24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down by Andres Martinez
by Jenners • 08/06/2009 • 4.5 Stars, L Titles, M Authors, Non-Fiction • 7 Comments
My Favorite Reads is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. The idea is to write about some favorite books
that you read before you started blogging!
24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down
by Andres Martinez
The Book Description
Amazon.com Review: Perhaps the most fun of a bushel of books about the “new” Las Vegas, 24/7 is as surreal and addictive as a hot game of blackjack at 4 a.m. In this first-person chronicle of a month in Las Vegas, Andrés Martinez whirls through casinos and hotels with his $50,000 book advance, taking notes on characters, nightclubs, and hotel lobbies between wild betting sprees at the blackjack table or roulette wheel. Part of what makes 24/7 enjoyable is the fact that Martinez is no down-and-out gambler, but a former lawyer with an Ivy League pedigree whose main vice seems to be an addiction to Diet Coke. He takes to his exploits with the intoxication of someone released from dull routine, without ever falling down on the job. As a result, he’s never too delirious to note the weirdest details of this desert mirage. It’s a city “where buildings themselves perform,” lined with such features as a Jules Verne theme park, erupting volcanoes, and battling pirate ships. Early on, the author gets philosophical: “What type of city did we build in the middle of a desert, a metropolis with no reason, beyond our willpower and playful imagination, to exist?” Anyone who’s ever asked themselves the same question will satisfy their curiosity with this entertaining, firsthand view of the fastest-growing city in America.
Why I Liked It
I’m not a gambler, but my husband enjoys it (and I enjoy it when he wins). So this was a book that my husband found, but I ended up reading it and really enjoying it — mostly because the author isn’t a “professional” gambler so his approaches are delightfully amateurish and amusing as he takes on baccarat, slots, roulette, blackjack and more. (Though if I got a $50,000 book advance, you’d never catch me risking it in Vegas.) The books is an easy, fun read but also full of interesting tidbits about the “new” Vegas and how the casino comp system works. I actually enjoy Las Vegas — the spectacle, glitz and absurdity of it is just mind-blowing to me — so reading this book and experiencing what it is like to be a”big time” gambler via Martinez’s writing was a vicarious thrill. One of the better books I’ve seen on gambling and Vegas in general.
I'm not a gambler either (think of the books you could buy with $50,000!!!). The one time I was in Vegas was more like a trip to Disneyland. We spent our time checking out the theme hotels, riding the rollercoaster at New York New York, and ogling the M&Ms and the M&M store.
Sounds like something I can get the hubby to read! He's "stuck" on James Patterson and sports biographies!
I'm so clueless about the gambling world. This sounds very interesting. I hear that Vegas is a whole other world. It must be an experience.
I haven't heard of this one before, but I really enjoyed Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich (although I've heard the movie they made out of the book "21" was actually not very good). So this might be one that I would like.
Oh, I have to read this! I don't gamble at all but I love to go to Las Vegas anyway – all those neon lights and fake places – it just amazes me that such a place could exist. We go every couple of years just to walk around and look and people watch.
That sounds pretty cool.
Fascinating. I had no idea there were non-travel, non-fiction books on Vegas. And apparently, lots of them! While I've never been to Vegas, I've been to Reno, and I can see that there's definitely an appeal, whether you gamble or not. This book might be worth the fun just to read about the antics of someone willing to throw a $50,000 book advance at a city of outlandish proportions. Great review!