
Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas
How Jay Sarno Won a Casino Empire, Lost It, and Inspired Modern Las Vegas
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Narrated by:
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Eric Martin
Jay Sarno built two path-breaking Las Vegas casinos, Caesars Palace (1966) and Circus Circus (1968), and planned but did not build a third, the Grandissimo, which would have started the mega-resort era a decade before Steve Wynn built The Mirage. As mobsters and accountants battled for the soul of the last American frontier town, Las Vegas had endless possibilities - if you didn't mind high stakes and stiff odds. Sarno invented the modern Las Vegas casino, but he was part of a dying breed - a back-pocket entrepreneur who'd parlayed a jones for action and a few Teamster loans into a life as a Vegas casino owner.
For all of his accomplishments, his empire didn't last. Sarno sold out of Caesars Palace shortly after it opened - partially to get away from the bookies and gangsters who'd taken over the casino - and he was forced to relinquish control of Circus Circus when the federal government indicted him on charges of offering the largest bribe in IRS history - a bribe he freely admitted paying, on the advice of his attorney, Oscar Goodman. Though he ultimately walked out of court a free man, he never got Circus back. And though he guessed the formula that would open up Las Vegas to millions in the 1990s with the design of the Grandissimo, but he wasn't able to secure the financing for the casino, and when he died in 1984, it remained only a frustrating dream.
Sarno's casinos - and his ideas about how to build casinos - created the template for Las Vegas today. Before him, Las Vegas meant dealers in string ties and bland, functional architecture. He taught the city how to dress up its hotels in fantasy, putting toga dresses on cocktail waitresses and making sure that even the stationery carried through with the theme. He saw Las Vegas as a place where ordinary people could leave their ordinary lives and have extraordinary adventures. And that remains the template for Las Vegas today.
©2013 David G. Schwartz (P)2014 David G. SchwartzListeners also enjoyed...




















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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Entertaining stories. Interesting information on Vegas historyWhat did you like best about this story?
Information on the history of VegasWhich scene was your favorite?
Scenes with Evil Knievel and JayIf you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
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NopeGreat book. Interesting Vegas info.
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Bad narrator
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Building the world of Vegas
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Eric Martin is among my top favorite narrators, to the point where I buy books just to hear him. It helps that his choice of books (I don't know how that works) agrees with my tastes. He has a sort of Rod Serling-like Twilight Zone voice with a slightly hooded, shadowy, dark punchiness.
I tend to unconsciously pick up stacks of books in a year where the same character surfaces and resurfaces. One of those characters for me now is Jimmy Hoffa, and here he is, among amazing rooms-full of odd characters of fame and weirdness in the mid-1960s. It is just on the verge of psychedelic, with Evel Knievel doing motorcycle jumps over the Caesars fountain, and every other celeb, hood and freak passing through. So yeah, this is a book that has everything from its times, with Hoffa thrown in as a bonus. It's a business story, a cultural history story, and a fun ride, and tops at all those things.
Great story, captures an era, well done all around
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captivating
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It's presentation as a documentarian story of the mind and man who envisioned the creation of the grandissimo "Disney " style casino is fascinating. It never lost my attention.
I traveled with the story through the life of Jay Sarno with envy, respect and gratitude.
Las Vegas is a unique compelling city and so is the story of Jay Jackson Sarno.
Jay Sarno - the man who created Las Vegas
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Interesting but no big idea about casino business
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So Interesting!!
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Behind All the Glitz
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Amazing.
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