Rating: 
Summary: A Unique City requires a Unique History
Review: "Cult 'Vegas" is not a history of Las Vegas per se, rather a history of casino entertainment from the rise of the Strip and Fremont Street in the 1950s up to the "family destination" of the early 21st Century. From the earliest days of legalized gambling, entertainment of one sort or another was key to get gamblers in the establishment. Later, the Rat Pack stimulated the aura of a "cool swingin'" Las Vegas. As Mr. Weatherford points out this was probably a reputation that the city held on to way too long. The rise and decline of the Lounge Singer, showgirls, Elvis and the Rat Pack are described with a clearly nostalgic eye. But the author doesn't hesitate to show the faded polyester leisure suit image of Las Vegas during the locust years of the mid 70's. He points out that holding on to the schlocky comics, and warmed over crooners moved the entertainment of Las Vegas away from the tourists with the most disposable income: singles and couples. Films about Las Vegas are also part of the "Cult" and those with the city as subject or backdrop are listed and critiqued. The book itself is quirky, with lots of sidebars and anecdotes but this fits the overall tone of the prose. This is a great anecdotal history of postwar casino entertainment, that would make a great souvenir or as another reviewer wisely suggested, cool reference material for your next trip (whether you're a local or a tourist). If you're at all interested in Las Vegas-get this.
Rating:
Summary: A Unique City requires a Unique History
Review: "Cult `Vegas" is not a history of Las Vegas per se, rather a history of casino entertainment from the rise of the Strip and Fremont Street in the 1950s up to the "family destination" of the early 21st Century. From the earliest days of legalized gambling, entertainment of one sort or another was key to get gamblers in the establishment. Later, the Rat Pack stimulated the aura of a "cool swingin'" Las Vegas. As Mr. Weatherford points out this was probably a reputation that the city held on to way too long. The rise and decline of the Lounge Singer, showgirls, Elvis and the Rat Pack are described with a clearly nostalgic eye. But the author doesn't hesitate to show the faded polyester leisure suit image of Las Vegas during the locust years of the mid 70's. He points out that holding on to the schlocky comics, and warmed over crooners moved the entertainment of Las Vegas away from the tourists with the most disposable income: singles and couples. Films about Las Vegas are also part of the "Cult" and those with the city as subject or backdrop are listed and critiqued. The book itself is quirky, with lots of sidebars and anecdotes but this fits the overall tone of the prose. This is a great anecdotal history of postwar casino entertainment, that would make a great souvenir or as another reviewer wisely suggested, cool reference material for your next trip (whether you're a local or a tourist). If you're at all interested in Las Vegas-get this.
Rating:
Summary: The Rat Pack is Back & More!
Review: As a professional tour director I'm always on the lookout for good reference material that I can share with my vacationers. For a 4 day tour titled, Hidden Las Vegas, I brought along this book to add some color to my commentaries.Here's a fun book that looks at Las Vegas from an entertainment point-of-view. It is packed with stories about Sinatra and the big name acts, Louie Prima and the lounge acts, the comedians such as Don Rickles (who's show I appeared in!), Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Totie Fields, and Red Foxx, Elvis, Liberace, Diamonds Are Forever and other movies shot in Las Vegas. I think that the strongest part of the book is about the Rat Pack Era (Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford) and its fans (JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Sam Gianciana). There's a great new show in Vegas called "The Rat Pack is Back" and this book's stories help make the show more real. Is this a great book? Probably, not. But it's got some interesting stuff in it and it's well laid out.
Rating:
Summary: The Rat Pack is Back & More!
Review: As a professional tour director I'm always on the lookout for good reference material that I can share with my vacationers. For a 4 day tour titled, Hidden Las Vegas, I brought along this book to add some color to my commentaries. Here's a fun book that looks at Las Vegas from an entertainment point-of-view. It is packed with stories about Sinatra and the big name acts, Louie Prima and the lounge acts, the comedians such as Don Rickles (who's show I appeared in!), Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Totie Fields, and Red Foxx, Elvis, Liberace, Diamonds Are Forever and other movies shot in Las Vegas. I think that the strongest part of the book is about the Rat Pack Era (Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford) and its fans (JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Sam Gianciana). There's a great new show in Vegas called "The Rat Pack is Back" and this book's stories help make the show more real. Is this a great book? Probably, not. But it's got some interesting stuff in it and it's well laid out.
Rating: 
Summary: Must-read for Las Vegas entertainment hounds!
Review: I have just finished reading Mr Weatherford's book and am profoundly impressed with the style, content, and flow of his book. Having lived in Las Vegas in the early 1990's, I had a special interest in reading about the early days of the Rat Pack and many other entertainers and future stars who got their starts in Las Vegas. "Cult Vegas"is incredibly well-researched and is an easy and very fun read for anyone interested in Las Vegas!
Rating:
Summary: Cult Vegas: The bygone days I never knew about
Review: I'll make this short and sweet. I really liked this book. My mother and I go to Vegas at least once a year, and there are so many changes each year that I began to wonder what happened to the good old days. Well they're right here. Mike Weatherford brings the 50's and 60's to life like never before. He tells the story of the comedy club beginnings, singers who might have never made it if it weren't for the lounges, movies filmed in Vegas and show girls from a bygone era. And yes of course there's the Rat Pack and Elvis (who by the way bombed on his first try in Vegas). I'm too young to have expierenced this side of Las Vegas myself, but I asked my mother about it and she recalled some more stories and loved the fact that this book is out. It's important to know where we've been to know where we're going. But it's books like this that will be the only memory of Vegas we have. Today's Vegas will be gone in a blink of the eye, just like yesturday's Vegas and Mr. Weahterford will be pinning another book about Cult Vegas in the 1990's. If you love the retro era, entertainment, and history about such fab, weird, wild places like Vegas, don't pass this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Great writing, great research
Review: The book may not be big, but it is packed with information. You can tell the author really did his homework. The sidebars of trivia are great, and the author's story about his experience in Vegas films ("Casino" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") add yet another personal touch. I'm waiting for the casino operators to get the hint and build a casino with the theme of Old Vegas. Weatherford's book would make a great blueprint.
Rating:
Summary: Great, fun-reading account of entertainers
Review: This book does a great job of charting the strange, crooked route that the evolution of entertainment in Vegas has taken. I found the chapters dealing with the rise and fall of the lounge act, and the changing face of what "lounge entertainment" meant, to be absolutely fascinating. Of course, Elvis and the Rat Pack get their own parts of the book, but you've read about them already. It's the lounge acts, the comedians, the sexpot starlets turned show-singers, and the "parisian" revues that are given a funny and insightful view in this book. Easy reading, you'll burn through this book in a day or two, but it's a very entertaining read, and manages to be very informative at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Weatherford Leads You Down The Right Path To Righteousness
Review: This book is not as interesting as one would hope. While it does provide an interesting look at Las Vegas, most of it is Entertainment related. Specifically: movies filled there, musicians who have played there, showgirls and celebrities who live and work there.
Rating: 
Summary: An ok book
Review: This book is not as interesting as one would hope. While it does provide an interesting look at Las Vegas, most of it is Entertainment related. Specifically: movies filled there, musicians who have played there, showgirls and celebrities who live and work there.
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