Las Vegas Books

I thought that this book was an excellent starter when planning a vacation to "Sin City" with the kids. My husband and I were worried that it would be a vacation where we stayed in the hotel for 5 days and swam by the pool. However, we were able to use this book to plan our days. We were able to find local parks, historical sites and some pretty good restaurants. In addition, the book gave us ideas to keep our 8 year old active by trying things that we would not normally have done (i.e., horseback riding, etc.) The book broke down which hotels were "kid friendly" and what amenities were available to us at the hotel. My son was so excited about this vacation that he still talks about it to everyone more than a year later. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has children and wants to stay away from the casinos.

There is very little in this book that isn't covered elsewhere in more detail. I bought this book and "The Complete Idiot's Travel Guide to Las Vegas" before a trip to Las Vegas with my two sons. The Complete Idiot's Guide had lots more info including info about kid friendly hotels, things to see, etc. Neither book included information about which hotels let kids stay free which was info that I was looking for.
Las Vegas With Kids includes lots of what to me was worthless information - for example: 5 pages are used to list the airlines that fly into Las Vegas, another 6 pages of websites for hotels, packing lists that list only the obvious (and only for the summer season).
My advice would be to buy a general travel guide to Las Vegas and don't bother with this book.

This book was slanted to create confusion. The truth behind this incident was never fully disclosed to the public. Yes, Mr. Tarkanian is a great coach, but the picture that prompted the entire deal was never about him. The reason why the picture appeared in the public is a greater story than you could ever imagine, and no one thought of asking the right questions. Mr.Yaeger missed many of the facts with his own interpretation of reality, but that's what a scandel is all about? Some day the true story will be told!

I enjoyed this book, mainly because I am a fan of Jerry Tarkanian. I would read this again because I found it enjoyable. I did not live in Vegas while Tark was there, so I can't verify if it's truthful or not, but it is a good read.

Needed a new street guide. The 2008 version was pretty much the same as the 2006 version. The streets are changing quickly in Las Vegas and the areas I looked at still had not been updated. The overall purchase process was fine; the book arrived in perfect condition. Its nice to have a street guide in better condition.

I found the Thomas Guide maps harder to use than the Metro Maps book for Las Vegas. The map grids do not align with the major streets and the maps in the Thomas Guide are not complete and do not show the newer subdivisions. Prefer the Greater Las Vegas Street Guide and Directory.

If you are into true crime books this is one of the better ones to come along in awhile.

This book traces the colorful life of "Jerry Van" and his many criminal associates over the years including "Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro of "Casino" fame and another one I myself was especially interested in, "Eddie Nash" who for many years reigned as the king of Hollywood with his many clubs , drug dealings and his final downfall as the man who had four people bludgeoned to death as payback for a robbery in his home in what has become known as the "Wonderland" killings.

Would like to see more books of this caliber in the future.

This book is very unorganized and hard to follow. Events and thoughts at times do not make sense I.E chapter one page 5 "I went to live with my sister and Dennis's father gave me a job in his factory". No where is it mentioned who Dennis is and why he is mentioned, or was that his sisters name and they had different fathers? In the same sentence it goes on to say something about Oakland Community College and football with reference to the the colleege retruning to the Reformatory? What is the Reformatory and what does it have to do with football
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It is full of events, names and happenings that just don't "gel" together..with no explaination of why a particular person or event is/was or what the relevence is in the story..

I had to give up reading it less then half way through, do to the lack of consistant thoughts...too confusing...

I was a great fan of this author's 1992 book titled 'All Right,OK, You Win,' which was an insightful and well-written overview of theStrip. When I saw this book, 'Welcome to the Pleasuredome,' I hoped for an update of all that has happened on the Strip since 1992. Imagine my dismay when I discovered it's the exact same book as 'All Right, OK, You Win,' with a different cover and a different title. END

Although I patronize neither casinos nor brothels, Spanier's book was fascinating reading for me. He takes his reader inside the back rooms of casinos, explaining how they can afford to give away freebies to their best customers, how they draw new families, and the future of Las Vegas. He puts the story of the Nevada city into a historical context, explaining how it blossomed from a railroad outpost a few decades ago into the major destination it is today. He concludes by speculating about the effect of competition, including nearby Laughlin, state lotteries, and Atlantic City. This book will not disappoint.

A great idea with good information, but poorly laid-out. It reads like a book rather than a "guide." Probably a good read before you go, but not a good idea for a book to take with you for hints once you get there

The City is grand. The book does an adequate job in describings sites and getting you around town. Was it the best book? It worked well for us although we were looking for more definitive 'must see's.

If you are looking for a guidebook that packs in lots of information alongside a ton of color pictures, this would be the one. It has an extensive history section and details the features of all of the major hotels and attractions. Take note that it is produced by the Discovery Channel, because it reads much like the channel's documentaries. That is the guide's downfall. While it is tall on info, it is horrible short on critique. It does not rate the hotels, restaurants, or attractions. If you want a really helpful guidebook, with lots of tips and advice, check out "The Unofficial Guide". The Insight Guide is a good secondary guidebook through which to read up on general Las Vegas info. Just don't make this one the first or only guide you buy about the city if you really want some insight.

The weakest of the four books, but still not too bad. It's a collection of short stores, some appearing in Hemingson's earlier works, but all tied together (sort of) by common characters and themes. Decent, but i still recommend the first or fourth one.

The twenty-six main photos in this book are part four of Judy Natal's ongoing study of language and landscape. I thought these (and an additional seven) provide a rather slim reason for the book and as the title implies it is a neon sign A to Z which means that the photos are mostly tightly cropped to reveal each relevant letter so there are very few overall shots of this scrapyard. Fortunately a few photos just show one letter so they achieve their purpose easily. The photos do seem rather subdued in their color especially when compared to those appearing in Laura Domela's `Neon Boneyard' book. Domela also goes for close-ups but gets much more exciting compositions and really vibrant colors, a sort of daylight version of what these signs used to look during their working life.

Apart from the photos I found the book a rather conservative production: the use of roman numerals for the first few pages, the twenty-six photos all face a blank page, the captions in the back are just lettered PLATE A, B, C etc with no reference on the relevant photo spread (in fact the captions in the book have three styles: as roman numbers, as letters and after the twenty-six plates as straight page numbers) the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS take three pages (are readers really interested in all this back-slapping) plus another page for ABOUT THE BOOK which includes thanks to the Icelandic printer for doing what he is paid to do.

Daylight images of scrapped neon I think work better in Domela's photos rather than the ones in 'Neon Boneyard Las Vegas A-Z'.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.