- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Villard Books (Nov 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0375501819
- ISBN-13: 978-0375501814
- Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 16 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
603,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > United States > States > Nevada > Las Vegas
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
In April 1998, Andrés Martinez withdrew fifty thousand dollars from the bank--most of the advance he was paid for this book--and boarded a plane to the fastest-growing metropolis in America: Las Vegas. Armed with a wad of traveler's checks, Martinez spent a month within the belly of the beast. 24/7 is the round-the-clock chronicle of his wild ride through America's neon Gomorrah.
Every chapter--each is named after one of the fabled hotels where Martinez holed up with his bankroll--is a fly-on-the-wall view of a different aspect of Las Vegas. From the sumptuous Bellagio to the off-Strip grind joints that cater to local addicts, 24/7 evokes a city that is both human and larger than life.
We are introduced to the people who work in, pass through, and thrive on Vegas: a minister who shines shoes at a topless joint, a school superintendent who must build a new facility every twenty-eight days, and a water czar who covets her neighbors' share of the Colorado River. Martinez hobnobs with conventioneers, befriends a professional sports gambler who raised six kids while losing eight million dollars, and dines with a retired Israeli "security officer" whose lifelong ambition was to move to Vegas and become a blackjack guru. Martinez wanders into the Liberace Museum, attends Easter Sunday mass in the Strip cathedral of the world's most rapidly expanding Catholic archdiocese, and ponders the meaning of it all with Vegas's leading historians.
Interwoven throughout are dispatches from the green-felt front. Martinez laces his blood with adrenaline in an exhilarating all-night session of baccarat with some well-heeled Chinese and idles over slots with an abandoned bride. Above all, he goes mano a mano at blackjack--learning the ropes from his dealer, gathering tricks of the trade from his breakfast companions, and experiencing the angst of Dostoevsky and the sheer ecstasy of the triumphal gambler.
Thought-provoking, hilarious, personal, and journalistically brilliant, 24/7 is a rush of a read, a head-on exploration of a unique American landscape.
Every chapter--each is named after one of the fabled hotels where Martinez holed up with his bankroll--is a fly-on-the-wall view of a different aspect of Las Vegas. From the sumptuous Bellagio to the off-Strip grind joints that cater to local addicts, 24/7 evokes a city that is both human and larger than life.
We are introduced to the people who work in, pass through, and thrive on Vegas: a minister who shines shoes at a topless joint, a school superintendent who must build a new facility every twenty-eight days, and a water czar who covets her neighbors' share of the Colorado River. Martinez hobnobs with conventioneers, befriends a professional sports gambler who raised six kids while losing eight million dollars, and dines with a retired Israeli "security officer" whose lifelong ambition was to move to Vegas and become a blackjack guru. Martinez wanders into the Liberace Museum, attends Easter Sunday mass in the Strip cathedral of the world's most rapidly expanding Catholic archdiocese, and ponders the meaning of it all with Vegas's leading historians.
Interwoven throughout are dispatches from the green-felt front. Martinez laces his blood with adrenaline in an exhilarating all-night session of baccarat with some well-heeled Chinese and idles over slots with an abandoned bride. Above all, he goes mano a mano at blackjack--learning the ropes from his dealer, gathering tricks of the trade from his breakfast companions, and experiencing the angst of Dostoevsky and the sheer ecstasy of the triumphal gambler.
Thought-provoking, hilarious, personal, and journalistically brilliant, 24/7 is a rush of a read, a head-on exploration of a unique American landscape.
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First Sentence
All things being equal, I noted to the middled-aged woman sitting next to me on the plane before takeoff at Kennedy, people are in a better mood flying west. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
All things being equal, I noted to the middled-aged woman sitting next to me on the plane before takeoff at Kennedy, people are in a better mood flying west. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What sort of a publisher would give a man a $50,000 advance, knowing full well that he was going to go and spend a month in Vegas with it? A very trusting one, I suppose, or a stupid one. The book doesn't sound all that great, I mean, what's fun about gambling in Vegas for a month (besides the free beer and numerous shows/women), surely it would get boring after a week. Well, that may be the case, but in this book is an interesting insight to the way in which Vegas works, and the sort of money you need to be gambling in order to start getting room upgrades and free things. It also gives an interesting insight to the mind of a small time gambler who manages to pick up the bug quite easily, eventually seeming to become hooked on some card game played mostly Japanese people (the name of which escapes me at the moment). If you've been to Vegas and experienced the bright lights then its a fantastic book, and the author stays in most of the major hotels on the strip so you can bet your bottom dollar that if you've been there, he's been there. Well worth a read.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent well written book that very cleary paints a picture
of what it's like to be a high roller in Vegas.
Having visited Las Vegas many times I could almost see myself there at the tables with him.
A very enjoyable read
of what it's like to be a high roller in Vegas.
Having visited Las Vegas many times I could almost see myself there at the tables with him.
A very enjoyable read
Format:Paperback
What a great premise. Instead of writing a book, the writer takes his advance and decides to gamble it away piece by piece staying in different hotels and having different adventures along the way in Las Vegas. Simple idea and very well written.
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