- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (26 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0415935571
- ISBN-13: 978-0415935579
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,280,560 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
""Suburban Xanadu is an important addition to what we know about America's most exciting and controversial city. Dave Schwartz peels back myth to get to the heart of what really makes Las Vegas tick. A must for anyone who cares about culture in the new century!."
-Hal Rothman, author of "Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century
""Suburban Xanadu tells the fascinating story of the rise of casinos on the Las Vegas Strip--something that has been much needed. Using the extensive Gaming Collection at UNLV, Dave Schwartz shows us that the popularity of casinos is no accident, but part of larger trends in American history. He approaches the topic with intelligence and thoughtfulness, and the result is a book that does a great job of explaining why Americans like casino resorts so much."
-Steve Wynn, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts
"Highly Recommended! "Suburban Xanadu is a colorful and authoritative reading of the history of casino resort development in the United States. Schwartz's thesis--that Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s was brilliantly marketed as a safe vacation adventure for middle Americans trapped within everyday lives of conservatism and conformity--is both perceptive and spot-on."
-John Hannigan, author of "Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis
-Hal Rothman, author of "Neon Metropolis: How Las Vegas Started the Twenty-First Century
""Suburban Xanadu tells the fascinating story of the rise of casinos on the Las Vegas Strip--something that has been much needed. Using the extensive Gaming Collection at UNLV, Dave Schwartz shows us that the popularity of casinos is no accident, but part of larger trends in American history. He approaches the topic with intelligence and thoughtfulness, and the result is a book that does a great job of explaining why Americans like casino resorts so much."
-Steve Wynn, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Wynn Resorts
"Highly Recommended! "Suburban Xanadu is a colorful and authoritative reading of the history of casino resort development in the United States. Schwartz's thesis--that Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s was brilliantly marketed as a safe vacation adventure for middle Americans trapped within everyday lives of conservatism and conformity--is both perceptive and spot-on."
-John Hannigan, author of "Fantasy City: Pleasure and Profit in the Postmodern Metropolis
Product Description
Urban gambling, linked to poverty, crime and corruption, was once considered a blight on US cities. Gambling then followed the exodus of Americans into the suburbs after World War II and now, at the beginning of the 21st century, most Americans live within a four-hour drive of a casino. What explains the success of places like Las Vegas? The self-contained casino resort removes gambling and its social problems from cities and provides Americans with the comfort of gambling in a setting matched to their suburban lifestyle. In a detailed look at the growth of the earliest casino resorts to the "pleasure palaces" and riverboat casinos of today, "Suburban Xanadu" locates the rise of the casino resort in suburbanization and the significance of this development for today.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Americans have always been gamblers, and they have always struggled to control gambling. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Americans have always been gamblers, and they have always struggled to control gambling. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The author hits the jackpot!, 21 July 2003
By "sarasmile70" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond (Paperback)
The author, a professor and coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, really hits the jackpot with this, his first publication. Although I am a financial analyst, specializing in the gaming industry, I was intrigued by Dr. Schwartz's historical analysis of the development of legalized gaming in Las Vegas and throughout the United States. The book is extremely well-researched and, while clearly written by a scholar, it has a friendly, accessible style. Suburban Xanadu has something for those interested in business, American history, popular culture, gaming, "the Rat Pack," sociology, etc. I have recommended this book to my colleagues and I look forward to reading future works from this unique young author.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Historical Excellence, 4 May 2004
By Paul J. Vanderwood - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond (Paperback)
Most writings on casino life in the U.S. are larded with celebrity vignettes, unsubstantiated data, and airy fluff. But David Schwartz has produced a well-researched, carefully documented, clearly written historical account of Las Vegas casino culture from its inception in the early 1930s to the present. His carefully contextualized work shows how changing currents in American cultural life and leisure preferences shaped the style, architecture, and budgetary considerations of those who aimed to profit from casino ownership in an improbable desert environment. One learns from his book of the risk involved in such investments, and how the famous Las Vegas strip has always rested on unsteady financial and political pylons. Finally we have a solid, fascinating historical account of the casino industry and its consumers.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read, 10 Mar 2005
By G. Oseff "High Roller" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond (Paperback)
Suburban Xanadu is a great book that really captures the history of Las Vegas. I took the class that was taught by Professor David Schwartz and it was well worth buying the book. I have had many of my friends and business colleagues read this book and they thought it was great. Suburban Xanadu is must read to truly understand Las Vegas past and how it all got started.
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