As a former alt-weekly writer, editor and music critic, Andrew Kiraly drew on his many years of (often crazy) experience in everything from rock clubs to casino lounges. He’s highlighted today on the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies website as part of a summer series on books penned by current and former alt-weekly scribes. Read the full story here:

Now’s your chance to get in on the fun. Got a great imaginary band name? Send it to us. The winner gets dinner and drinks with author Andrew Kiraly. The winning band name will also be featured in the novel Crit.

Hurry! The deadline for the Crit band-name contest is May 15th.

Send your submission to: submissions@stephenspress.com

Contest Details

“Crit is a perfect fit for CityLife Books,” said Geoff Schumacher, editor of the Stephens Press imprint. “Andrew’s amazing skill with words, combined with a fast-paced narrative set largely in Las Vegas, make this novel a must for those looking to be both entertained and provoked by what they read.”

Crit is the story of a famously acerbic L.A. rock critic’s growing disillusionment with music and the act of passing judgment on it. A trip to Las Vegas in search of an elusive lounge singer leads the critic into a surreal underworld reminiscent of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

Kiraly, a native Las Vegan and former CityLife managing editor, is the editor  of Desert Companion, Nevada Public Radio’s monthly magazine.

Vanishing Village

Blythin, a retired communications professor from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has written an insightful and entertaining book about the community in which he has lived for several decades, Blue Diamond, Nevada. Here is a summary:

“Just a few miles beyond the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip and the surrounding suburbs, a quiet village vigorously resists the insistent pull of the metropolis. The villagers believe the modern way, the urban way is not necessarily the best way. They want to make their own rules and set their own standards, insisting that one size does not fit all. In Vanishing Village, Evan Blythin explores the history and folkways of his longtime home, illuminating the enduring values and pastimes of small-town living. But this lifestyle, Blythin reveals, is at risk of extinction, as the villager fends off relentless demands to conform and moderrnize.”

Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada had this to say about Vanishing Village:

“Simultaneously entertaining and informative, Vanishing Village is a hard book to put down. Blythin reminds us of the value of connecting with our fellow man if we hope to maintain our sanity, our humanity even, in the disappearing village.”

After publishing two works of fiction, Restless City and Blue Vegas, CityLife Books is releasing its first nonfiction title. A mash-up of memoir, journalism and sociology, Vanishing Village offers an enlightening vision of an alternative to the urban/suburban angst that nags at so many Las Vegans.

“Blue Vegas,” the second title from CityLife Books, will debut on Tuesday, March 2, at the famous Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas.

The Double Down happens to be owned by the author of “Blue Vegas,” P Moss. It’s an internationally known watering hole, famous for its signature drink, Ass Juice, as well as for kick-ass punk rock music and a general vibe that is completely at odds — on purpose — with the schmaltz and glitz of the Las Vegas Strip.

The setting for the launch party is consistent with the mission of “Blue Vegas,” a short story collection that cuts through the public image of Las Vegas and delivers the straight story, the dark realities of life outside the neon glare.

The event will run from 8 to 10 p.m., and will include freak show performances, a reading by the author and other blow-your-mind experiences.

This promises to be the literary event of the year in Las Vegas and beyond.

Reviewer Sharon Galligar Chance praised the serial novel for taking her inside the “glitz and glamour, the muck and filth that make up Sin City. There’s nowhere else like it in the world, and these seven diverse authors capture the mystery of Las Vegas beautifully.”

Find her review here.

Restless City is a serial novel written by seven respected Las Vegas authors, each of whom contributed a chapter. The novel, set in Las Vegas falls into the crime noir category, but the writers are not necessarily practitioners in that genre.

The writers are, in order of appearance, H. Lee Barnes, John H. Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran. Barnes and Irsfeld are members of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. Tran recently won a Whiting Writer’s Award. Smith is a respected newspaper columnist and nonfiction author, while Rouff is a successful novelist and public relations executive. Bailly and Ford are award-winning fiction writers. Geoff Schumacher, editor of CityLife Books, served as coordinator and editor of Restless City.

If you would like to buy a copy of Restless City, drop by the Stephens Press (parent of CityLife Books) booth Saturday or Sunday at the Fifth Street School in downtown Las Vegas. The book also is available for purchase online at Amazon and restlesscity.com.

ALSO:

The authors of Restless City will be assembling at 4 p.m. Saturday at the festival for a panel discussion about the writing of the novel and for a debut reading of the seventh and final chapter.