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Casino
Casino
Author: Nicholas Pileggi
With the intensity of a Jacobean tragedy, Casino unfolds its tale of a love triangle between a gambler, his wife, and his henchman amid the glittering, festering Babylon of Las Vegas. The film makes daring use of voice-over and rapidly shifting points of view and time frame, leaving conventional film language far behind. — "Las Vegas ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780671665708
ISBN-10: 0671665707
Publication Date: 5/1/1996
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 22

3.4 stars, based on 22 ratings
Publisher: Pocket
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Audio Cassette
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Casino on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
From Amazon.com

Note this book is not fiction, nor a novelization of the film Casino. Like Wiseguy, it's the real account that Scorsese fashioned into a film (with Pileggi's help again).

Casino tells the story of the Chicago mob's major role in running Las Vegas, how it happened, and how it more or less ended (or appeared to) in the 1980s. Corporations (institutionalized gangsters) took over, and now we're to assume that gambling is a respectable, fine industry. It's hard to cheer for the state 'gaming' officials as they pursue mobsters who are skimming a casino, of all places. A character in the film says it best when he exclaims, 'You mean the money we're robbing is bein' robbed?!'

A good read before or after the excellent film. There's quite a bit of detail as far shady business dealings, politics, and mob bosses go, but less of the nitty gritty mobster detail from Wiseguy.
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surfin-sweetie avatar reviewed Casino on + 12 more book reviews
This book was very informative of the real players that made up the movie Casino. I really enjoyed this book because I learned alot.
reviewed Casino on
This was horribly written, repetitive, and choppy. Too much explanation, not enough action...hated it.
reviewed Casino on + 7 more book reviews
The basis for the Martin Scorsese movie of the same name, Pileggi's true-crime account charts the rise and fall of a pair of Vegas hoods.


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