American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas (University of Arizona Southwest Center series) [Hardcover]

Virgil Hancock III (Author), Gregory McNamee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | Series: University of Arizona Southwest Center series

At the beginning of the third millennium, Las Vegas, Nevada has become a new model of consumer entertainment--the total pleasure market in which everything is for sale. Hancock's superb photographic eye chronicles the pop-culture fantasy playground that is Las Vegas, a physical location as much as an idea, a place that deliberately blurs politics, money, art, religion, entertainment, sex, and anything else architects can imagine and marketeers can sell. The range of Hancock's images is as diverse as the city itself: the town's neon-saturated nights; the glitzy, monumental hotel-palaces; the decaying buildings yielding to wrecking crews; the billboards that sell everything and convey unexpected truths; and a sampling of all that draws a worldwide audience seeking to be entertained.

Accompanying Hancock's startling images and perceptive introductory essay is Gregory McNamee's thoughtful reconsideration of Las Vegas. His essay relates in words what Hancock narrates visually, exposing in the process a city caught between opulence, glamour, fantasy and poverty, decay, and despair. Together text and image in this book convey the essence of Las Vegas--the magic of illusion. This book is ultimately about material and spiritual alchemy--the transformation of fantasies into reality and the purification of consumption.

Las Vegas is a visceral city, an exaggerated feast for the eye, and at the same time it is a community fractured by consumerism--in which buying and selling set all our choices. No book to date offers the intense emotional experience of Las Vegas found in American Byzantium.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A University of Arizona Southwest Center Book

About the Author

Virgil Hancock III is a photographer living in Arizona.

Gregory McNamee is a widely published author, editor, and translator. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Greg is also a copyeditor. He is currently copyediting the "Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas" edited by Troy Corman, et. al.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826323502
• ISBN-13: 978-0826323507
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,026,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Saturated pop-culture, March 23, 2008

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas (University of Arizona Southwest Center series) (Hardcover)

A disappointing book, least to me, because I found the photos too broad in the coverage. Having looked through it several times I thought it kept on verging on one of those picture books found in tourist shops with titles 'A book to remember her by'.

It really is a mixed bag. The photos I liked best were those that showed the non-tourist parts of the city: the huge pole billboards along the highway, small retail units, decaying buildings and street scenes but turn a page and there's a spread of the interior of The Forum or maybe the characters in the Museum of Magic and Movies.

This really should have been two books. One a photo survey of the exuberant (and vulgar) hotels and casinos, interior and exterior and book two the rest of Vegas. I would definitely go for the second and Hancock has shown with the photos in this book that he has an eye for interesting compositions and subject matter.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Opulence and Wonder of Las Vegas...., April 13, 2004

By 

K. A. Stevenson "WIAPilot" (Tucson) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas (University of Arizona Southwest Center series) (Hardcover)

"American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas" depicts the startling contrasts of a city that is larger than life. It is no mere "coffee table" adornment; it is ART and REALISM fused into one magical book. The brilliant photographs of Virgil Hancock chronicle "Sin City" in all its glitter and in all its waste. His artistic images range from the neon-studded hotels on the strip to wedding chapels to pawn shops to a group of ventriloquists attending a convention.

Gregory McNamee perceptively captures the mood of a city that defines 'extremism' with his superb narration. His essays are insightful and frank without the flowery superlatives. McNamee weaves the tale of a town that is a contrast in Life 101.

Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities. Every few months, we fly our plane to Vegas and less than 2 hrs. later, I am transported to another world: a kingdom of luxury, excitement, and fine dining. There are few sights that are more captivating than slowly circling over the vast menagerie of neon lights.

I'm a "down to earth" woman - I love hiking through forests and deserts, but there are times when I want nothing more in life than to be pampered at The Venetian and enjoy all my favorite gourmet restaurants in Vegas. There are few places that I would rather visit.

"American Byzantium" is a must read for those who love Vegas as I do - as well as for those who plan to visit Vegas for the first time. This book captures Las Vegas in a way that not only focuses on the stardust of luxury, but brushes away that dust to reveal the stark realities as well.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Its okay but not mind blowing., June 30, 2003

By 

E R Vela (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Byzantium: Photographs of Las Vegas (University of Arizona Southwest Center series) (Hardcover)

It's a smallish book with not quite the usual photos that we normally see and are familiar with. I love Las Vegas and love Las Vegas books. This one is just one of the bunch. Not really a stand out but all together not bad. Its a good to average read, photos interesting but not that memorable. Keep looking I think, there are better books out there.