Timothy Egan. The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 352 pages. Forest fires are a perennial concern, particularly in the American West, as is government stewardship of public lands. This was no less true in 1910, when the Forest Service was young and the worst fire […]
Book Review: The Big Burn Read More »
book reviewsI’ve got a new column out today in the Las Vegas Weekly. It’s an essay about why there’s such a stigma against Las Vegas visitors: Three outside opinions, one conclusion: Las Vegas is the shallow end of America’s gene pool. Could they have a point? After all, casinos offer negative-expectation games. Mathematically, it’s a certainty
Column in LV Weekly Read More »
life in vegas, what's new, writingKatherine Russell Rich. Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 384 pages. In 2001, editor and author Katherine Russell Rich decided to spend a year in India learning Hindi as a way of better understanding both India and herself. The literary result is Dreaming in Hindi, a memoir of
Book Review: Dreaming in Hindi Read More »
book reviewsHoward J. Morris and Jenny Lee. Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid: The Simple Truth to a Complicated Relationship. New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009. 240 pages. Relationship books are always popular, and since a flood of books by purported experts hasn’t stopped couples from breaking up, why not a book by a boyfriend/girlfriend pair
Book Review: Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid Read More »
book reviewsDonald McRae. The Last Trials of Clarence Darrow. New York: William Morrow, 2009. 422 pages. Clarence Darrow was one of the most polarizing figures of the early 20th century. He was at the forefront of several of the era’s most widely publicized trials, including the McNamara brothers’ 1912 trial for allegedly bombing the LA Times
Book Review: The Last Trials of Clarence Darrow Read More »
book reviewsJack Sheehan. Quiet Kingmaker of Las Vegas: E. Parry Thomas. Las Vegas: Stephens Press, 2009. 346 pages. Wow. That was my reaction to finding out that a biography of Parry Thomas was coming out. Thomas, the man who it said said “flipped the switch that turned on the lights in Las Vegas,” is easily one
Book Review: Quiet Kingmaker of Las Vegas Read More »
book reviewsIt’s never too early to start planning your next writing workshop, particularly if you’re planning to be in Cape May, New Jersey next January 15-18. If you’re inclined towards brief non-fiction (and who isn’t…except for those of us who like lengthy fiction?) you may want to consider beating the crowd and registering now for one
Getting to the point Read More »
writingTrisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile. I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage after the Baby Carriage. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009. 176 pages. It’s another Amazon Vine review, and another advice book. If you wonder why I review so many of these, its because there seem to be a lot of them
Book Review: I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper Read More »
book reviewsReview of Gerald F. Davis’s Managed by the Markets: How Finance Re-Shaped America,
Book Review: Managed by the Markets Read More »
book reviewsA review of Peter Shrag’s Paradise Lost: California’s Experience, America’s Future.
Book review: Paradise Lost Read More »
book reviewsI’ve always been fascinated by carnivals, carnies, and con-artists. Two of my favorite books, the novel Nightmare Alley and Julian Prosauker’s Suckers All!, the story of honest John Kelly, are set in this milieu. So how does a more recent memoir of life on the carnival pitch fair? Let’s see.
Book review: Eyeing the Flash Read More »
book reviewsI originally reviewed this for the Pennsylvania Review of History. As you’ll see, it’s a provocative book that might make you rethink just how lucky you are.
Book review: Something for Nothing Read More »
book reviewsRe-reading after seven years, I’m struck by two things: I’m not entirely comfortable reviewing books that I don’t like, and the general quality of writing about Las Vegas has not much improved. Let me explain: as a writer, I absolutely hate saying negative things about other writers. I know how hard it is to find
Book review: Super Casino Read More »
book reviews, life in vegas, news about gamblingI originally reviewed this for the Nevada Historical Society Quarterly. Written three years before Positively Fifth Street, this book pioneered the literary take on the World Series of Poker genre.
Book review: The Hand I Played Read More »
book reviewsGeoff Schumacher. Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia, and Palace Intrigue. Las Vegas: Stephens Press, 2008. Hardcover, 292 pp. More than four dozens books about Howard Hughes have been published since the 1960s. It would seem that there’s little more we can learn about his life. Why, then, should you bother to read another book about Hughes?
Book review: Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia, and Palace Intrigue Read More »
book reviewsJohn McPherson. Beating the Odds: The Complete Dictionary of Gambling and Games of Chance. Docklands, Victoria: Geoff Slattery Publishing, 2007. 708 pp. This is a very handy and very comprehensive dictionary of gambling. It is expansive rather than focused, with entries covering games including all of the traditional casino favorites as well as backgammon, mah
Book review: Beating the Odds Read More »
book reviewsBurt Dragin. Six to Five Against: A Gambler’s Odyssey. Berkeley: RDR Books, 2005. Six to Five Against is a refreshing, sometimes wincingly honest look at one man’s gambling. Drawing chiefly on his own experiences but supported by Dragin’s investigations into the thrall that gambling holds for many, this is an open, honest, and readable story
Book Review: Six to Five Against Read More »
book reviewsIn what will hopefully be the first of three, I’ve got a new review up in, predictably, the review section. It’s about an excellent, excellent novel called God Doesn’t Shoot Craps: The book is the story of Dante Alighieri “Danny” Pellegrino, a direct mail scam artist, who earns his bread from peddling holy water, chunks
Craps, faith, and paradise Read More »
writing