BOOK REVIEWS
141
the U.S. with Mexicans and other national groups. Regional studies of
Cumbia as it developed in such divergent location as Peru, Uruguay, and
New York offer testimony of this genre’s remarkable appeal and
influence across the Americas. Yet, as Fernandez L’Hoeste and Vila
note, “[e]ach of the different national cases examined in [the] book
illuminates a particular way in which Cumbia assists...different
identification processes” (13). Even for those readers who have never
heard of Cumbia, let alone danced to it, Cumbia! Scenes o f a Migrant
Latin American Musical Genre will provide an accessible introduction to
the genre. Through its variety of superbly conceived and theoretically
edifying essays, it also offers scholars and students across the humanistic
disciplines an invaluable work of music and cultural studies research on
a foundational subject in Latin American and U.S. Latino popular culture
that is sometimes overlooked.
Vincent Perez, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Bright Light City: Las Vegas in Popular Culture
Larry Gragg
Lawrence: University Press o f Kansas, 2013
In Bright Light City, Larry Dell Gragg provides a major in-depth
study of Las Vegas in popular culture, going beyond legalized gaming
and the development of megaresorts. Of course, with over 122 casinos,
115,000 gaming machines, and over 4,000 table games, the metropolis is
a gambler’s paradise. While much has been written about Las Vegas’s
history and economy, a discussion of the role of the city in popular
culture at large has not been available. Gragg’s work attempts to fill this
gap by examining not only the history of Vegas, but also by describing
how people’s perception of the desert oasis has changed over the last
hundred years.
Understanding that “Sin City” is not seen by many in the United
States as a city with any depth or much character, Gragg begins his work
by justifying his choice in choosing Las Vegas as a serious subject for
study. In doing so, he challenges the stereotypical view of Las Vegas.
Gragg explains that “it is critical to understand how local journalists,