Nevada Books

I have been to Vegas numerous times and had a friend going for the first time in 20 years. Purchased the book for her and gave it to her prior to her trip. She LOVED it and I found it quite accurate from my experiences there. It's a great book for someone new to Vegas and it's very user friendly.

This book was very informative. It changed my mind about some restaurants that I wanted to go to and helped me plan my trip without a travel agent.

Dummies books in general are nicely laid out, with easy to read text, informative highlights, and simple symbols to keep you in check. That all being said, this just isn't my favorite travel book about Vegas. The Dummies style works great for figuring out how your software works, but it doesn't seem to key in properly to what Las Vegas is all about.

I think the main issue here is that the Dummies book tries to cover a number of different topics in a very shallow manner. Let's start at the beginning. It dedicates the first two chapters on how to get to Vegas. It lists things like "surf the web" to find cheap airline rates. I really didn't need a book to tell me that. It tells you to bring a cell phone. Really, if I get a book on Vegas, I want to know what to do and see in Vegas, and where to stay. The rest of this intro stuff is just fluff.

OK, so we get to the actual "arrival" part of the book. Once again you have a ton of fluff about "look on the web to find hotel prices" and "avoiding hidden costs". They could almost have a cookie cutter travel book at this point, with no actual content about the city you are visiting. When we finally get to the actual hotel descriptions, there is a brief paragraph (or maybe 2) on each one. I would really have liked some sort of easy to use table listing them all and their features, rather than having to scan the paragraphs hoping they mentioned the items I was interested in.

The restaurant area is the same way, a paragraph on each, no real organization to help you out on making your choices. But don't blink - quickly you are into "gambling tips and tricks". Really, if I wanted to learn how to gamble, there are ample books on the topic. I need to know the details in Vegas to choose where to stay and eat, and I still really haven't gotten enough of that information.

You get some information on shows and nightclubs, but then you get lists of top 10 things that aren't in Vegas any more. This might be historically informative, and I might not have minded its inclusion if otherwise the book was chock-full of specific, useful information. But given how much of the rest of the book was already generic, it sort of rubbed that in my face. So now I know even more about things that aren't around any more :)

I do love Dummies books. I own many of them and think they're great. For some reason, the Vegas Dummies book is the worst book in my Vegas collection. I guess it just goes to show that no one system can fit every need.

The price of this book is very reasonable considering all of the information one can learn about Las Vegas. However, I felt as though it could have included more information such as a list of houses of worship and public transportation for those who don't feel comfortable driving around in strange cities. It really is a book for those who plan on renting a car and seeing the city by car. Nonetheless, I think everyone who plans to visit Las Vegas should read this book as it is well-written and the layout is great. It's a fun book to read and it's well worth the price. If I ever get out to Las Vegas, I will absolutely take this book with me as it has a lot of information about hotels and restaurants. It's definitely not stuffy or boring. Even young people would find it easy reading compared to some of the more lengthy, wordy travel guides.

This is the second for Dummies book on travel I have purchased. I did not find it as helpful as the first book (on Hawaii), but it has some great basic information to start your research on if this is your first time to Las Vegas. The rest of my research was on the internet- mostly looking at pictures to get a feel of what I would like to see in person. You can narrow down quite a bit of your searching by reading this easy to read first half of this book, which is devoted to accomodations and attractions. It quickly gives you a summary of all you need to know.

The book was particurlarly helpful in summarizing what all the casinos on the strip offer to do besides gamble- shows, museums, etc. and there are a lot to sort through, and several are free! My family accused me of being to Las Vegas before because I had such a clear idea of where to go and what to see attraction-wise in what seems a chaotic city of entertainment, something this book is invaluable for.

Also helpful were tips on which casinos were connected to what if you want to beat the heat or not walk as far. This book needs to get updated though in that respect. The other half of the book gives tips and instructions on gambling for those going to do less looking and more gambling.

It's a nice big book with plenty of contrasting photos of various locales in Las Vegas.

Each photo, old and new, comes with a brief description and/or historical fact of the structure or location. The info is informative and interesting.

While I enjoyed the photos that were presented, the format makes it too "black and white". So basically you get the very beginning photo and then the most current photo(usually in the 21st century).

Would've been nice if they could've included some transition photos, as a lot of casinos went thru various changes throughout the years.

Overall though, I enjoyed the book as it managed to evoke my deep memories of Sin City.

I purchased the book for my son-in-law who enjoyed it VERY MUCH. Great Book.
Shirley Nordby

this is a nice book with very beautiful photos ,a must for people who like
to learn about other cities evolution.

I was finally able to visit Las Vegas last year and bought several Vegas books as souvenirs. Unfortunately, most of the books only provided information on present-day Las Vegas. Also wanted were pictures of the Las Vegas I had seen on TV as a kid. After all, that is what gave it its magic & attraction to me.

This book provides that. Pictures of the old & new are featured on opposite pages for easy comparison. The pictures are large, sharp, & clear, & are of excellent quality to this layman's eye. They are also accompanied by short paragraphs of essential facts such as build dates & owners, along with information peculiar to the specific buildings.

I highly recommend this book to the nostalgist.

I drove through Las Vegas in 1975 and was so unimpressed I didn't even stop and get out of the car. I wanted to see if this book had any photos from that era and was pleased to find out my memory wasn't faulty. I was also there in the mid '60s and the late '90s and the book didn't let me down on those memories, either.

It reminded me a little of Shane, the story of a killer trying to leave behind his past. The reasons for his being hunted after so many years were never made clear. The main character's abilities were highly exagerated - a 50 year old man spends days on strenuous hike, than runs 40 miles (!) in 6 hours and has enough left to take on all the bad guys single handed.

I fully support and subscribe to the views eloquently expressed by John Haynes in the first review in this section. However, there are a couple aspects of this terrific novel I'd like to emphasize. One of which is the extraordinarily achieved prose with which the book is chiseled. Clearly we are dealing here with a craftsman in possesion of considerable powers -- the complex, and William Gasper is one complex character, is rendered with heartstopping clarity and compression, and structurally this book, constructed as efficiently as the rifle Gasper carries, is a dream. For those out there still interested in quality bookmaking, it is worth signalling that The Man Who Walked to the Moon is also, in addition to being a fine and rare work of art, a handsome object. In conclusion, I disagree with the reader who said Mr. McCord's book is devoid of W.F.'s eternal verities -- it seems to me almost entirely built of them.

Varied incarnations of "moon":celestial body; Lady Moon Goddess of uncertain reaility; the moon of the mind, a point of fascination. A fictional mountain called Moon, the old ziggurat, the high place where gods are worshipped--marriage bed to man and goddess. Contact point of human and divine. A man who takes in little more than tea as food, who sees with his dreaming eye, and dreams? hallucinates? lives? in some cthonic level a moment whence he lies with the Celtic White Goddess, Cerridwen. So, a philosophical novel. A spacey treatise, a little trip into onology. Especially if voice is pitch perfect. The images clean and self-contained. Not one false move or moment of waste. But also a novel of an assassin train by our own military and whose resume might include a former President, a warm afternoon in Dallas; a man who has seen blurred the lines between good and evil and who now finds himself stalked across high country wilderness outside of Stearns, Nevada. So, maybe a thriller, a completly different novel than the first--one lean and nasty, the deep look inot our own hearts. .. Actually, compact both novels into one hundred and twenty-three moody, powerful pages and you would have Howard McCord's fine first novella, The Man Who Walked to The Moon. The protagonist, one William Gasper, is an assassin who has known several wars and a number of continents. His questions, whether spoken or not, are the most basic of all: who and what are we in this life. His answers are the stark and stripped true places of the world. And the autonomy, the perfection, of a gun. Gasper tells us the Cerridwen is real, part of the ninety-nine per cent of the universe which lies beyond human understanding, that he is not "delusional" nor "given to quaint expression." And that she has saved him, this goddess, in Korea . He feels that it is now one of her Palug Cats stalking him across a ridgetop of the Moon> Does it matter whether in the most literal of senses this ! is true? Not to me. The importance of this book is the quite wonderful way it forms, sentence, by sentence, the shape of its philosophical core. And the way it pulls the reader, by way of a fine narrative, into the very same core. It is both story and idea. This is a novel Camus might have written if he'd lived. Thankfully, McCord is alive and well and writing. Read what he has to say.

Written by a Korean War veteran, marathon runner, and university teacher of 43 years' experience, The Man Who Walked to the Moon is the story of an ex-Marine sniper turned professional lone wolf. Set amid the mountains of Nevada, including one particularly imposing peak dubbed "The Moon", it follows the protagonist's tale of a life without illusions yet brought to the brink of a mystic spirituality, and denounces the decadence of civilization and over- reliance upon luxuries. Mystery, threat, and military reminiscence combine in this transcendental work of austere literature.

While agreeing in the main with the previous reviewer, I have struggled with his/her last statement: of which of William Faulkner's eternal verities is this book 'built' (and why, for that matter, was Faulkner brought into it in the first place?)? After considering it for some time, it occurred to me that perhaps it was 'truth' that was being to referred to, truth in the sense of applied and deeply committed attention, of profound and unflinching gaze, of burning away and boiling down. The book, and my god we need more like it, is a kind of breviary of tough questions, questions asked and answered. Mr. Faulkner and his commendable ideas on the way it must be done aside, I highly, highly recommend it.

Most political autobiographies seem to be written by the same professional writers--they all sound the same. Not so with this book. It is clear from the start that Senator Laxalt really wrote every page. First, he is willing to admit the mistakes he made over his life--truly rare for an American politician. Second, the writing style is informal and enthusiastic. You know what he likes and thinks. Senator Laxalt had an interesting life. Although one may have doubts in the beginning about how interesting political life in Nevada is, many fascinating stories come from the book--the Senator's complicated relationship with Howard Hughes, how he treated alleged Mafia figures, how he stopped the war between the State's leaders and the FBI, and, of course, his long friendship with Ronald Reagan, who served as the governor California at the same time as Laxalt served as governor of Nevada. For a man from a small State, Laxalt was in the middle of many interesting situations. My only complaint is that he left lots of stories out of the book. At nearly 400 pages, I am sure he felt that he needed to stop, but I would have been interested in learning more about his years in Washington as the best friend of the President. The book is very readable, and it ended all too soon. Hopefully the Senator will write a second book.

Most political autobiographies seem to be written by the same professional writers--they all sound the same. Not so with this book. It is clear from the start that Senator Laxalt really wrote every page. First, he is willing to admit the mistakes he made over his life--truly rare for an American politician. Second, the writing style is informal enthusiastic. You know what he likes and thinks. Senator Laxalt had an interesting life. Although one may have doubts in the beginning about how interesting political life in Nevada is, many fascinating stories come from the book--the Senator's complicated relationship with Howard Hughes, how he treated alleged Mafia figures, how he stopped the war between the State's leaders and the FBI, and, of course, his long friendship with Ronald Reagan, who served as the governor of California at the same time as Laxalt served as governor of Nevada. For a man from a small State, Laxalt was in the middle of many interesting situations. My only complaint is that he left lots of stories out of the book. At nearly 400 pages, I am sure he felt that he needed to stop, but I would have been interested in learning more about his years in Washington as the best friend of the President. The book is very readable, and it ended all too soon. Hopefully the Senator will write a second book.

Most political autobiographies seem to be written by the same professional writers--they all sound the same. Not so with this book. It is clear from the start that Senator Laxalt really wrote every page. First, he is willing to admit the mistakes he made over his life--truly rare for an American politician. Second, the writing style is informal and enthusiastic. You know what he likes and thinks. Senator Laxalt had an interesting life. Although one may have doubts in the beginning about how interesting political life in Nevada is, many fascinating stories come from the book--the Senator's complicated relationship with Howard Hughes, how he treated alleged Mafia figures, how he stopped the war between the State's leaders and the FBI, and, of course, his long friendship with Ronald Reagan, who served as the governor California at the same time as Laxalt served as governor of Nevada. For a man from a small State, Laxalt was in the middle of many interesting situations. My only complaint is that he left lots of stories out of the book. At nearly 400 pages, I am sure he felt that he needed to stop, but I would have been interested in learning more about his years in Washington as the best friend of the President. The book is very readable, and it ended all too soon. Hopefully the Senator will write a second book.

This memoir by Paul Laxalt is well-worth reading by those who value a book that is not only well-written, but also substantive. Written in a conversationalistic style, it reads like a good story. It is the story of the evolution of a fascinating life by Laxalt, including his early years growing up in Nevada, his military experiences at the end of World War II, his family (which is rich in Basque character), and the development of the career that Laxalt is most known for, which is politics. Laxalt - in the tradition of his Basque heritage, was a reluctant entrant and a reluctant political figure through much of his career. Prefering the value of a hand-shake and veracity, the behavior & semantics inherent to politics was something that he viewed with skepticsim, yet understood the importance of public service and of the need for change in the political arena. His career spanned a broad spectrum, from D.A. to Lt. Governor to Governor to the U.S. Senate. Setbacks occurred & lessons were learned, which made Laxalt a "seasoned" person in not only Nevada politics, but national politics as well. His governorship of Nevada coincided for 4 years with the neighboring Governor of California - Ronald Reagan. This political relationship turned into a valued personal friendship, resulting in Laxalt often being referred to as the "best friend" of Reagan during his Presidency, and one who Reagan could rely on for honest advice. As opposed to many others who worked close with Reagan, Laxalt remains true to his strong sense of Basque loyalty & writes about Reagan in an insightful manner, while respecting the privacy of a "true friend." This book is valued reading for people interested in varying subjects, including the history of Nevada and the West, contemmporary political history in Nevada and the West, and the rise of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency & his performance in office. As a final note, because of its adroit writing style done in a conversational and story-telling manner makes it a valued read to not only an audience interested in the aforementioned subjects, but also a good book for potential use in college political science classes. It is highly-recommended.

I have admired Paul Laxalt from afar for many years -- now I know why. His engaging and easily read memoirs will be good going for anyone interested in Nevada, or the Reagan years, or recent American political life.

Following Laxalt from his political roots in Carson City to his role at the pinnacle of American power is fascinating. To me, the author's straightforward humility explains his success and stands in contrast to most of our present leaders. Maybe poise, common sense and a limited self-interest are the ingredients that matter most in our politicians.

This book bills itself as a history of law enforcement in Southern Nevada and is very comprehensive, but ultimately feels more like a collection of anecdotes, facts, and personalities than a cohesive narrative. Griffin is also a mystery writer, and his forte is serving his readers a nice, meaty story. That's where Policing Las Vegas is the strongest--particularly in the chapters on the Mob and the 1992 race riots, where Griffin reads almost like an eyewitness account.

The early material, however, is paper-thin. While Griffin has my sympathies--there's probably a lack of documentary evidence of the region's police departments' early years--there's not much excuse for the scatter-shot presentation of the first six decades of this history. Chiefs are raised to honor and toppled from grace (usually with no explanation of why), Las Vegas sees milestones like its first patrol car and first female officer, and statistics about the city's growth occasionally march in, but with little sense of flow or progress. And there's certainly nothing to put what we're reading into context: as Western towns go, was Las Vegas progressive or slow-to-change in its policing? It has the feel of an author with limited sources writing a chronology rather than a true history.

In its later years, as newspaper accounts grow less telegraphic and living interviewees emerge, though, the book is quite good. As it happens, this uptick in quality coincides with the establishment of the unified Las Vegas/Clark County Metro Police Department in 1973. From here on in, Policing Las Vegas is rock-solid and far more readable. The reader almost forgets that the first 68 years of Las Vegas policing were covered in a perfunctory 42 pages. You don't get the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but you do learn the basic history of Metro.

And what a history it is. Political squabbles over consolidation give way to a struggle with various organized crime figures. There's some solid police work discussed here. And the long chapter on the 1992 riots reads almost like a primary source document. There are also stirring testimonials to Metro officers who have fallen in the line of duty and helpful appendices with various landmark dates and Metro initiatives.

The richness of the the material from 1973 onwards, though, only makes the books initial skeletal treatment stand out more starkly.

If you consider this a history of Metro with a longish preface about the pre-Metro years, you won't be disappointed.

Synopsis
After being established as a railroad town, most of Las Vegas' population was made up of tough railroaders, and miners who worked, drank and fought hard. Sam Gay, the first police chief, as well as the first elected county sheriff, broke up the numerous scuffles by grabbing the combatants by the scruff of the neck and banging their heads together-- it was the beginning of a long legacy of law and order in America's most explosive boomtown.
Over the years Las Vegas left behind its rough and tumble beginnings to become the gambling and entertainment capital of the world. Naturally, the influx of residents and visitors-- and their money--brought crime. From Prostitutes to street gangs, mobsters to drug dealers, robbers to cheats, Sin City has seen it all. And law enforcement efforts have had to adapt accordingly.
ISBN:0-929712-23-4

Category: Non-Fiction, History - Law Enforcement

Our New Book Review
Huntington Press
A well written history is among my favorite books, Policing Las Vegas by Dennis N Griffin certainly exceeds my standards for this category. Well researched and presented, the City of Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County Nevada's history of law enforcement is filled with colorful crooks and cops. From "Mob Enforcers" to gangbangers, and the men and women that worked to bring them to justice, this work is filled with the reasons why Metro Las Vegas Police Department is one of the leading Police Departments in existence.
Mr. Griffin has avoided the sometimes dry facts and figures rote, by using the "real" colorful characters that brought about the changes and growth to LVMVPD and the reasons why they did so. His use of recent interviews of people that were there, in person, shows the many faces of law enforcement and the determination most had to do the job well. He shows events and people, both good and bad, as they were recorded.
My highest recommendation is given to anyone that enjoys history or law enforcement subjects.
Ray Ward (...)

There's a great book that just hit the market - Policing Las Vegas, by Dennis Griffin. As Las Vegas, NV reaches its Centennial in May 2005, the book, that is a complete and unvarnished history of law enforcement in this wild and unique city, is there to introduce the reader to the crime fighters that made Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department what it is today.

Take the time to visit with Hiram Powell, the rough and tough street cop, who tangled in the 1940s with Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel on numerous occasions. Hi always came out the winner, even with Bugsy having friends in the business, if you know what I mean. If you think Hi's story in the book is fascinating, you should take the time to meet him in person. Yes, he still lives here in town.

Meet Herman Moody, one of the first African-American police officers in the city of Las Vegas. Find out what it was like to work the rough west side of the small but growing city. Herman gave the city of Las Vegas more than thirty years of service. He too is still in town and shares his experiences with his friends.

Visit the modern age of law enforcement as a very busy department serves the ever-expanding community of Las Vegas and Clark County. Come and meet today's heroes of the department like Enrique Hernandez, who after an anything but routine traffic stop, was shot numerous times by the criminal her pursued. Although severely wounded, Enrique has fought hard to recover and has returned to limited duty. Also meet Dennis Devitte, who while off duty was confronted by armed robbers, and even though he faced superior firepower, took the robbers on, was shot eight times, but was still able to return fire and kill one of the robbers.

Mr. Griffin was able to write Policing Las Vegas with the cooperation of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. This fantastic book was three years in the making. When the project was undertaken, Mr. Griffin told the department he would cover the history of the department, not just the good stories, but all the stories. He has covered both the good and the bad, and how it has affected this well respected police department. In fact, at a recent book signing and reception, Sheriff Bill Young, honored Mr. Griffin by attending the event and praised Mr. Griffin for his outstanding book, Policing Las Vegas.

I must be totally frank. I have been a fan of Dennis N Griffin's writing since his first book,THE MORGUE. Even though THE MORGUE was Dennis' first attempt at writing, the technical material was presented in a clear, easy to read and easy to understand, style. The following books: RED GOLD, BLOOD MONEY, ONE-ARMED BANDIT, PAIR-A-DICE and PENSION came in quick succession.

POLICING LAS VEGAS is an historical account of the beginning of law enforcement in Las Vegas to the present day. There are many wonderful stories of the dedicated, competent men and women,some of whom, have given their lives to make this a safe town for us and our many visitors. Great selection of pictures, one-of-a-kind.

I have read several accounts of Las Vegas relating to its history and characters from The Green Felt Jungle and the Players, to Of Rats and Men. But until Policing Las Vegas by Dennis Griffin I never found much in the way of how Las Vegas law enforcment evolved over the years. I always thought it was a story worth telling.

I resided in Las Vegas from 1956 thru 1988 and was personally acquainted with a large number of local characters both in and out of law enforcement. I was very impressed with Policing Las Vegas as I discovered several things that I had long forgotten or never knew. I applaud author Dennis Griffin for his thoroughness and meticulous research. The description of the "Rodney King" riots were especially riviting. I would strongly recommend this work for anyone interested in law enforcement or Las Vegas in general.

Oh! Did I mention that I am a former Clark County (Las Vegas) sheriff?

This book is a collection of short stories that take place in Nevada's wild country. Although the landscapes are vividly portrayed, the stories focus more on the relationships of the characters, many of which are father-son relations. The stories are filled with metaphors and phrases pertaining to the state's hard country, livestock, and wildlife. Gibney does a good job showing the love many Nevadans have for their state and its outdoor lifestyle, a love that is greatly misunderstood by outsiders who view Nevada as a gambling haven littered with prostitution. I enjoyed the book, and find it gives insight into a part of Nevada that is widely unknown...the toughness the land hands its inhabitants along with a deep sage-gray character that is woven throughout the state.

This little book is full of gritty and real characters sustemic to my ideal of desert southwest characters. Good stories, great descriptors of terrain and desert environs and overall a very good read. I would love to see another short storu collection.

Art Gibney's first book is compilation of some of his short stories. Many of his stories have appeared in such publications as South Dakota Review, Tennessee Quarterly, The Bear Essential Magazine. His masterfully told tales illustrate what the contemporary rural Nevada could have been like. As the pages turn, let Gibney's imagination take you back to a time of a more simple but wilder (as he calls) Adaven a.k.a. Nevada. This book is delightful easy read that is a must for all us with the frontiersmen or women hidden away inside, or those who ponder what Nevada may have been like in earlier times.

Who would have thought that a city-dweller such as myself would enjoy reading a book that boasted such chapter titles as "Wild Cow" and "The Manure Spreader?" I certainly didn't expect to. Tales of rural life have never much appealed to me. I have lived in Nevada, the state that Gibney writes about, for 22 years now, and I suppose I try to reject the rural stereotypes that haunt Nevadans. Well, Gibney managed to enthrall me. His language is beautiful, and you will soon forget that you are reading about a man on a tractor - you are soon reading about yourself. Gibney has a way of putting you directly in his story. I know nothing of manure spreading, thus I assumed that I would reject the aforementioned chapter. But the stories are not about Nevada and living in a rural area, the stories are about the people. Gibney's ability to capture people, and transport you, the reader, into their psyche, is what makes his writing so attractive. You will see things in your mind's eye that you will see for the first time. You will experience feelings and life through his characters that you may not have ever had the luxury to feel. I would certainly recommend Skin of the Earth to those who like to become involved in their reading, and create a realationship with the characters. Good read.

Art Gibney's Skin of the Earth is a collection of fictional stories about life in the deep back country areas of Nevada. These stories describe the lives of those who are caught within the problems of urban or rural living and the resulting collision of the two. The characters are fully developed within a corner of their existence, opening the reader's eyes to a struggle that takes place when the earth meets the world. Each character is seeking something that might be almost impossible, yet so seemingly within reach. This book finds its strength in the powerful storytelling, and the reader finds himself suddenly immersed in a situation that he might never have come across or been interested in. The descriptions of the land, the life, the troubles of solitude and companionship both are vivid and memorable. The characters in these stories are people you might never get to know, never speak with, never give a second thought to. The narration seems to touch the reader into the life of a real person, just at the most important moment of truth, then whisk the reader away. Instead of a mindless, rambling tale, these stories require some reader participation, demanding that the reader interact with the ideas, leaving gaps for the reader to inquire about and piece together his own meaning. There is nothing that is directly spelled out, but rather a snapshot of a life that encourages the reader to consider what he has just witnessed. I generally enjoyed this book, although some stories stand out to me more than others. The description itself is beautiful, and I found myself reading through this book at a speedy pace, interested to read what was next.

I am a Las Vegas native familiar with Kim Thomas' capacity with the Metropolitan Police Dept. While crime genre is of particular interest to me, I admit I read this book because I felt akin to it. I imagine it is a safe and overall general and accurate account of his tenure with the LVMPD. In the absence of specifics indicative to "Sin City", one can conclude crime is crime, regardless the venue. It moves quickly,easily and is a well-narrated first endeavor. I did however, find it spackled with editing errors.

One Cop's Journey takes you to the real world of law enforcement and the life of one special dedicated cop with the right values and work ethics.
I do own the book and have met Kim Thomas on two occasions. He is energetic and has the right outlook on law enforcement. I found the book one that could be read more than once and look forward to his second book.
He is an excellent speaker, witty and very very interesting. I highly recommend One Cop's Journey for both genders.

If you've never gone on a ride-along--I have twice--this book is the next best thing. It's one cop's journey, but even better, it's a journey for the reader. Ride along and learn of the tedium and the excitement police officers experience in their day-to-day grind. Learn of the perseverance involved, and how heroic efforts lead to exhilarating conclusions--or crushing disappointment. You've seen the tv show "Cops," but that's just the busting part of an officer's job. This book takes you from the squad car to the locker room to the captain's office, where politics and red tape and personal grievances sometimes make it almost impossible to do the job a good cop wants to do.

Cam, the likeable leading man in this book, takes you through police academy, police romance, police boozing, and police commiserating, from novice cop to detective. You may not agree with everything he does, but you'll understand his motivation and you can't help rooting for him.

Cam escorts you through the back streets of one of America's most intriguing cities. He speeds you up and down the Las Vegas Strip on his bicycle, through the back doors of casinos, and into Vegas's famous video surveillance control centers. In his squad car, he drives you through gangland, hookerville, and drug city. Yes, Las Vegas has much more than 24-hour neon and 32-ounce margaritas in souvenir glasses. The city has its share of miscreants, not to mention visitors-behaving-badly.

My ride-alongs many years ago gave me a life-long appreciation for law enforcement officers and the jobs they do. I watched the cops I rode with pat down drunks soaked in vomit and urine. I watched them politely take abuse at the front doors of strangers in the midst of domestic disturbances. I saw them chase down vandals and robbers with twenty or more pounds of equipment strapped on them. This book is a ride-along with a back story. An easy read, a page-turner, and an eye-opener. I highly recommend it.

This book is so amazing. My boyfriend is going to be a law enforcement officer in Las Vegas, and it's so awesome to read about a police officers day-to-day. After being a skeptical girlfriend, worrying about this profession, I am very excited for him and look foward to hearing his stories.

This is a GREAT book! One of the best I've read.

I am a former law enforcement officer from Las Vegas, NV , although I do not know Kim Thomas personally, I could certainly relate to the places, the smells, the heat and the situations that his charcter endures throughout the book.

I felt like I was riding in the passenger seat as I read the book.

Thanks for a good read and I hope to see more.

I am proud to have this among my collection of books and Burning Man memorabilia. Jessica has done a beautiful job of capturing the spirit of the playa. You can see the love and dedication she put into each photograph. I love this book, and no I do not personally know the author.

Any book about Burning Man is fun, but I would enjoy more pictures less jabber.Anyone who has been there doesn't need the talk to describe it. It's a sensory event. Words only trivialize it.
OK, if you haven't been, this book might be more interesting.
If you are thinking of going, definitely just do it. It's the best thing I've ever done.

It is an experience that cannot be described. But this book does an excellent job of trying. By including people the the Tuna Guys (and not just the craziness), you get a glimpse of what makes the place magic.

I went to several Burning Mans, since 1992, and once met Michael Michael, from San Francisco Cacophony, when he visited the Los Angeles chapter. So Bruder's account brought back much nostalgia. As she relates, the growth of Burning Man has also led to ever more intricate theme camps and art installations. Several depicted in the photos, I saw. Including the huge ball of ice, containing scores of clocks, that fell off as the ball melted. Or the archway of cattle bones. Along with sundry corporate parodies.

Her accounts of summer desert rainstorms is also quite accurate. Especially for 1995. When the ground turned to a thick mud, and walking was labourious. She shows a nice photo of a rainbox over the campsite. Those of us who were there in 95 remember the winds and rain quite well. Along with the sandstorms that caused visibility to fall to a meter or less.

Art cars are shown in several photos. Fantastically decorated. Surprisingly, Bruder doesn't seem to mention that the art car "movement" was centred around Portland Cacophony. She is from Portland and undoubtedly knows many in that chapter. Granted, art cars now come from all over, and perhaps Portland no longer dominates that scene.

In 1996, the book describes how there were 2 tragic events, that caused later Burning Mans to have tighter safety rules. One event was a motorcycle rider who died on the playa. Another was a vehicle colliding deliberately into a tent and hitting 3 sleeping people, crippling one of them. Unfortunately, there is little elaboration about the events. A reader new to Burning Man might be interested in more information.

One strength of the narrative is the extensive coverage of the first Burning Mans held on a San Francisco beach. Photos of those events are also nice. If you've never heard of Burning Man, you might not notice anything unusual about this. But other histories of Burning Man typically give cursory mention of the SF events, and usually have few or no photos.

The book also covers some other different ground from others on Burning Man. For example, it explains the assorted group of workers who spend several weeks there, doing prep and cleanup. A thankless task, for which they get very little money. Their experience is quite different from the few days that most revelers spend there. Bruder alludes to an esprit de corps amongst the cleanup crew. But that's scarcely universal. Some arrive and are simply overwhelmed by the stark conditions. And it is possible to be cynical about this espirit. Seeing it as a means of garnering cheap labour by the Burning Man organisation.

There is nothing out there that captures the experience of Burning Man better
than this book. With its inventive graphics and many pictures, and a very well written account by the author, it seems this book was created for both veterans and the merely curious.

This book is a refeince to the people in the ceative field of art wethere by music or art I think that Walter was showing the toment and agony of what the artistic people go though. Most of the world is in the mathmatical world; it is reffesing to read a book that discribes the artistic world. (I am a runner, and I enjoyed the track phase that he went through.)

When my now fiance handed me this book and said to read it, I really didn't know anything about it. Now that I've read it, I'm rather shocked that this book isn't better known. I really don't know how it's managed to stay obscure for so long. While reading it, I found myself traveling through the world I've always wanted America to be. The only book I've ever found to be comparable in even the most basic way is J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey.
If you have the chance, buy this book. You will read this again and again.

While a resident of Reno, NV (1971-1980), I read the "City of Trembling Leaves" The book is a wonderfully nostalgic record of Reno, Nevada and the surrounding mountain and desert environs during the period of time that Clark lived there (i.e. 1920-1940's).

The author paints a colorful and accurate description of the "Biggest Little City in the World" when it actually fit that definition. Today, Reno is a rapidly expanding, land-gobbling monster of massive traffic jams, casinos, commercial strips, malls and ticky-tacky,cluttered housing developments much like Las Vegas (which is nothing more than another Los Angeles with slot machines).

I have lost my original copy, but am buying the new edition so that I can once again enjoy the life of a young, callow fellow and his friends growing up in a beautiful, small, friendly western town during simpler times.

Having grown up around Reno, Nevada, I have a built-in bias toward this book, despite the fact that it is an example of a treacly genre (the obligatory semi-autobiographical novel) that most authors wisely leave in manuscript in their desk drawers. However, Clark is a powerful writer (see "The Track of the Cat" and "The Ox-Bow Incident") and he does a very good job of evoking time and place, especially the 20's and 30's, which are written as Fitzgerald might have done if Gatsby had grown up in Reno. The latter part of the book contains descriptions of artistic troubled souls loose in the American West that will be familiar to readers of the novels of the Beat Generation (Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums" comes to mind). There is also a Steinbeckian flavor to the book, especially the relationships, possibly because they are etched against that larger-than-life Western sky.

The author, born in 1909, was in his mid-30s when this novel was published in 1945, and he writes about being young with remarkable maturity. There is a melancholy and nostalgia, as if the story were told by someone twice his age. In its leisurely and intense unfolding of time, place, mood and character, it brings to mind Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel" and Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie."

Modern-day readers will find themselves making a big adjustment to the pace of this long novel. Its central story could be told in 250 pages: a sensitive boy grows up in a modest family in Reno, Nevada, befriends a girl who lives near him and a boy and girl whose parents are wealthy and live across town, falls deeply in love with one of the girls while in high school, and begins a career as a composer and musician, eventually marrying and finding himself as an artist. But Clark has much more to tell, immersing the reader in richly detailed incidents that can expand into 20 and 30 pages - a horse race, a high school party, a tennis match, a climb up a mountain, a gathering of locals at a bar.

While the story takes place in the 1920s and 30s, there are only passing references to historical events and period detail. Much of the story is internal, psychological, emotional. And much of the story has to do with the timelessness of place and the cycle of seasons. There is a celebration of the city of Reno (as a hometown, not a destination for gambling and easy divorce), its trees, the surrounding mountains, and nearby Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Emotions and landscape are intricately interwoven. Clark's descriptions of places are infused with moods that shift and change like passing cloud shadows.

And finally, it's a story of the difficulties of becoming an artist, finding one's own voice and vision, developing one's talent, the personal costs and the struggle against discouragement and compromise, the social isolation and the impact on personal relationships. Part of Clark's achievement in this novel is the ability to take the reader with only words into the mind of a musician and composer. I recommend reading this book with an open map of Reno and western Nevada, and look online for pictures of Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Both will enrich the experience of this fine novel.

Loaded with helpful info for planning a family trip. Maps, phone numbers, drive times, etc.

If it had pictures I would have given it a 5.

I really liked the book, and the only reason I gave it 4 stars is because a good part of the book talks about hotel accomadations and booking flights, etc. and I had already done that by the time I bought the book. So half of the book was of no use to me, but the book had good recommendations.

This book really helped us decide what to do in Las Vegas. We do not gamble so we wanted "other" things to do. What we found is Las Vegas is not "family" friendly and you have to take your children into the gaming areas of most casinos to see the attractions. The book did offer suggestions that we did find helpful. Like how to avoid certain crowds and what shows are appropriate for kids. Much better than some of the other books out there.

This is an incredibly detailed book that has a huge amount of information on what to do, see, and avoid in Vegas if you are traveling with children. The section on which restaurants and buffets to eat at for families that are on a budget is more than worth the price of this book. This book, along with "The Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas" by Bob Sehlinger will make planning your trip to Vegas fun and informative. Both are highly recommended!!

I highly recommend this book to anyone headed for Las Vegas with the kids in tow. It paints a very complete picture of the city and answers questions you'd never even think to ask.

This book was published just as we were planning a trip that includes a stop in Las Vegas. Our three kids (ages 10, 8, 6) love to travel, but we have learned that you can never do enough research when it comes to planning a trip with kids.

Having been to Vegas more than a few times without the kids, we have a pretty good feel for the place. Even so, a vacation with the kids along needs to be a very different type of trip, so we still found ourselves with many questions. Happily, this book answers them all!

Very specific information on everything from hotels, restaurants, and attractions (including which places are NOT kid-friendly). Also includes info on side trips, shopping, etc. Everything is broken down into price categories (from very expensive to inexpensive and everything between). Definitely written by someone who understands that kids are not just miniature adults.

I only wish I could get hold of such complete information for all our destinations!