Back to Where You Once Belonged

In a sweeping anthology that moves from the ancient makers of Southern Nevada’s petroglyphs and occupants of the county morgue to denizens of contemporary street life, ten Las Vegas essayists examine the many ways our pasts shape our present—and, possibly, our future.

Set in and around a city with its own complex relationship to history, these eclectic narratives take you in surprising directions. Listen in as a photography model ponders the psychology of the men who hire her to recreate red-letter moments from their pasts. Follow the rollicking account of a young historian’s baptism in early-’80s journalism. Watch as a writer bottoms out and gets back up.

By indelibly joining the timeless—family, race, trauma, love, death—with the personal, the essays in this collection, the eighth volume in the Las Vegas Writes series, present a singular view of a city that’s forever negotiating the turbulent passage between then and now.