegas right."" -- American Way magazine ""A portrait of razzle-dazzle Las Vegas ... part business history, part vignettes of life."" -- Publishers Weekly ""An intoxicating scrapbook of tales and images ... for anyone who has ever wondered what's behind the glittering lights, marveled at the opulence or been repulsed by the underbelly of 'sin city.'"" -- Copley News Service"

Truly the best book ever written about Las Vegas, and I think I've read them all. <br>-- Nelson DeMille<br><br> Revealing and poignant ... with Studs Terkel-style personal narratives. A timely and deft examination. <br>-- Kirkus Reviews <br><br> A fascinating, highly readable mix. [Earley's] book will probably be the closest anyone comes to getting Vegas right. <br>-- American Way magazine<br><br> A portrait of razzle-dazzle Las Vegas ... part business history, part vignettes of life. <br>-- Publishers Weekly <br><br> An intoxicating scrapbook of tales and images ... for anyone who has ever wondered what's behind the glittering lights, marveled at the opulence or been repulsed by the underbelly of 'sin city.' <br>-- Copley News Service

Author Information

Formerly a reporter for The Washington Post, Pete Earley is also the author of the highly praised Bantam titles Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring; and Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town, winner of the Edgar Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

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