"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...

"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/

"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/

"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/

"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/

"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/

"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/

"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/

"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/

"'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/

"'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/

"'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/

"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/

"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/

"'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/

"'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/

"'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/

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-...

"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...

"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/

"Lalami offers a harrowing and cerebral meditation on state control, surveillance, and the unreliability of intention in a world where the unconscious mind is no longer private." A review of Laila Lalami's "The Dream Hotel" (@pantheonbooks.bsky.social‬): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-27/

"Vegas becomes a symbol not just of excess and reinvention but of the deep tensions between human ambition and environmental limitations." A review of Kyle Paoletta's "American Oasis" (@pantheonbooks.bsky.social‬): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/nonfiction-3/

"While she is well aware of water issues, Eloise is continually impressed by the 'fearsome and optimistic' outlook that drives development in the region." A review of Madeleine Watts's new novel, "Elegy, Southwest": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-29/

"The desert beyond Gabriela's backyard becomes a surreal landscape—a place of furtive movements and jarring sounds, where time is irregular and the cacti are closing in." A review of José Rivera's "References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/theatre-3/

"A prominent vein of esoteric knowledge winds through the poems in 'The Rose,' evoking classical mythology, medieval theology, modern astrology, and—maybe—witchcraft." A review of Ariana Reines's new work of poetry (@graywolfpress.bsky.social): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-19/

"Rutherford is at his best when, like Melville before him, he channels the feeling that a legendary epoch is about to give way to a bleak and depressing future." A review of "North Sun; or, The Voyage of the Whaleship 'Esther'" (@deepvellum.bsky.social‬): lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-28/

"What is striking about Baker’s book is how it frames the entrepreneurial work ethic as a kind of religious movement." A review of Erik Baker's "Make Your Own Job": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-5/

"Durbin’s novel is a darkly fun trip through the moral gloam of nineteenth-century America." A review of Frederic S. Durbin's "The Country Under Heaven": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-25/

"The smoke in the collection gains power not by analogically suggesting but by thematically abutting the book’s focus on motherhood." A review of "Smother," Rachel Richardson's new book of poetry: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-18/

"'Big Chief' is a remarkable debut—gritty, gorgeously written, politically astute, and emotionally resonant." A review of Jon Hickey's new novel: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-26/

"It’s not hard to imagine Jay Gatsby building a lavish (if gaudy) hotel-casino and throwing beautiful parties in Las Vegas." On One Hundred Years of "The Great Gatsby": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/happy-annive...

"The poems often seem on the verge of leaping into song." A review of "Rodeo," by Sunni Brown Wilkinson: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-20/

"What if your unconscious thoughts were read algorithmically, stripped of nuance and context, and weaponized into proof of your deviance?" A review of "The Dream Hotel," by Laila Lalami: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-27/

"Paoletta argues that the Southwest serves as both a preview of America’s future and a model for how cities might adapt to climate and resource challenges." A review of "American Oasis," by Kyle Paoletta: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/nonfiction-3/

"The novel captures a desert spirit that often proves elusive to writers." A review of "Elegy, Southwest," by Madeleine Watts: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-29/

"A tremendous fount of desire fuels this play." A review of A Public Fit Theatre Company's production of José Rivera's "References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/theatre-3/

"'The Rose' is characterized both by a playfulness and by a conviction—a sense that the sensual and the symbolic are still essential." A review of a new book of poetry by Ariana Reines: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-19/

"'The ice renders time and distance meaningless,' and experience can no longer be distinguished from hallucination." A review of Ethan Rutherford's new novel, "North Sun; or, The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-28/

"Baker’s book astutely captures the cultural abandonment of the worker for the celestial sheen of the CEO." A review of Erik Baker's "Make Your Own Job": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-5/

"'The Country Under Heaven' serves as a tintype snapshot of a war-ravaged nation haunted by ghosts of brother-on-brother bloodshed." A review of Frederic S. Durbin's new novel: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-25/

"The collection profits from being read as a single entity rather than as an assortment of verses." A review of "Smother," Rachel Richardson's new collection of poetry: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-18/

"In Hickey’s hands, corruption is not just political—it’s metaphysical." A review of Jon Hickey's novel "Big Chief": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-26/

Check out the current issue (Issue #10) of the Las Vegas Review of Books: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/current-issue/

Check out the newest issue of the Las Vegas Review of Books: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/current-issue/

"The descriptions of desert vegetation are where Sevigny’s work really shines." A review of Melissa L. Sevigny's "Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/history-2/

"The narrator is a meticulous master of the mundane and occasionally pontificates upon his well-thought-out approaches to life." A review of Robert Plunket's re-published novel "My Search for Warren Harding": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/fiction-10/

"These are not poems of places so much as poems of displacement. One place becomes another, becomes another, becomes another." A review of Megan Fernandes's new collection of poems, "I Do Everything I'm Told": lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/poetry-8/

"'Wine' is about discovery—not through rote study or ingratiation with the elite but by embracing the subjective, the introspective, the self." A review of Meg Bernhard's "Wine," part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series: lasvegasreviewofbooks.com/nonfiction/