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OverviewThirty-seven million people visit Las Vegas every year. It's a city that offers to fulfil all your desires, without any repercussions. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas... right? But what happens to the people who have to grow up there? Children of Las Vegas tells ten of their stories, recorded by award-winning author Timothy O'Grady- tales of overdoses, desert shoot-outs, suicides, casinos, desert air and broken dreams. They include the son of a casino owner whose father gambled their fortune away and died broke and alone; a mother of five whose partner kidnapped her children and is now a meth addict, living in the tunnels within sight of the glittering lights of the city; and a 23-year-old star performer, turned male prostitute. These are the children of the card dealers and the cocktail shakers, the jugglers and the dancers, the limo drivers and the wheel spinners. These are the children whose parents don't come home until they've left for school. These are the children whose parents might not come home at all. Their stories are interspersed with short essays about the city by Timothy and portraits by highly acclaimed photographer Steve Pyke. There are horror stories in every city, but these things aren't just happening in Las Vegas... they're happening because of it. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Timothy O'Grady , Steve PykePublisher: Unbound Imprint: Unbound Dimensions: Width: 14.10cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.20cm Weight: 0.300kg ISBN: 9781783522507ISBN 10: 178352250 Pages: 176 Publication Date: 16 June 2016 Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , General , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsReviewsIt gripped me, moved me, appalled me, astonished me, enlightened me, profoundly upset me, amazed me (resilience!), [and] drove me to read on and on. -- Nick Drake, award-winning poet. 'This is an utterly extraordinary and terrifying work. It gripped me, moved me, appalled me, enlightened and profoundly upset me and drove me to read on and on. It is a city guide like no other to a particular circle of glittering hell in which the fun show mirrors show us the fantastical delusions of our wishes gone wrong, come true. The voices of these remarkable citizens are orchestrated with gentle clarity and moral kindness and it adds up to a vision which shows us how, when and why we are where we are now. It should come to be seen as one of the few 'travel' books - like Anna Funder's Stasiland - which are necessary classics.' Nick Drake, winner of the Forward Prize for poetry 'These are brave, honest, articulate stories, the children wise beyond their years. While the parents bury their heads in the sands of their addictions, the children see everything and they don't look away. Counterpoint is provided by a prologue and a series of short essays by O'Grady, a list of their titles a poem in itself. These profound meditations operate like a chorus or cinematic device that pulls back from the close-up, intense interviews to provide a bird's eye view of Vegas....Children of Las Vegasis a modern fairy tale, much more than the sum of its parts.' Martina Evans, Irish Times 'This is a special thing, faultless. I hope it becomes a source for other things. I can see a play for a start, the tired cook with a cigarette at the back door under the lights. It's a collection of unforgettable stories and the pieces between are wonderful and make the book what it is.' Mark Knopfler, musician Author InformationTimothy O'Grady was born in Chicago and has lived in Ireland, London, Spain and Poland. He was in Las Vegas after receiving a fellowship from the Black Mountain Institute there and stayed on for another year to teach. He has written three works of non-fiction- Curious Journey; On Golf; and, most recently, Divine Magnetic Lands, an account of a return journey around America after thirty years of living in Europe. His novels are Motherland, I Could Read the Sky and Light. Steve Pyke's work has been exhibited worldwide and he is considered one of the leading portrait photographers in the world. His work includes the series Philosophers and Astronauts. For the past 35 years, he has worked consistently on his series collecting the Faces of our Time. He has published nine books. In 2004 Steve received an MBE in the Queen's New Years Honours list for his services to the Arts. In 2006 he was made a Friend of the Royal Photographic Society. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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