Skin City: Uncovering the Las Vegas Sex Industry FROM THE PUBLISHER
After a decade in which it was perceived that Las Vegas had evolved into a family destination -- a place where visitors were encouraged to bring the kids -- the dawn of the 21st century brought the desert Mecca back to its adult oriented roots, with a splash. Now, for the first time, a writer who has lived in Las Vegas for 30 years and has written three acclaimed books about the city, pulls back the curtain of the adult industry and examines the lives of the people who give Sin City its naughty reputation. Author Jack Sheehan was able to get XXX-rated film stars, the top madam in town, beautiful young call girls who command $1000 an hour and up, and the most alluring exotic dancers on the Strip to tell him everything about themselves, both on and off the job. He visited the largest adult video convention in the world, accompanied an adult actress who's appeared in over 300 sex films to the Adult Video News Awards -- the so-called Oscars of Porn -- and looked into the lives of Las Vegas swingers, couples who believe that nearly anything goes in the arena of sexual expression.
He talked to Oscar Goodman, the popular mayor of Las Vegas and a famed criminal defense attorney who used to represent reputed Mafia members; current Las Vegas Sheriff Bill Young, who spent 12 years as the top vice cop in the city; and Steve Wynn, the maverick genius who built The Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio, and is about to complete his grandest project ever, a resort self-named Wynn Las Vegas. All spoke at length about the city they control and its future. You'll meet the author's former student from his teaching days at UNLV, a woman who as a young girl dreamed of film stardom but had to travel back roads to find it; a couple who parlayed their swinging lifestyle into a lucrative business; and a beautiful Southern California college girl who turned nude dancing into a multifaceted industry.
Sheehan says, "There's something about making their living without clothes on that strips these people of all pretension. In my 30 years of interviewing politicians, celebrities, newsmakers, and ordinary folks, I've never met a more candid or open group of people than those who make their living in the sex industry." Skin City is a story that's never been told, about a place that lurks in the dreams and fantasies of all of us. It's not about Wayne Newton or Celine Dion or Elvis impersonators. Its focus is on those whose names will never be on hotel marquees, but who are as responsible as the headliners for creating the legend of Las Vegas.
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