The Grit Beneath the Glitter is the first real look at the new Las Vegas from the inside. In it, long-time residents as well as professionals reflect on the transformation of one of the fastest-growing & most famous cities on earth, yet one about which relatively little is known. They offer a lively & compelling portrait of the other side of Las Vegas: the people & institutions that support the glitter of the gaming & entertainment industry. Examining a range of topics
- from the city`s commercial history, labor conditions, & environmental problems to an analysis of the famous lights of the Strip
- the contributors uncover the contradictions between the illusion & the reality of the city, the seam between fantasy & the life it masks. The essays in this collection explore the world that employees experience when they enter gaming palaces from an employee entrance in a back parking lot rather than through the scripted doors of casino/hotel palaces. They take readers into the neighborhoods where 1.4 million Americans now live, attend school, eat dinner, & go to work.