Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas
The catacombs of ancient Rome served as houses of worship for Christians. When surveyed in the early 1800s, the sewers of Paris yielded gold, jewels and relics of the revolution. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a slave trade thrived in underground chambers along Portland, Oregon's waterfront. And thousands of street people lived in the subway and train tunnels of New York City in the 1980s and '90s.\ \ What secrets do the Las Vegas storm drains keep? What discoveries wait in the...
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The catacombs of ancient Rome served as houses of worship for Christians. When surveyed in the early 1800s, the sewers of Paris yielded gold, jewels and relics of the revolution. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a slave trade thrived in underground chambers along Portland, Oregon's waterfront. And thousands of street people lived in the subway and train tunnels of New York City in the 1980s and '90s.What secrets do the Las Vegas storm drains keep? What discoveries wait in the dark? What's beneath the neon?Armed with a flashlight, a tape recorder and an expandable baton, Las Vegas CityLife writer-editor Matthew O'Brien explored the Las Vegas flood-control system for more than four years.Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas chronicles O'Brien's adventures in subterranean Las Vegas. He follows the footsteps of a psycho killer. He braces against a raging flood. He parties with naked crackheads. He learns how to make meth, that art is most beautiful where it's least expected, that in many ways, he prefers underground Las Vegas to aboveground Vegas, and that there are no pots of gold under the neon rainbow. Publishers Weekly In 2002, as managing editor of the alternative weekly, Las Vegas CityLife, O'Brien was intrigued when a murderer eluded police by vanishing into the Vegas flood-control system. After O'Brien and CityLife contributor Josh Ellis explored half a dozen storm drains, their adventures attracted such attention on the Internet that the publication's Web site scored a million hits in a day. By then, O'Brien was convinced "there were secrets to be discovered beneath the neon." His first discovery was that, despite the dangers, homeless men and women were living in the tunnels. How did they wind up there? Returning with a tape recorder and flashlight, he interviewed the storm-drain denizens, finding one sleeping in an elevated bed suspended above the watery floor, another residing in a plywood hut and some in the cool tunnels just to escape the heat. The photos capture the inhabitants of these bleak encampments. Continually contrasting the sparkling casinos above with the dank, cobwebbed catacombs below, the observant O'Brien writes with a noirish flair, but his compassion is also evident as he illuminates the lives of these shadowy subterranean dwellers. (June 1)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
\ Publishers WeeklyIn 2002, as managing editor of the alternative weekly, Las Vegas CityLife, O'Brien was intrigued when a murderer eluded police by vanishing into the Vegas flood-control system. After O'Brien and CityLife contributor Josh Ellis explored half a dozen storm drains, their adventures attracted such attention on the Internet that the publication's Web site scored a million hits in a day. By then, O'Brien was convinced "there were secrets to be discovered beneath the neon." His first discovery was that, despite the dangers, homeless men and women were living in the tunnels. How did they wind up there? Returning with a tape recorder and flashlight, he interviewed the storm-drain denizens, finding one sleeping in an elevated bed suspended above the watery floor, another residing in a plywood hut and some in the cool tunnels just to escape the heat. The photos capture the inhabitants of these bleak encampments. Continually contrasting the sparkling casinos above with the dank, cobwebbed catacombs below, the observant O'Brien writes with a noirish flair, but his compassion is also evident as he illuminates the lives of these shadowy subterranean dwellers. (June 1)\ Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsUnderneath Las Vegas, human beings live in dark catacombs-a practice not uncommon in large cities. Las Vegas-based journalist O'Brien offers an engaging if slapdash account of exploring the city's storm drains and meeting the people living in them. In 2002, O'Brien and fellow writer Josh Ellis went wandering through the drains and emerged with stories. O'Brien's book (with moody, too-sparsely-used photos by Danny Mollohan) uses that adventure as a starting point for his return during a 2004 sabbatical from his day job, editing the local alt-weekly. Armed with a tape recorder and a couple failing flashlights, O'Brien covers the underground, chatting up the dozens of folks he comes across. They're a mostly welcoming crowd-many Vietnam vets, most with gambling and drug problems, all with a story to tell. Less friendly are the crack-addled street kids who advise O'Brien to stay clear. There are wonders to be found in the gloom, including a woman who came all the way to Vegas just to bring gifts to her tunnel-dweller son and make sure he's okay, and a graffiti art gallery that surpasses anything in the glittering city above. There's also danger: During heavy rains, the area can fill with floodwater at the rate of a foot per minute. O'Brien brings an explorer's passion to his lively work, which suffers, nevertheless, from a certain thinness of research.\ \ \ Alan Petrucelli“O’Brien’s notes from the Vegas underground have a resonance, beauty and humanity seldom felt as strongly, or described and illustrated so well. These drains, like the catacombs of ancient Rome, have stories that will make you smile and break your heart.”\ \ \ \ \ Anonymous Blogger“Nothing short of fascinating… With stark black and white photography, a noir-ish narrative voice and the unrelenting creepiness of the world beneath the Las Vegas Strip and beyond, O’Brien has crafted a compelling debut.”\ \ \ \ \ Anonymous Editor"The photos capture the inhabitants of these bleak encampments. Continually contrasting the sparkling casinos above with the dank, cobwebbed catacombs below, the observant O’Brien writes with a noirish flair, but his compassion is also evident as he illuminates the lives of these shadowy subterranean dwellers."\ \ \ \ \ Beautiful Decay"[O'Brien] takes you on a dizzying trip through the various drains to meet the people that live, party, and sometimes die in the tunnels. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever broken into an abandoned building, explored dirty sewers, hopped freights across the country, or enjoys a late-night stroll into the unknown. More than just a documentation of one's experience in the storm drains, Beneath the Neon is equal parts Las Vegas history book, drunken biography, and psychological thriller."\ \
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