Not surprisingly, Las Vegas author P Moss’s collection of short fiction, Blue Vegas, is at least in part about people who live sad lives in Nevada’s famous southern city.  Men and women from all walks of life who were born there or just settled, surviving away from the glamour, living lives that are never quite what they wanted them to be.  The characters of Blue Vegas represent a lot of the reality of the city, the reality that many of the area’s native and transplanted authors have been trying to capture in recent works.

There is a refrain that is repeated throughout the subtext of Blue Vegas, though never quite written explicitly.  It is that common phrase that “life is not fair.”  While some may say this to mean that one has to accept the good with the bad, Moss seems to write it with an indignant sense of injustice.  Life isn’t fair, you can read between the lines, but it should be.  Or at least we should acknowledge that fact when we are in a position to judge others, their shortcomings, or their trials.

“Performance Art” tells the story of a convicted murderer who is executed in front of an electrified Las Vegas crowd that cannot understand how ignored he was his whole life.  “Snatched” tells of Ben, who has waited for the police to help him when he needed them most, but when he is wrongly arrested, they seem to have more than enough resources at their disposal.  And there is Danny in the story “Peace” who contemplates how his life might have been different if he had gone to college moments after being robbed and moments before being killed.

There are many more such examples in Blue Vegas, a short book with too many stories to list here–seventeen in all.  In them, he captures Vegas in the same light from many angles.  The stories show Vegas as a place where chance brings equal parts hope and guaranteed failure.  There is the father who is a successful businessman and gambling addict who has to borrow money from his daughter at the strip club where she dances in order to cover his debts.  There is the retired bookie who can’t scrape a meager amount of money to participate in a sure thing scheme that would bring him back into the good life.  And there is the past-her-prime showgirl who holds onto her old stories and her faith to help her make it through the lonely nights.

These stories and others capture a gritty side of Las Vegas, which is no doubt Moss’s point.  As a writer, gambler, bar owner in Las Vegas, he no doubt has an intimate knowledge of many of the things he writes—most of which revolves around gambling, glamour, money, sex trades, and some of the mysteries that tie them together.  Set against the backdrop of Las Vegas, many of these themes are reasonably portrayed and believable, often avoiding the clichés that seem to accompany the city’s literature.

The best stories in Blue Vegas—“Performance Art,” ”Career Moves,” and “Peace”—are great because of the mystery that Moss builds early on.  Nearly every story has an opening line that captures the scene and the reader’s imagination and goes a long way towards building this mystery. “Danny’s shirt was damp with sweat as he sat in a creaky straw-bottom chair, counting to see who had the most chips in a hanging velvet tapestry of Jesus shooting craps with Elvis,” for example (p. 139).

All in all, this award-winning book represents aspects of Las Vegas that are seldom covered in mainstream literature.  Moss is an able storyteller with extensive knowledge of the culture he examines.  Blue Vegas is an interesting read, and a worthwhile contribution to the literature of Las Vegas.

Attack Ships On Fire is a band out of Portland, Oregon firmly rooted on a foundation of punk rock with an affinity for intense, angry songs with a sense of humor. Self-described as having “an impressively sarcastic wit, the attitude is clear: punk rock is NOT a fashion show.”

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Please join us for a very special First Friday Fundraiser at the Double Down Saloon on Thursday April 28th, 2011. We will gather together to celebrate 18 years of Double Down Saloon history while raising some funds for First Friday. The primary fundraiser will come by way of auctioning off Alonzo “The Do…uble Down Pony.” That’s right. Alonzo has been shipped back to Vegas from the New York Double Down to help raise funds for First Friday. We will also have a couple of Jerry Misko works and some large format prints of Shane O’Neal’s recent Double Down photo shoot titled “Dirt and Diamonds” available for sale as well. So come visit if you can and bid on the pony if you dare or bid on any one of the other items available for sale and have a few drinks for a good cause.

Guests will enjoy hosted cocktails by Sailor Jerry Rum, featured drinks specials by the Double Down Saloon and Live Music.

The doors will open up at 6:00 p.m.

Author and bar owner P Moss’ newest exploit takes him across the pond

By James P. Reza | November 25th, 2010

P Moss is not normally this giddy. Although he’s often had reason: He’s written screenplays, self-produced a local television show (TV/OD, in the 1990s) and is a published author (Blue Vegas, CityLife Books, 2010). The 58-year-old provocateur is also responsible for the world-infamous punk rock dive the Double Down Saloon (both in Las Vegas and in New York City), and his dream bar, Frankie’s Tiki Room.

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Photo by John Locher

All That Glitters

Odds are you’ve heard of, and maybe even read, one of the most famous literary depictions of Sin City around, “Gonzo” journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the inspiration for the 1998 film of the same name, starring Johnny Depp and Benecio del Toro). And while that semi-autobiographical tale of surreal, psychedelic events that unfold during a trip made by journalist Raoul Duke and his attorney is perhaps the most well-known work about the underbelly of the neon city of light, it certainly isn’t the only one worth checking out.

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Attack Ships On Fire is a band out of Portland, Oregon firmly rooted on a foundation of punk rock with an affinity for intense, angry songs with a sense of humor. Self-described as having “an impressively sarcastic wit, the attitude is clear: punk rock is NOT a fashion show.”

ASOF is returning this year to the Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas for RollerCon 2010, where they will perform the song live for the first time. The event will take place the night of July 31st. Copies of Blue Vegas will also be on hand at the Double Down, and author P Moss will sign copies of his debut title from midnight – 3AM. 

Listen to the song here.
More information on the band here.

Read more about Double Down’s award.

by Deanna Rilling
Tuesday night is P Moss’ coming out party, the day he introduces Blue Vegas, his newly released book of Vegas-based short stories, to the world. If it’s anything like his Double Down Saloon, it’ll be filled with colorful characters, debauchery and the occasional exposure of naughty bits.

That got us to thinking: Who else would we like to see put pen to the paper? Here are a few of the noted Las Vegans we hope follow Moss’ lead and turn out literary works of their own.

1. Kid in a Candy Store: Living the Sweet Life in Las Vegas by Jean-Philippe Maury, Bellagio pastry chef and creator of Jean-Philippe Patisserie. Also, perhaps a security guard or cabana cocktail waitress at Rehab could write, I Saw What You Did Last Summer: Behind the Scenes at Rehab. — Joe Brown

2. When it was once suggested to South Point owner Michael Gaughan that he should write a book, he joked, “A lot of people would have to die.” The son of Las Vegas casino pioneer Jackie Gaughan, who operated El Cortez in downtown Las Vegas for decades, Gaughan’s business partners have included Steve Wynn and Bill Boyd. He not only knows were all the bodies are buried, but why. — John Katsilometes

3. Mayor Oscar Goodman’s Complete History of the Martini: An illustrated guide for the elementary school child. — Deanna Rilling

4. Harry Reid’s self-help book: Putting Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ into Practice. Volumes 1-5 — Patrick Coolican

5. With a shock of red hair and an equally shocking set of breasts, Tempest Storm is the perfect candidate to be published. The sharecropper’s daughter turned burlesque queen has already written one book, 1987’s autobiographical The Lady is a Vamp, but in the 20-plus years since Storm hasn’t exactly hung up her feather boa. Now in her 80s, Storm is the naughty grandmother I always wish I’d had, still sharp as a tack and with a wicked sense of humor. A book of short stories from Ms. Storm would be just the thing to put me to bed with visions of sequins and smoky clubs dancing in my head. — Sarah Feldberg

6. John Westcott, the guy who gives chair massages in front of Whole Foods, could write a book about where Las Vegas hurts. Where It Hurts: Feeling Las Vegas’ Pain. — Joe Brown