Las Vegas Books

This book gives you almost no taste of what the show is like. It is a collection of beautiful but artsy fartsy pictures, capturing the photographers style rather than this amazing show. The bad poetry dramatically inserted as captions to the pictures continues the slightly pretensious path the book took.

there are only TWO PAGES at the end of the book devoted to writing about the actual show. For a show that is completely groundbreaking and unique, that is far too little. It is almost all text that is available at the cirque site (an excelent site, as opposed to this book)

To see what this book could have been, take a look at the book of "Pride Rock on Broadway: Julie Taymor's The Lion King". This is a book about an amazing, one- of- a- kind show, packed with quotes from the creators, concept drawings, beautiful photographs, ideas that were cut, technical diagrams and explanations of problems that arose during production and how the team solved them. It is a book that any person, and *especially* a theater person from any discipline would love. That is the kind of book that this could have been, and it isn't.

If you want an artsy collection of photographs, this is for you. Otherwise, wait till you get a chance to actually see the show - it will be worth it!

While the pictures in here are quite good (not fantastic), that's mostly what the book is all about. Pictures. There's no story behind each of them. It's quite pricey for pictures. I'd wait a while until it comes down in price. As for the show? It's the best show you will ever see in your lifetime. Trust me. I've seen a show or two before, and this is something special.

This book appears as if ALL the photographs in it will be as outstanding as the cover picture but this is quite deceiving.

Considering the quality of the show, price of the book, etc... much more effort and professionalism should have been put into the photography.

Very disappointing with a handful of good photographs towards the end of the book.

I have just recived this book, and if you have ever seen "o" at The Bellagio and loved it and want good memories of it, this is the book you want! Buy this book if you love Cirque Du Soleil! I have seen the show 3 times and this a book of high quaility pictures taken from the show! Thanks

I just saw the water-themed "O" by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio in Las Vegas mere days ago and was utterly spellbound by the otherwordly experience. Afterwards I decided to check out the souvenir shop and perused this book there. What I found inside were a bunch of lack-luster photographs taken from the spectacular performance, but none of them actually capture the magic of seeing it happen before your very eyes, and what a marvel it is to behold upclose!

In short, these images don't do the production justice! I would not recommend this to anyone who's considering buying tickets for the continuously sold-out "O" and would like to get a taste of what your in for because this may disgcourage you, and that would be a crying shame. Just trust in all the people that have raved about how amazing the show is and buy this simply as memorabilia.

Every play needs its actors, and someone has to sweep up the hall as well. Littlejohn says that they didn't seek to focus on the negatives, but the result is that while Las Vegas may be the fastest growing city in America, both in jobs and population; it doesn't sound that appealing other than as a place to visit.

Most of the reports are glum, and sometimes downright disheartening. Sure, many cities have these problems, but most of them try to do something about it. In Vegas, if it negatively affects the Industry, then it is either ignored or swept under the carpet. It puts a dull finish on what is otherwise presented as a glittering jewel.

The Real Las Vegas is written by a retired profesor from Berkley who, after loosing two rolls of quarters at a strip casino, is bent on teachinng the rest of us how "evil" Las Vegas really is. Among the more "enlightened" things that we simple minded people would never know about this city are: Seniors like to play BINGO. Some teens growing up in Las Vegas drink and get into trouble - some even have children before they are married! The local police department protect tourists downtown and on the strip! (Can you just imagine that?). Casinos have their own private security force, and money flows free and easy! The education system of this city (and it must be only this city) is over-crowded and under funded, and there are less expensive, and faster growing southwestern cities than Las Vegas! The book is simply not helpful and not interesting given all of the maladies this author cites are around "In spades" if you will, in other cities. I am not sure what is so Real about this book, except that it is clear this man wants his two rolls of quarters back.

It seems from the reviews that some people were disappointed by this book, but I really enjoyed reading the various essays. The book is a series of journalistic essays from different writers, and each one writes for about 5-7 pages on a specific topic. Some of the topics the book covers are housing/development, water, the sex industry, African Americans in Vegas, crime, growing up in Vegas, etc. Some of the essays were more serious (water) than others (sex industry), but all of them offered a nice insight into the city, especially if you've only been there a few times and have never ventured beyond the strip. I read this book a few months before moving to Henderson, NV., and thought the book was a nice way to get acquainted with the city and what goes on there. This is definitely not a book for tourists or someone planning a trip to Vegas, but more for people who live in the area, people considering moving there, or perhaps people who have visited and developed an interest in the area. It's an easy read, and an enjoyable one.

This book is primarily written by a handful of contributors, mainly journalists and edited by a seasoned journalist and former journalism professor at the University of California-Berkeley. Because of the number of authors, the quality of the chapters vary, but in general, this was a very noble effort and a well-thought out and implemented project. The idea, according to the editor, was to demystify the resort destination and to look at it as a real, although unique American city.
The introduction by the editor is excellent, as is his epilogue, synthesizing and analyzing the content of the book.
The chapters in between discuss various aspects of the city, the educational system, the plight of the homeless, the large population of hispanic immigrant workers, the casino and sex "industries", the scarce water supply, etc. The book also attempts to discuss such things as the special characteristics of Nevadans.
Many of these chapters are very well written, and are all very easy to read. Some of the authors tend to fall into a pattern that I find particularly troublesome about, in particular, television journalism. The author is looking to make a point (for example, there are a lot of kids in the Clark County School District who use drugs). So, they interview and present the most shocking results from their interviews regarding what a few kids say about their drug use. Never mind the fact that one could have probably obtained similar comments from some kids in any other city. Reading the chapter on the schools, I would think that it is impossible to grow up in Las Vegas and to be a good kid and not drop out and go onto college. However, quite on the contrary, over the last 4 years that I have lived in this city, I have interviewed 30+ high school seniors on behalf of my alma mater on the East Coast. I have met kids who are outstanding students, have some of the highest test scores in the nation, are deeply involved in athletics, music, and community service and have never touched a drug and don't regularly hang out on the strip.
It is very difficult, I believe, as a visitor, to get a true picture of this city. The tourism economy actively attempts to create and maintain the atmosphere of "anything goes" "have fun and drink and gamble and do whatever you want" for the tourists. However, as the editor astutely notes, beyond the strip, "many conditions recorded in this book will be recognized by Americans from other states and cities..."

Beyond some of the shortcomings, this is a very well-done work. Some of the authors spent a great deal of time locally researching their work. The introspective thoughts by the editor really pull it together. As a resident, I find this book helps me to get some critical distance to evaluate the city in which I live. My only fear is that for someone not familiar with the city, the work of some of the authors may paint a uncharacteristically negative picture in some cases that does not give Las Vegas the proper perspective in these problems relative to other places.

Having spent at least 1 week a year in Las Vegas since 1960, the scope and breadth of the "Real Las Vegas" was rewardingly real, and suprisingly interesting and very readible. Staying at the Sands Hotel in the sixties with my family and - the obvious metamorphousis of a few casinos in the desert to what is is today is a marvel and wonder. The 2 reviewers listed seemed to be looking for some explanation or reason for the diversity of L.V.. Answers. Answers - You won't find any here. The stories and straight up, direct, and frank. Real investigative insight into some of the many facets of life in Las Vegas. What I really liked about this book is it's about real people, with real dreams and disapointments. It's about a city that's grown too fast, under the stewardship of gaming, sex and power. It's about the extremes. Las Vegas is a wonderful metephore for the United States society - some are just turned off the the brash and brazen display of human nature Las Vegas encourages. You won't like all the stories, but you will find some very moving people and issues. The introduction is 1 of the best sections in the book. They had to leave out many sories because of space. I hope there's another volumn.

This book has some interesting tests to take-- how romantic are you? How much do you know about Sex? How aggressive are you?
I was hoping to learn more about myself by taking these tests. The results on some tests are difficult to calculate. But once you muddle through and find your score - you are not really given a good explanation of what your results mean. It tells me very little about myself that I scored with the top 10 percent of those taking the test. I was hoping for explanations of what my answers say about me. This book lacks any deep thought-provoking explanations about your answers. I was hoping for it to say something about my personality. I was looking for more explanation into who I am based on the results of the tests. This book lacks the "that's interesting" factor from your test results. I was a bit disappointed by that. I took the tests and it seemed to reveal very little about the real me.

Talk about self-responsibility and self-accountability. Here it is folks, a book of tests used by accredited psychologists to help you discover everything, well almost everything about yourself. These personality tests allow you to score or rate yourself and then guide you on how to change what you don't like. It's a step in the right direction and might give your career and love life a much needed boost. There are 25 tests. After you finish this book,look at "How to Master Change" by Mary Carroll Moore and "35 Golden Keys to Who You Are and Why You're Here" by Linda Anderson. Each book is a fine addendum to the other. No excuses now, let's put forth the effort and start getting our lives in order.First the self-tests, then action and transforming ourselves. Success and contentment are within our reach.

For many years I have enjoyed (and studied, to some degree) personality and psychological tests of various kinds. If you like the idea of getting a whole batch of different psychology tests in ONE book-- rather than having to buy a separate book for EACH test-- then this may be the book for you.

Louis Janda's book is divided into five sections, each containing five tests, under the general headings of "Getting Ahead" (intelligence, work and life experience); "Getting it Together" (Self-esteem and self-image); "Getting Along" (Your intereaction and social style); "Getting Together" (Your relationship styles) and "Getting it on" (Your sexuality and intimacy preferences). There is only the briefest of introductions on how to use the book and the metrics of psychological tests, and at the end of each test Janda includes only a few VERY brief statements about the development of each particular test, and the meaning of your results.

These 25 tests were, indeed, developed by psychologists and researchers, and they certainly have the potential to teach you a thing or two about yourself. However, the nature of this "book of tests" also means that there simply isn't any significant room left over for interpretation of test scores, nor for helping the reader *apply* the information to their own self-growth. As such, I would be happy to recommend the book for someone who's already familiar with psychological testing-- however, if you're just getting *started* on the concept of psychology, I expect this text would leave you with the thoughts "OK, so these are my results. Now what???"

Final thoughts: Recommended (7.5 out of a possible 10 bookmarks), but mainly for those who already have some familiarity with psychology and testing.

This book lacks insight and details. After a given test the author gives you his personal view of the test you just took but doesn't give you an interpretaion of your score results. For instance, who cares if you came in the 85th percentile on the "How Romantic Are You?" test when the author fails to point out whether that means that you are an extreme romantic or an extreme nonromatic. Or if that's a good thing or not. I would not recommend this book to anyone looking to learn more about themselves. The book is mostly fluff with no meat.

If you take the time to read the introduction to this book, you'll find that the editor put together an experienced team of writers for this (first) edition of Best Places Las Vegas, many of whom are Las Vegas natives or almost so. Too often, guidebooks are written by people who fly into a place for four to six weeks, learn as much as they can (which is not much) and then bang out a book based on that and a little follow up research. Not so with this book; truly, it reads almost more valuable for a resident than a visitor, as most visitors are tourists who are looking for guides on how to be a tourist, not insider information. Mr. Reza has also written and edited for Time Out Guides, a series I adore and trust, so I think it's better to take into consideration that while the writing styles (of all the authors) found in this book may not be YOUR style, the information is accurate from a local perspective!

I think the only review posted here was a little generous. This book is way to overpriced for the "places" they suggest. Really, there's nothing in the book that you can't find elswhere on the web. Another problem, and this really turned me off, is the fact that this writer has such a GUSHY STYLE! I almost felt he went to the various vendors to have THEM write the entries for their stores or cafes. Sure the author covers a lot of ground, but I go for quality, not quantity.

I recently took my first "adult" trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago and this was one of the books I purchased for my trip. It's loaded with information, but I felt that Mr. Reza concentrated more on scope, than giving us any real depth or accuracy to his entries. Often, I found myself at odds with some of his recommendations and his writing style just reeked of strained, quasi-urbane hipness and attitude. I don't want to be too critical of the book, I certainly have to admire Mr. Reza's ambition for covering so much ground in his travel guide, but I felt that whatever he suggested wasn't also recommended in some of the other cheaper, better travel guides that I had with me on my trip.

I ended up on this quest to figure out WHY this book/movie was so highly acclaimed...by anyone that could get through the material, anyway. I read the book, watched the movie, and felt complelled to peruse this book at a book store. Below is my review of the book and movie (which, as much as I hated the material, the movie does a great job of bringing the book to the screen), but this book is just a way to throw good money after bad. If you have the Thompson book you definitely don't need this one!

REVIEW

This book is so overrated. I've yet to read exactly WHAT the genius is supposed to be behind this book. That Thompson is able to ramble on and on and on and on and ON about drugs for a few hundred pages? That he was able to put to words what it's like to be in a week-long drug binge (which WOULD be hard, because how COULD you remember it?)

I enjoy out-of-the-ordinary books and movies. Although the people that have previously posted (rave) reviews about this book are much deeper into the alternative culture, things like Pulp Fiction and Fight Club are still considered "out there" by the vast majority of the public. And Fear and Loathing not just out there, it's gone.

(...)

I started the book. I lost interest. I rented the movie, hoping it could contain my focus for 90 minutes. It was ***. At the encouragement of another author, I read the book all the way through. Still bored. Constant drug ramblings with no real objective. It could have ended 50-100 pages earlier, or it could have continued 50-100 pages more (in Denver or Malibu), and it would have made no significant change to the content of the book. I rented the movie again. Ugh. Other than they did a good job sticking to the original content (amazingly so), the original material still was... boring!

I'm sure the flames will come, but after spending a considerable amount of energy trying to get through this material, I can't find the genius in the work. As for why everyone that has previously reviewed it has given it 5 stars: it is rare for anyone not extremely interested in the drug culture to get past the first 5 pages, so anyone who didn't love the book probably gave up on it way early and can't make a valid review.

Twisted, funny (for some), and outrageous. Although the title of the book is a bit confusing, it is an excellent item to purchase for fans of the film and/or book.

Good book, but it's pretty redundant if you have the actual novel (by the amazing Hunter S. Thompson). So you don't really need it. Unless you simply must buy every piece of Fear and Loathing merchandise you see. In that case, go right ahead.

Typical of the DK guides, more fluff than substance, but nice to have as a souvenir. Nice color photos throughout, and nice drawings, too. Buy this afterward to remember your trip. Buy Frommers beforehand to get the real meat and potatoes.

Being a pretty busy person, and usually hating to read travel guides, I find that the DK Eyewitness Guides are the only ones I can stand reading - in fact, I find them enjoyable.

Their main force is that you don't have to imagine whether a destination would be something for you - the guide shows you what to expect, where others just tell you about it. That is the series' main force: They are very easily digestible.

That said, an Eyewitness Guide can't stand alone, so my wife usually acquires a Lonely Planet guide for the place, and I read the Eyewitness Guide, and the two complement each other nicely.

This guide to the US South West I bought in preparation for a vacation there, and although it had always been a dream destination for me, I can only say that I looked forward to it more and more for each time I read the book!

One has to know that the book covers quite a large area: The complete states of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as Southern Utah, the area around Las Vegas, and a little bit of Colorado. This means that for most people, myself included, there are parts of the book which doesn't apply at all to the trip one is planning. As an example, a rather large (in my opinion) section of 38 pages (or 17%) is dedicated to Las Vegas. For an area guide like this, it can't be any different - one just has to know this.

Although the overall quality of the book makes for a very attractive read, I still miss more detailed information, such as approximate entry fees. The area maps of the attractions could be better, too, as I often found myself wondering if a road marked on the map would be accessible to normal cars, or four-wheel drive only, etc.

Although I liked the book and found it a great preperatory tool, as a travel companion it leaves a lot to be desired: The maps aren't detailed enough and it's a little too evident that this is a first edition. There's just one too many errors to make you completely comfortable with it, but the errors are in the details, and for the large overview, it can't be beat.

My overall conclusion would seem to be, then, that it is a very attractive book that gives one a good general feel for the area.

It would seem that this book has not been updated in some time since The Blue Man Group hasn't been performing at Luxor for over a year.

I recently took my family to Las Vegas. With young children we were not able to spend time in the casinos. I bought this guide and it helped me to plan the vacation which included details on nightlife, shows, and celebrity restaurants. The guide was easy to carry around and offered options that could fit into any budget. We found out that there was more to do in Vegas than gamble!

L.S. Baker's insight about the Las Vegas lounge entertainment will have you laughing hysterically for hours. This tell-all book
reveals all the nasty entertainment scams and scandalous politics that engulf the Las Vegas entertainmnet scene. An "entertaining read" for anyone who loves the Las Vegas night life.

As I understand this a previous employed whining musician person just constantly complains about previous employers naming them after food products and insects. No real names or casinos are written in. A VERY BORING BOOK! If you have to read this, maybe your local library can offer a copy to check out. Don't waste money on this book!

I am heading for Las Vegas again very soon and am going through this book very carefully to decide where I will do most of my playing. This is the 3rd time I am using this book as a reference to guide me to the best places to play slots and video poker. I had hoped a newer edition would be out by now, hence the 4 rating rather than a 5, but don't let that stop you from buying this book. The am't of info
contained in this book will guide the new and the veteran
Las Vegas gambler alike. I won't leave home without it!

This is the 1995 edition which, while useful in showing how Slot Clubs work, is hopelessly outdated in its particulars. I had understood that there would be a 1998 edition which would have been more useful. None of the newer casinos is listed here because of the book's age. I also know for fact that the club at MGM Grand has changed its modus operandi since this book was written. If you want an overview of how slot clubs work, this book could be for you. I cannot recommend it for current information.

This is a collection of nothing more than newspaper articles cut and pasted into book form. Not much historical narrative, and lacking in relevant aspects of the topic offered. Photographs are nothing more than xeroxed copies from newpapers that are dark, grainy and all in black and white.
Expections of the book's content and quality were not as decribed.

I found the book to be extremely interesting. I was impressed that the author was actully the general manager of the Hacienda and traces the history of one of the first Las Vegas "mega-resorts". Mr. Taylor gives insight on the internal workings of a Las Vegas hotel that only someone who is an insider could. As with all of Mr. Taylor's books on historical events, it is filled with interesting information from well preserved archives. It would be worth your while to purchase if you have an interest in the history of Las Vegas or the hotel industry.