Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published in USA
Apr 2021
512 pages
Genre: Novels
Publication Information
From an exhilarating new literary voice--the story of four transplants braving the explosive political tensions behind the deceptive, spectacular, endlessly self-reinventing city of Las Vegas.
On Friday, May 1st, 2015 a bomb detonates in the infamous Positano Luxury Resort and Casino, a mammoth hotel (and exact replica of the Amalfi coast) on the Las Vegas Strip.
Six months prior, a crop of strivers converge on the desert city, attempting to make a home amidst the dizzying lights: Ray, a mathematically-minded high stakes professional poker player; Mary Ann, a clinically depressed cocktail waitress; Tom, a tourist from the working class suburbs of Rome, Italy; and Lindsay, a Mormon journalist for the Las Vegas Sun who dreams of a literary career. By chance and by design, they find themselves caught up in backroom schemes for personal and political power, and are thrown into the deep end of an even bigger fight for the soul of the paradoxical town.
A furiously rowdy and ricocheting saga about poker, happiness, class, and selflessness, Paradise, Nevada is a panoramic tour of America in miniature, a vertiginously beautiful systems novel where the bloody battles of neo-liberalism, immigration, labor, and family rage underneath Las Vegas' beguiling and strangely benevolent light. This exuberant debut marks the beginning of a significant career.
"A great American novel set in the city of busted dreams...This sprawling, delightful debut book captures the artificial worlds within [Las Vegas]...This is a tremendously funny book, but it earns its laughs through human frailty...An intimate epic set in a virtual but deeply human world." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] sprawling, eloquent debut...With intelligence and empathy, Diofebi delivers a powerful and unapologetic slice of Americana." - Publishers Weekly
"This is a heady read, filled with surprising turns of phrase and unexpected relationships...Readers of complex literary fiction will appreciate the sharp and nuanced writing." - Booklist
"Paradise, Nevada won't just compel with its high-stakes momentum, it'll teach you to win high-stakes poker! Dario Diofebi is an irreverent and audacious new voice." - Susan Choi, National Book Award-Winning author of Trust Exercise
"Dario Diofebi is a wonder-a brilliant comic voice telling a thrilling compassionate story. People have talked about the complete winning package, the full boat that's aces over kings, and that's Diofebi: piercingly funny about modern life, compassionately human about his characters. Diofebi's written the ultimate poker novel, the ultimate casino story-but there's also the voice, one you know is going to be around for a long time, with the thrill of catching it on day one, on the ground floor." - David Lipsky, author of Absolutely American and Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself
"This is a book made of neon and late nights and that glass of scotch that appears just when you want it. It's been years since I read anything nearly as fun. Vegas has been right there forever, waiting for a great novelist, and Dario Diofebi has come dealing nothing but aces." - Darin Strauss, National Book Critics Circle Award-Winning author of Half a Life
This information about Paradise, Nevada shown above was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dario Diofebi was born in Rome, Italy, in 1987. After a BA and an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Rome, he became a professional online poker player from age 22 to 26. After that, he was a traveling high stakes live poker player for another three years, mostly based in Las Vegas. He quit the game to pursue writing, and received an MFA from the NYU Creative Writing Program. He lives in Rome and Brooklyn, NY.
Of Women and Salt
by Gabriela Garcia
A kaleidoscopic portrait of generations of women from a 19th-century Cuban cigar factory to the present day.
Reader Reviews
Raft of Stars
by Andrew J. Graff
A timeless story of loss, hope, and adventure set against the vividly rendered landscape of the Upper Midwest.
Reader Reviews
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020
"Stunning.… A timely family saga with faith and forgiveness at its core."
―Marie Claire
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
