AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Summer Book Week: Spicy Novel Set in Sin City, U.S.A.

june 13, 2011 03:11 pm

All week long, we're featuring books by current and former alt-weekly writers to kick off the summer.

Over the past two decades, Las Vegas native Andrew Kiraly has written music columns, features and profiles for Las Vegas CityLife and the now-defunct Las Vegas Mercury. His time at those alt-weeklies served as inspiration for his forthcoming novel, Crit, about a bitter L.A. rock critic whose final assignment requires him to trek to Sin City to write a story about an awful lounge singer who has disappeared.

"I knew I had to take my wild experiences and do something with them," said Kiraly. "And, of course, living and working in one of the most unique cities in the world was also ripe for fictional treatment."

Crit will be released next month and is being published by CityLife Books, the book-publishing imprint of Las Vegas CityLife, where Kiraly was previously managing editor.

Kiraly's darkly satirical view of Sin City is evident in this comic literary novel, which takes readers on a journey filled with black eyes, buffet food, bad pop songs and themed casinos.

"There's something for everyone in this book," promises Kiraly. "Kind of like Las Vegas itself."

Crit: A Novel