Happy Anniversary One Hundred Years of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos Lorelei Lee would have loved Las Vegas. The heroine-narrator of Anita Loos’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, now enjoying its hundredth annive…

"Lorelei Lee would have loved Las Vegas."

Happy Hundredth Anniversary to "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"!

lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/happy-annive...

"What does it mean to privilege the history of this site—a history which may reveal more about the true character of America than that of any other?"

A review of "A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore," by Matthew Davis: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-8/

Lyrics Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl (Republic Records) Taylor Swift is in her showgirl era. Her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS), marks Swift’s return to pop music and a reunifica…

"Swift carefully built her career on her persona of the relatable girl next door who wears T-shirts and sneakers, but now she name-drops the designer brands."

A review of Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/lyrics-2/

"Is Kristian's mentorship the magic elixir that leads Ryan to international success? Or is it a poison that leads to his death?"

A review of the novel "Underspin," by E. Y. Zhao: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-35/

History Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, translated by Robin Waterfield (Basic Books), 752 pp. Hardback, $40.00. It is hard to imagine a time in American history when Thucydides did not se…

"Waterfield's translation offers a lucid narrative of imperial decay and a warning to the free societies of the future about how democracies decline by prioritizing expediency over justice."

A review of the new Thucydides edition: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-7/

Poetry Ada Limón, Startlement: New and Selected Poems (Milkweed), 232 pp. Hardback, $28.00. Ada Limón’s lines grab you by the lapels. In “First Lunch with Relative Stranger Mister You,” a poem from her fi…

"Ada Limón's lines grab you by the lapels."

A review of her new poetry collection, "Startlement": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-22/

Fiction P Moss, Screwing Sinatra (IDW Publishing), 192 pp. Paperback, $15.99. P Moss wastes no time throwing readers into the Rat Pack’s world of glamor, sleaze, and political ambition. His new novel, Scre…

"The novel relies less on immersion than on momentum, exploring Sinatra’s fascination—and later disillusionment—with politics and mob life."

A review of P Moss's "Screwing Sinatra": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-34/

Current Issue Issue #12 December 2025 Fiction: P Moss, Screwing Sinatra (IDW Publishing) Poetry: Ada Limόn, Startlement: New and Selected Poems (Milkweed) History: Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian Wa…

Check out LaveRB's new winter issue: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/current-issue/

Happy Anniversary Seventy-Five Years of The Liberal Imagination, by Lionel Trilling Of all the great midcentury literary critics, Lionel Trilling endures as the most compelling for the approaching middle of the twen…

"Those who wish to address the complex and difficult modern world need to possess minds capable of holding and assessing and articulating multiple, intersecting ideas."

Celebrating 75 years of Lionel Trilling's "The Liberal Imagination": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/happy-annive...

Fiction Gabriel Urza, The Silver State (Algonquin), 320 pp. Hardback, $29.00. Seven months into his job as a Washoe County Public Defender, young attorney Santi Elcano finds himself holding a toy basketbal…

"The novel offers an inside view of the justice system in Northern Nevada—the relationships between judges and jailers, prosecutors and police officers, lawyers and lawbreakers."

A review of Gabriel's Urza's "The Silver State" (@algonquinbooks.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-33/

Nonfiction* Jeff Weiss, Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly (MCD), 400 pp. Paperback, $19.00. The word “allegedly” is doing a lot of work in the subtitle of Jeff Weiss’s new book, Waiting for B…

"Weiss, a longtime music journalist, is at his best when describing Spears's hit songs."

A review of "Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly," by Jeff Weiss (MCD Books): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/nonfiction-4/

Graphic Novel Alison Bechdel, Spent: A Comic Novel (Mariner Books), 272 pp. Hardback, $32.00. In a moment when literature often struggles to articulate personal responsibility within collective crisis, Alison Be…

"Whereas 'Fun Home' was steeped in tragic family history and classical literature, 'Spent' is riddled with influencer parodies and ecological dread."

A review of Alison Bechdel's new graphic novel: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/graphic-novel/

Fiction Aisling Rawle, The Compound (Random House, June 24), 304 pp. Hardback, $29.00. As Lily, the narrator-protagonist of The Compound, and her new housemates get to know each other on the nation’s hotte…

"Is this an extended metaphor for the Big Brother of modern techno-surveillance?"

A review of Aisling Rawle's novel "The Compound" (@penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-31/

Poetry Heather Christle, Paper Crown (Wesleyan University Press), 80 pp. Paperback, $16.95. Heather Christle’s “Perfect Song” is an absolute banger. First published in Narrative in 2019, and now included,…

"Christle's verses dart and digress, refusing to stand still and stay in one place."

On Heather Christle's new book of poems, "Paper Crown" (@weslpress.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-21/

Fiction Jessica Francis Kane, Fonseca (Penguin), 272 pp. Hardback, $28.00. In 1952, Penelope Fitzgerald left her husband at home in London, dropped her two-year-old daughter, Tina, off at her in-laws’, and…

"Though the novel is haunted by ghosts and memories, it is leavened with refreshing frankness and humor."

A review of Jessica Francis Kane's "Fonseca" (@penguinbooksusa.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-30/

History David Baron, The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America (Liveright), 336 pp. Hardcover, $29.99. In the wake of his award-winning American Eclipse, Davi…

"The media ecology that Baron describes in 'The Martians' seems strikingly similar to the digital landscape we live in now."

A review of David Baron's new book (@liveright.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-6/

Hanif Abdurraqib on Ellen Willis’s Review of Elvis in Las Vegas The magazine’s first pop-music critic was never afraid to be overtaken by unexpected delight, even if it came at the expense of some preëxisting skepticism.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/tak...

Fiction Jon Wynn, The Set Up (Belt Publishing), 320 pp. Paperback, $20.00. In multiple interviews he gave in the later years of his life (from one with Dick Cavett in 1973 to one with Larry King in 1994), …

"What is the role of the underground in a city that bears its vices boldly on its surface?"

A review of Jon Wynn's novel "The Set UP" (@beltpublishing.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-32/

Fiction Gabriel Urza, The Silver State (Algonquin), 320 pp. Hardback, $29.00. Seven months into his job as a Washoe County Public Defender, young attorney Santi Elcano finds himself holding a toy basketbal…

"'This is the Nevada I knew,' Elcano tells us, 'slick-haired and shifty.' He’ll see much more of it as a PD."

On Gabriel Urza's new novel, "The Silver State": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-33/

Nonfiction* Jeff Weiss, Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly (MCD), 400 pp. Paperback, $19.00. The word “allegedly” is doing a lot of work in the subtitle of Jeff Weiss’s new book, Waiting for B…

"'Waiting for Britney' can appear to be an attempted account of a woman undone, ending with her notorious placement under conservatorship in 2008."

A review of Jeff Weiss's new "allegedly" nonfictional narrative: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/nonfiction-4/

Graphic Novel Alison Bechdel, Spent: A Comic Novel (Mariner Books), 272 pp. Hardback, $32.00. In a moment when literature often struggles to articulate personal responsibility within collective crisis, Alison Be…

"'Spent' is a portrait of the artist as unsure, anxious, and self-implicating—a book that does not resolve so much as document the process of unraveling."

A review of Alison Bechdel's new "comic novel": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/graphic-novel/

Fiction Aisling Rawle, The Compound (Random House, June 24), 304 pp. Hardback, $29.00. As Lily, the narrator-protagonist of The Compound, and her new housemates get to know each other on the nation’s hotte…

"The most controversial element of this immersive game show would seem to be the stipulation that contestants sleep with—though not necessarily have sex with—each other."

A review of "The Compound," by Aisling Rawle: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-31/

Poetry Heather Christle, Paper Crown (Wesleyan University Press), 80 pp. Paperback, $16.95. Heather Christle’s “Perfect Song” is an absolute banger. First published in Narrative in 2019, and now included,…

"What, after all, is a perfect poem, a perfect work of art, but a 'joyous concordance'? It might be worth chasing for years."

A review of "Paper Crown," by Heather Christle: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-21/

Fiction Jessica Francis Kane, Fonseca (Penguin), 272 pp. Hardback, $28.00. In 1952, Penelope Fitzgerald left her husband at home in London, dropped her two-year-old daughter, Tina, off at her in-laws’, and…

"'Fonseca' sets out to dramatize this tipping point in Penelope Fitzgerald's life, when not only a financial legacy but her professional legacy and perhaps even her marriage were at stake."

A review of Jessica Francis Kane's new novel: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-30/

History David Baron, The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America (Liveright), 336 pp. Hardcover, $29.99. In the wake of his award-winning American Eclipse, Davi…

"'The Martians'" is a delightfully detailed and shockingly tender history that captures the converging powers of imagination."

A review of David Baron's new history: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-6/

Fiction Jon Wynn, The Set Up (Belt Publishing), 320 pp. Paperback, $20.00. In multiple interviews he gave in the later years of his life (from one with Dick Cavett in 1973 to one with Larry King in 1994), …

"'The Set Up' plays on the theater of the everyday by featuring a multi-level guerilla marketing firm that offers on-the-ground influencer services in Las Vegas."

A review of Jon Wynn's new novel: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-32/

Current Issue Issue #11 August 2025 Fiction: Jon Wynn, The Set Up (Belt Publishing) History: David Baron, The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America (Liveright) Fict…

Check out the newest issue of LaVeRB: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/current-issue/

#SneakPeek 👀 Maile Chapman's THE SPOIL—her first novel in fifteen years—is out March 17, 2026.

Preorder this mesmerizing novel about the perplexities of memory, Las Vegas real estate, DIY projects, and demons:

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Happy Anniversary One Hundred Years of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald If, in the final pages of The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby had not met his tragic end but instead lived on, paddling against the current, t…

"If 'Gatsby' stays with us one hundred years later, it is perhaps this musical quality more than any other that explains its staying power."

On the centenary of "The Great Gatsby": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/happy-annive...

Poetry Sunni Brown Wilkinson, Rodeo (Autumn House), 88 pp. Paperback, $17.95. The title poem of Rodeo, Utah poet and Weber State University professor Sunni Brown Wilkinson’s newest book, is also the stron…

"There's something very 'Utah' about this book."

A review of "Rodeo" (@autumnhousepress.bsky.social), Sunni Brown Wilkinson's new collection of poetry: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-20/