Twenty years of anecdotes from a terrific storyteller add up to a very entertaining behind-the-scenes perspective on Las...
A longtime Las Vegas resident shares stories, photos and history from the promotions- and-publicity side in a memoir about Sin City.
In 1960, Romero left a 10-year sportswriting and broadcasting career in Las Vegas to work at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. He became executive director for advertising, promotion and publicity, and after 19 years at the Sahara, he went on to form his own direct-marketing company—but not before accumulating a trove of stories about gamblers, clients, performers, tournaments and publicity stunts. In his latest book, Romero (Casino Marketing, 1994, etc.) describes how, for example, he came up with the Super Sahara Celebration, to his knowledge “the first of the big Las Vegas cash giveaway promotions.” Cooked up to increase business in slow periods, the promotion offered randomly selected slot-machine players seven chances per day to work the “Golden Slots.” A master of ceremonies stood by to work the crowd into a frenzy, helped along by flashing lights, screaming crowds, and buzzing and dinging machines. Romero says that “the slot manager never had such a winning month.” More importantly for the casino, “it changed the way all of us looked at generating business in the low occupancy periods that always hurt us.” Romero obviously loved his work and makes even the mundane tasks of arranging rooms and comping tickets sound dramatic. Standout moments include reminiscences of how Romero got a small part in Clint Eastwood’s Gauntlet; of stars like Buddy Hackett, Flip Wilson and Don Rickles; and especially of the Beatles’ appearance in 1964, when teenage girls “launched themselves at the stage like javelins.” This rosy account of Las Vegas glosses over prostitution, drugs, violence and gambler suicides, which is partly, of course, why the book is so much fun. For Romero, the old spirit of Las Vegas surfaced in something like the Sahara Hotel’s traditional free drink on check-in. When the hotel dropped that, they “junked a small slice of creativity that had made us famous with the right people, had kicked out the mystery and delight that arose from a simple check in.” Creativity, mystery, delight: That’s how Romero sees his work in a nutshell, and reading this book, it’s hard not to agree.
Twenty years of anecdotes from a terrific storyteller add up to a very entertaining behind-the-scenes perspective on Las Vegas.Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 230
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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