Nevada Books

Railroad buffs, and other sorts--fire buffs, gun and edged weapons collectors and reenactors are an obsessive lot of people.
Probably most obsessive are members of the living history and reenactment groups commemorating past times and events. Of all these probably the most intense are those who do the War Between the States. In addition to spending hundreds of dollars on reproductions of period arms, clothing and equipment of the soldiers, they include their whole families with wives and children dressing in period clothing and also living in the conditions of the period. You have to be obsessive to run around on a hot July day wearing period scratchy wool clothes. Even their underwear is made in the old fashion!:o)
World War Two buffs also include a whole subset who collect and resdore old soft-skinned and armored vwhicles, gathering several times a year at rallies.
Fire buffs mostly seem to be content with artifacts and books. Those who run antique fire engines usually are members of established volunteer companies who paticipates in rallies known as musters and compete in fire fighter skills.
Most buffs (those who are professional hiatorians and curators as well as the otherwise employed) think often about their subjects in the hours they are not eating, sleeping, doing other life activites or making a living.
You might well ask, how does a buff differ from a fan? Iit is a continuum. Most fans are content to go rah rah when their temams win but think of other things mostly. Those football attendees who get drunk, paint themselves up and go half-naked in cold weather, are way beyond buffery.
Buffery mesns thinking constantly of a favorite subject, devoting most of their spare time to the neglect of household chores, and lots of money on trips, activities, and memoribilia.
Most collect bookss on their favorite subjects and willingly spend beaucoup bucks. You have to f0cus or specialize on a place, an activity, or a particular railroad.
The publishers who serve these niche markets mostly strive to turn out definitive accurate and complete works. But they are often private groups, museums, or private individuals who can't afford large press runs which end up in remainder. Instead, usually often when produced by subscription, they go out of print almost immediately. Railroad books, especially are expensive itmems to produce; photograde coated paper, quarto size ans landscape format are deriguer, while hard bindings are aleays desired.
When I first began collecting railroad books some forty years ago, the average hardback novel or history then sold for two or three dollars: railroad books were over ten dollars and were printed on non glossy paper. Fans buy everything on their favorite line. But since the short-run books soon go out of print, (If they were ever sold to specialist dealers at all) in contrast to the general market trade book, there is no drop in price, instead it keeps going up. The book here is one good example.
It has to be useful and well made or it would not be so high in the market. High demand and short supply, a basic rule of economics.
I don't have this one, though I am a buff in many respects, my railroad buffery is down in third or fourth priority. The Santa Fe is my focus and the B&O comes a distant second
One must regret the demise of Bonanza Books which forty some years ago would reprint many small runs and hobby books. Only Dover seems to still be in the game, and they stick mostly to public domain titles.

This book is a great resource for finding facts of fallen northwestern shortlines and predecessor railroads. I have found the facts to be mostly accurate, though they do not always match to some of the more well-read books about the larger railroads in the region. The biggest complaint is that it is visually unappealing, and could be a little more 'polished': no color pictures, and fairly few black and white pictures. Still, it is packed with charts, graphs and valuable company stats and info.

The amount of work which went into this work is incredible -- Robertson has not only listed every California railroad, but he has also accumulated huge lists of every engine that ran on most of these roads. To give the entries more context, he has included details about U.S. and California history. The only flaw is that he sometimes sends you to other books in the set for details on important California Roads like the AT&SF. Most railfans will appreciate what he has offered, nonetheless!

I obsess over all travel guides whenever I think I might be traveling. I have read about 7-10 Vegas books within the past year and this book was a stand out. Definitely not meant to be THE definitive guide, but a great accompaniment to a more thorough book- like "Unofficial Guide" or Frommers or Foders. Grab this (or Av ant Guide) if maybe you've been to Vegas before, but want a little something besides the Busty Pirates and Cirque.

Overly opinionated writing with too much sarcasm. Where's the info? It's hidden in the author's own agenda. The who's who don't need this guide. They know where to be and it's not sitting among the tourists of Vegas. We did not see all the "pretty" people he was boasting about. Overrated info. We saw more frumpy people in Vegas staring blankly at their slot machines. There are better books out there.

I am very excited about my first trip to Vegas. This book has totally prepared me for the best and worst of Vegas. The comments are honest and irreverent - just as the title implies. If you want to really know the low down - and avoid the cheesey aspects of Vegas - this book is perfect. Prices for hotels, restaurants, and events are all broken down into easy lists. The maps of the strip and downtown Vegas are awesome - I feel like I know the town already and I haven't left home yet. My only complaint is that I wish there were a few more pictures in the guide - real pics of the strip, things not to miss while in Vegas, or a large fold out map.
I definitely plan on purchasing more "Irreverent" guides in the future. I really enjoy the reviews and the size.

"Searchlight, Nevada" illuminates the insider's world of Nevada's legalized brothels. Written with warmth and humor, the book jumps right in to the often complex and twisted lives of the women who work the sex trade and the men who visit---and often love--them. It shows that wherever women and men are thrown together, love will thrive even under corrosive conditions. The author says his story was carefully researched, and this is very obviously true. I highly recommend this compelling and wonderful book.

I enjoyed the sexy action, the humor, in this fun filled novel. No fake-n-phony TV-style prostitutes here. Vitale has captured the atmosphere to a T! The political correctness [read that: narrow minded] crowd might find offense [they always do]; but normal folk will appreciate it. The author knows and obviously values women.

For interesting insight into this book, look up the case Vitale v. Commissioner, 77 T.C.M. (CCH) 1869 (1999).

This book feels like a young adult book that doesn't quite make it. No one in my book club liked it. Hayden has some interesting ideas but she skips around--never finishing what she's started.

Debbie Gunther had a dreadful childhood. When her mother died in childbirth, her father blamed her and would not take her to raise her. Debbie was raised for eight years by her grandmother, who let her know on a daily basis that she was not wanted there. So, at the age of eight, her grandmother got in touch with her father and told him to take Debbie, or she would have him brought up on abandonment charges. Debbie's father took her but he treated her badly the whole time that he had her.

After a choir teacher of Debbie's told her how much she looks like a famous Las Vegas singer named Colette, Debbie learns everything she can about Colette and becomes an impersonator for the stage. Debbie is hired at the Crystal Palace Casino--the very place that Colette was working and where she was murdered.

Debbie is apprehensive from the very beginning. She receives a note, which she tries to ignore, but the very dress that Colette is murdered in arrives for her and then roses arrive for Debbie--all yellow with one red rose in the middle, the same exact bouquet that Colette was given on stage just before she was shot. Debbie believes that the only one she can confide in is Dan Springer, a young reporter who is supposed to do a story on Debbie. Dan Springer has his own conflicts to deal with. There is a strong attraction between Dan and Debbie, but Dan is determined not to fall for Debbie. Debbie's problem is wondering if she can trust Dan to find out who wants her dead before it is too late.

This a top notch suspense story filled with a lot of fast-paced action along with more twists and turns than you have ever seen and an ending that is truly a surprise for the reader. The characters are real, and they all have their own agendas. The characters of Dan and Debbie are written with such rich details they feel like true friends to the reader. This book is set with Las Vegas as the background. L.C. Hayden has done it again. First there was "Who's Susan" and now "When Colette Died." I can hardly wait for her next book to come out.

When Colette Died by L C Hayden

Debbie Gunther is in Las Vegas for her big break into the world of show business impersonating the Las Vegas singing star Colette who was murdered five years previously.

From the opening sentence it is clear that Debbie is being stalked and is surrounded by enemies. The fear is palpable and the reader is immediately catapulted into a world of distrust.

Smiling ambitious Jack Armstrong with the position of Casino General Manager in his sights. Her director Bill Davis who doesn't attempt to hide his animosity towards Debbie. Motherly Annie and the Casino owner, the legendary Ms Elizabeth. All have there own agenda. Beset by animosity on all sides Debbie is attracted by a reporter Dan Springer who initially seems to care, but does he?

As the murderer of Colette was caught, why is Debbie receiving threats against her life. Could this be related to her own difficult past? Who is the mysterious Boss.

Set against the glitzy background of the Las Vegas casino, this book is full of greed, family anguish and murder, and holds the reader to the end. If you relish suspense, this book is for you.

Lizzie Hayes 30 January 2000

This was a very good book, if you want to learn about politics in nevada.

Ok, so really, I haven't even read the book. I just wanted the 50 dollar gift certificate. So hahaha. Go read the book though.

I loved this book! Somehow, we missed it on our prior trips to DV. It covers all the basic hikes, plus a few more. The authors' clarity about length of hike, elevation gain, and optional additional hikes are all very useful. We carried it with us everywhere. I need to get my hands on their Utah book, Wild Utah!

The book is written well and very attractive.
But it is unreliable and potentially dangerous. For example, it encouraged taking a regular car (and driving carefully) on a road the National Park Service says is only good for SUVs or ATVs. This was risky advice. It was hard to find some of the trailheads the book mentioned, though that might simply be because this year 2000 book might already be out of date.

Though the writer is obviously gifted, and the stories are without a doubt amusing and accurately detailed, the author seems distant from his characters.

The author seems to stay un-involved and to coldly inspect his subjects as though they were fireflies in Mason jars, or butterflies on pins.

The writing is superb, but the lack of involvment in the characters inner workings and lives, leaves these stories sounding like a girlfriend repeating a soap opera in the office, to someone who missed an episode.

I'll lay off with these last words. The author should look into his own heart and write real, breathing characters, not try to bring to life cardboard cutouts. No matter how excellent it is, it must heart. This book does not have heart, though it does have plenty of good writing.

This wonderful collection of non-fiction accounts on the other side of the table is a true and accurate look at what makes the casinos tick: not the people who come with the money, but the people who take it. Lee Barnes has a gift and it is to conjure so many voices into one cohesive book. It is funny, sad, and terrible. If you ever wanted to know who lives in Las Vegas, read this.

The book's subtitle is particularly apt, as the reader is treated to an autobiographical account of Spanier's lifelong passion for gambling, beginning with betting on horses in his early school years and, later, Cambridge, where he first discovered poker. His description of the London poker scene of the 1960s is particularly vivid, as are his tales of the games at Washington's National Press Club, and his ten-year participation in a London "Tuesday Night Game." And his account of a Caribbean poker cruise, on which he was a poker instructor, is a gem of a snapshot of the rituals and mores of the poker subculture.


Spanier's career as a journalist brought him around the world, and he recounts many of his experiences, both as a correspondent and as a player. This along makes The Hand I Played an interesting book. But Spanier is also able to make the mind of the gambler intelligible to the non-gambler. For example, when talking about the meaning of "action" on page 51, Spanier notes that it means, "playing with chance, taking a challenge, the excitement of living in top gear. In gambling, this is the pay-off. In our routine urban lives, most of us are cogs in the wheel.... Gambling offers a fast way out...the player can give self-indulgence a whirl, briefly cast responsibility aside, and fantasize about a brighter, richer, easier life." Of course, Spanier knows that these fantasies are usually illusory, but they still give gamblers, " a little spoonful of hope, which, like honey, is pleasing while it lasts." This general sentiment has been voiced countless times, but rarely this articulately-or with such self-knowledge.

The chapter on "Net Poker" is also valuable, not because it teaches the reader how to win at online poker or because it offers strong arguments for or against online gambling, but because it provides an account of the online poker industry in its earliest years from someone who knows poker intimately. Online gambling may be a short-lived phenomenon or it may mature into a lasting industry, but future social scientists will be grateful for Spanier's thoughtful survey of the virtual poker world of the late 1990s.

Spanier also runs a quick historiographical romp through books on Las Vegas and gambling, giving his opinions on several books in the canon. Spanier's refined literary sensibilities temper his enthusiasm for gambling, so he is able to recognize that "it is easy to write about Las Vegas, as an abundance of bad journalism proves," (p. 209) but knows that it is difficult to catch the lightning of gambling excitement in a bottle. That Spanier is an arbiter of good and bad writings about Las Vegas may touch a nerve with some Southern Nevadans who resent literary "carpetbaggers" who, after a weekend in town, claim to interpret Las Vegas to the rest of the world. This is not a point without merit; many of the misleading books about Las Vegas have been by "outsiders." But Spanier is no outsider to gambling; he enjoyed a lifelong passion for it that qualifies him as an expert on the subject. But should his writings about Las Vegas be discounted because he is a "carpetbagger?'' Absolutely not. While his views may not be the same as longtime residents, they are those of an intelligent, articulate observer who can place the city in the context of a larger global gambling scene.

The climax of the book is Spanier's own participation in the 1997 poker World Championship, held at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas. For poker aficionados, this is the obvious equivalent of playing in any world championship. Though Spanier knew going in that he had about as much chance of winning as beating Tiger Woods in golf, the honey spoonful of hope still held out that tiniest chance, which was no doubt intoxicating. There are several accounts of the World Championship, but few from this close-up.

In all, The Hand I Played reads like an extended conversation one might have on a long car or plane ride with an intelligent, insightful, gambler. A great deal of Spanier's personality shines through the narrative, so we get not only a look at how poker is played, but a look, sometimes unconsciously, into the mind of a player. This is all the more poignant because the book was published posthumously. But it is a testament to both Spanier and his editors that The Hand I Played is such a riveting work for both players and interested laypeople. A hint to the uninitiated-read the appendix, which explains the basics of Texas Hold 'em, before the book itself. It will add a great deal of depth to Spanier's accounts of games and hands, which otherwise may be impenetrable to non-players. Whether a veteran of marathon poker sessions or someone who simply doesn't understand the appeal of the game, The Hand I Played will undoubtedly change the way the reader thinks about gambling, chance, and poker.

I realized from the title this was not a how to poker book but figured it would be something along the lines of anthony holdens book big deal but i was very disappointed with this book.It cover the authors poker games with his buddies in some off the wall home games (granted i am slanted more towards holdem)Other chapters dealing with a poker cruise and his dealings with a woman poker player hitting him up for advice,a chapter about internet poker dealing with a lot of rules and regs dealing with them in the USA.Also has a chapter about books dealing with gambling mostly by Dostoyevsky.

On the back of the book it talks about the author being in the world series of poker and i was hoping it would have a little more to do with that but it had maybe three or four pages dealing with this.

This was one of those books i keep reading hoping it would get better i felt it never did if you have not red anthony holden's book big deal try that one i could not recommend this book

I agree with the other review to some extent- but it can't be blamed on the book. Water avaialability will greatly vary depending on season. And no matter how good your guide may be, you should always consult local rangers and have topo map for anything not 'trailed'. I also have Afoot and Afeild and HATE it. It wasn't descriptive enough and made things far more confusing than necessary. Hiking Southern Nevada and Las Vegas both have been valuable tools for planning trips and selecting hikes. Then we gather our 'background' info before heading out.

Whitney provides a great number of interesting hikes for your adventures, but don't take his word on everything. Be sure to take a topographic map and get advice from park rangers before heading out on day hikes or backpacking trips. I have used Whitney's books on numerous hikes and have found discrepancies on water availability and I disagree avidly on his opinion of "a great hike". He is accurate on difficulty ratings and distances, but check with the visitor's center to verify water sources and directions for the trail or route and MOST IMPORTANTLY, get recommendations from people who have recently hiked your choice of trails.

My favorite genre is memoir and I read them voraciously. Having been born in Las Vegas in the mid 1950's to a mother from a large Mormon family, I excitedly dove into Phyllis Nelson's story. Aside from having greeted Leonard Berstein at the airport, (and this wasn't particularly compelling) I found nothing particularly interesting about her life story. I can see where her writing may be of interest to her family members and immediate community, but for the rest of us, what's the point?

Phyllis Barber allows the reader to gain a intimate view of the clash between values of 1950's Las Vegas and her family's vallues of Mormonism. Barber struggles to use her talent of rhythm in a city celebrated for the excesses of entertainment versus her family's definition of proper use of talent within the confines of her Mormon culture. Barber uses the symbolism of marriage to both worlds to best explain the dilemna she is in. To Bobby Jack ( a current boyfriend) marriage meant a wheezing minister, ye