4.0
Leaving Las Vegas
ByPublisher Description
John O'Brien's debut novel,
, is an emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it; a powerful tale of hard luck, hard drinking, and a relationship of tenderness and destruction.
An avowed alcoholic, Ben drinks away his family, friends, and, finally, his job. With deliberate resolve, he burns the remnants of his life and heads for Las Vegas to end it all in the last great binge of his hopeless life. On the Strip, he picks up Sera, a prostitute, in what might have become another excess in his self-destructive jag. Instead, their chance meeting becomes a respite on the road to oblivion as they form a bond that is as mysterious as it is immutable.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesLeaving Las Vegas Reviews
4.0
Ollie Mileson
Created 26 days agoShare
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ReadingwithMeg
Created 3 months agoShare
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EmbexGee
Created 4 months agoShare
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“I went into this one knowing the basic premise , but also with the 1995 film in mind - and I’m glad I experienced both . The novel is raw , unfiltered , and deeply introspective , pulling you right into the bleak headspace of its characters . O’Brien’s writing is stripped down yet heavy , almost hypnotic in how it circles around themes of self-destruction and fleeting connection .
If you’ve seen the movie , you’ll recognize the same central relationship and emotional tone . Both keep the heart of the story intact , the acceptance between two broken people , but the delivery is very different . The book is slower , more internal , and spends more time in one character’s perspective before the other even appears . The film brings the leads together much sooner , often softening edges and compressing details to fit the screen .
I liked both for different reasons : the novel for its unrelenting honesty and immersion , the movie for its performances and more immediate emotional pull . Neither version is “better” ; they complement each other , and reading the book after seeing the movie gave me a richer view of the story .
3.5 stars ✨ not an easy read , but a powerful one , and worth exploring in both formats .”
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