In the Desert of Desire: Las Vegas and the Culture of Spectacle

Las Vegas, says William Fox, is pay-as-you-play paradise that succeeds through its collective ability to fantasize our desire for vast wealth and the excesses of pleasure and consumptin that go with it. In this context, he examines how the city's culture of spectacle has obscured boundaries between art and entertainment, public and private interest, and consequently has diminished the power of unembellished nature and the arts to teach and inspire us. Available now for the first time in paperback, In the Desert of Desire offers unique insight into the increasing commercialization of nature and culture across America, and the ways Las Vegas has manipulated them to achieve ever-higher levels of extravagance and spectacle.