Las Vegas Babylon
The True Tales of Glitter, Glamour, and Greed
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- £11.99
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- £11.99
Publisher Description
What happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas and the proof is in this lively and entertaining compilation of stories chronicling decades of decadence, celebrity shenanigans, and political corruption, as well as the glitz and glamour of the casinos that pass for everyday life in Las Vegas.
Underneath the city's present success lies many infamous tales of excess and debauchery. Using new information from recently released FBI documents, Jeff Burbank brings to life the Vegas mob in its heyday, recounting never-before-heard tales of the mobsters who made Vegas what it is today.
But mobsters aren't the only ones with skeletons in Las Vegas' closet. Over the years, Hollywood stars have had their share of the limelight. Burbank has uncovered the many fateful, and often amusing, incidents that have befallen the glamorous and here he recalls the details of the darkest moments in the lives of the famous and foolish: Marilyn Monroe's quickie divorce; boxer Sonny Liston's secret heroin deal just before his death; The Doors singer Jim Morrison's arrest for fighting on the Strip; and the hookers who trick-rolled comedian Tommy Smothers in his hotel room.
With fast-paced and entertaining prose, Burbank captures the true stories from Las Vegas' seedy underbelly that have led to America's 100-year fascination with the aptly named Sin City.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vegas-based reporter Burbank aims to cut through the hype that surrounds the country's top tourist Mecca and reveal-in addition to the usual tales of excess and self-destruction-the "seriously malfunctioning society beneath the 'It's Vegas, baby!' facade." Part gossip smorgasbord, part cautionary tale, the book speeds through the city's century-long history, from its mob-dominated early flourishing to the less murderous but still sleazy local politics scene. (Where else are elected officials busted by the FBI in a topless club bribery investigation codenamed "G-Sting?") Burbank has taken his cue (and his title) from Kenneth Anger's iconic Hollywood Babylon, but this work has less of Anger's over-the-top cantankerous style, uber-insider posturing and lurid details-it's more of a journalistic reckoning than a dark counter-myth of its own. A large chunk of the book is taken up by a catalogue of Vegas celebrity lore, dishing grand scandals like JFK's troubled affair with a mob moll alongside ridiculous fluff, such as a P.R. confrontation between Robin Leach and Emeril Lagasse over whipped-cream-smothered party girls. Burbank's doggedly contrarian stance is his main asset, and he has thought-provoking points to make on the drastic social and environmental costs of poorly-regulated city expansion and the monopolized local media. It might not attain the cult-classic status of its Hollywood namesake, but readers will enjoy a well-researched volume of lively stories about a city that turned 100 this year, and, like a chintzy lounge singer, shows no signs of slowing down.
