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Title: The Money and the Power : The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America by Roger Morris, Sally Denton ISBN: 0-375-70126-5 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 March, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.46 (28 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: This is the real America...amazing book!
Comment: This should be recommended reading for every American who cares at all about their history and/or considers themselves to be patriotic. And anyone who cares to visit Las Vegas after reading this book, proves that America is still full of suckers. It is a scathing, enlightening read that unfolds as more of an American history than anything else. While some of it gets too preachy and paranoid and a little short on solid facts (especially in the second half), occasionally relying on quotes from journalists for example, it is for the most part a thoroughly researched and documented smack in the face of America. Along the lines of "Fast Food Nation", it takes an American beacon, and debunks every single myth that everyone is suckered into believing about it, and does so in a real, documented, way. It dissects the false images and glorification of the Mob, Teamsters, presidents, congressmen, governors and all the rest. It spares no one, Democratic or Republican, and reveals a different modern American history from what we all learned from school texbooks that were blissfully ignorant of the truth as much as anyone else. Gets wordy and bit confusing with all of the names involved at times. All in all, a faantastic, engrossing read. Unfortunately, it makes you want to leave the country. :-)
Rating: 3
Summary: The Root of All Evil
Comment: The Money and the Power begins as an intriguingly detailed history of Las Vegas, digging deep into mobster mythology to present a "true" history in a field steeped in mythos. The underlying theme is that the peculiar set of circumstances that allowed legalized gambling in Nevada have allowed the corruption the entire (presumably previously uncorrupt?) country.
This is an interesting argument, and at first the authors do a good job of marshalling impressive battalions of detail into a compelling narrative. Soon, however, the prose turns oddly purple, and each chapter end seem culled from gothic melodrama.
Readers of James Ellroy will recognize the basic scenario from his American Tabloid/Cold Six Thousand series, but it plays better as hard-boiled fiction than curiously naive history. One can agree with many of the authors' historical points without concuring with their increasingly strident and unsupported conclusions.
When the corporations finally take the casinos over from the mob, we're told they are in fact no different from their murderous predecessors. The proof: they routine lobby congress for legislation favorable to legalized gambling, and because the casino business is very profitable, they routinely get what they want.
This dastardly turn of events has surely never happened in this country before...
The first half of this book can be recommended as an impressively researched and well-written chronicle of Vegas' early days. But the later portions, long on hysteria and short on clear analysis, are tough going.
Rating: 1
Summary: A boring ridiculous rant
Comment: Don't waste your money or your time. When I first started reading this book, I thought the writers might be going a bit overboard. They had not even begun.
In a nutshell, Las Vegas is ugly, corrupt, evil, racist, anti-union, but don't blame the city, it truly represents all of the US.
I was starting to think the book sounded like a press release from the old Soviet Union, only to find they actually refer to workers as "the proletariat".
Las Vegas corruption also helped cause the Vietnam War, the Reagan Administration, and if you were one of the few "good guys", your death would most likely be suspicious (an "apparent" heart attack)
But worse of all, its absolutely boring!
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Title: Super Casino: Inside the "New" Las Vegas by Pete Earley ISBN: 0553573497 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 02 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn by John L. Smith ISBN: 1568581904 Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: 02 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Players: The Men Who Made Las Vegas by Jack Sheehan ISBN: 087417306X Publisher: Univ of Nevada Pr Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.09 |
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Title: 24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas by Andres Martinez ISBN: 0440509092 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 07 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: A Short History of Las Vegas by Barbara Land, Myrick Land, Guy Louis Rocha ISBN: 0874173264 Publisher: Univ of Nevada Pr Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.35 |
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