Articles

Book reviews from Desert Companion magazine:

“A State in Full.” A review of Michael Green’s Nevada: A History of the Silver State, June 2015

“Bugsy Siegel Finally Gets a Serious Biography.” A review of Larry Gragg’s Bugsy Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas, February 2015

“How Vegas Ate Reno’s Lunch.” A review of Eugene Moehring’s Reno, Las Vegas, and the Strip: A Tale of Three Cities, November 2014

“Bad Ol’ Boy.” A review of Doug Swanson’s Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker, September 2014

“Not So Normal.” A review of Colson Whitehead’s The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky and Death, May 2014

“Founding Father.” A review of David Schwartz’s Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas, January 2014

 

Recent columns for the Ames Tribune:

“The Great Butter-Margarine Controversy”

“Find Someone Else to Pick On”

“Iowa is Everywhere”

– “Seek Out the Artisans of Iowa”

“Street Smarts in Hillside”

“The Vast Iowa Conspiracy”

– “The Anatomy of Culture Shock

“The Truth Isn’t Out There, But That’s Not the Point.”

“Get Your Head in the Cloud.”

“What Do We Do With the Nuclear Waste?”

“The More Things Change . . .”

Other recent articles:

– A review of Oksana Marafioti’s American Gypsy: A Memoir.

– “Crime and Punishment,” a review of H. Lee Barnes’ novel Car Tag.

– “Pretty Good Gonzo,” a review of a Hunter Thompson/H.P. Lovecraft mash-up novel.

– “The $40 Gold Tooth,” a review of the memoir of Las Vegas pawn star Rick Harrison.

– “Elvis + Vegas,” long article in Desert Companion, the magazine published by Nevada Public Radio, KNPR 89.5-FM. Article starts on Page 35.

“Devils and Dust” is my report on a Tea Party rally on March 27, 2010, in Searchlight, Nevada. It was published by the Huffington Post.

“Mash-up History” is my review of the late Hal Rothman’s final book, The Making of Modern Nevada.

– A complete list of links to my weekly Las Vegas Review-Journal column is here.

– I have posted many articles and book reviews I’ve written at Scribd.com. Go to the site and search my name and they should come up.