Synopses & Reviews
Las Vegas America begins with the dynamiting of the Desert Inn in October 2001, the moment when old Vegas "cool" died and the new corporate model claimed definitive victory. From this moment, Cooper takes us on a journey from the top of the Luxor Hotel's glass pyramid, down "the Strip," past the golden glow of the Mirage into the town's black ghetto. Along the way, the best-selling author introduces us to a cast of characters including casino king Steve Wynn and Tim Thuller, leader of the Vagabound Motorcycle Club. He explores life among Vegas's 75,000 union families and considers how outlaws and iconoclasts are adapting to life in the new corporate city. Finally, Cooper strays beyond the Strip into a desolate landscape characterized by pawnshops, destitution, crime, and impending environmental crisis.
"For me," writes Cooper, "Las Vegas is the last, most honest place in America. Vegas is often described as a city of dreams and fantasy, of tinselish make-believe. But this is getting backwards. Vegas is the American market ethic stripped completely bare, a mini-world totally free of the pretenses and protocols of modern consumer capitalism. Watching it operate with barely any mediation generates nothing short of an intellectual frisson."
Review
"Hold on tight. Marc Cooper takes us on a reeling, raucous, and ultimately revealing ride straight though Las Vegas and deep into the heart of modern American culture." Arianna Huffington,
author of Pigs at the Trough
Review
"Bright lights, big bucks Marc Cooper's riveting deconstruction of Las Vegas is nearly as addictive as the real thing." Peter Biskind, author of
Down and Dirty Pictures and
Raging Bulls, Easy Riders
Review
"What makes this profile of Las Vegas fascinating is the way it works on two levels....New Journalism meets the New Vegas." Booklist
Review
"[A] winning guide to the New Vegas biosphere....The city's blemished history, arcane politics and artful politicos, owners, and workers are all considered in his testimony about a sleazy, campy, and transfixing place." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Marc Cooper has covered politics and culture from across the US and around the world for the last three decades. His writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Playboy and others. His memoir Pinochet and Me was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Cooper is a contributing editor to The Nation and the host of the syndicated RadioNation.