Leaving Las Vegas

The author was trying a bit too hard to be literary at times but overall it was good. It was kind of random and pointless, much like life itself, and also was curiously shallow. This might be because we know so little about the lead characters. This is one that needs thinking about.

Charming at times yet brutal in its honesty LEAVING LAS VEGAS is ultimately a graphic and depressing love story. There is no hope for redemption here and John O'Brien makes no apologies for it. Having committed suicide soon after the movie rights to this book were sold, many consider LLV to be his suicide note to the world. However this is also a beautiful and compulsively readable masterpiece. Exploring the dark depths of alcoholism, the needy loneliness of prostitution and the unconditional love between two lost souls.LLV is told in 4 sections. Alternating between Sera, a content yet increasingly jaded hooker and Ben an alcoholic on one final bender. We also get to meet Al (unlike the movie) Sera's violent and broken former pimp who's hoping to reclaim what was his. I will admit to having a bit of trouble following the story in the beginning as I got used to O'Brien's style of writing. He tended to jump between the past and present in a pretentious manner that was very hard to keep track of. In these beginning chapters we watch Sera go about her daily routine and witness some of the harshest and most shocking moments in the book.Section 2 traces Ben as he ties up the loose ends of his former life in California and prepares to drink himself to death in Las Vegas. Ben never makes excuses for being an alcoholic, the issue is completely irrelevant to him he just shows us what it takes to get through the day as one. With his alcoholism progressing Ben has become a time keeper; when do the bars open? When do they close? Which stores sell liquor? How much will he need to see him through the night? And how the hell did he get home? It's all quite exhausting and he knows he doesn`t have much time left. Ben now dreams of Las Vegas where he can pawn his watch because they never stop serving there. Through circumstance Ben and Sera meet in Vegas and immediately identify each other as kindred spirits. Each accepting the other for who they are and entering into a desperate and bleak relationship that you just know isn`t going to end well as neither is about to change.This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished. I found myself captivated by Ben's world and all his tricks to remain as intoxicated as possible. His POV is awesome and I think Nicholas Cage was cast flawlessly in the movie as there are moments of harsh, sardonic humour that he captured perfectly.I recently lost a dear friend to alcoholism (he was a funny, no excuses man too) and I read this book in an attempt to somehow understand why. Now that I'm finished I still don't understand why, Ben doesn't know why either, he just is. I suppose you have to admire someone who leaves this life on their own terms, however horrible they might be.

Really liked the book. Quick read with a lot of impact. What a waste that this author succumbed to his disease so young. The potential in his writing is clear even if at times the maturity of his storytelling is nascent

Description was accurate. I just wanted to read it. I didnt need a collector's edition or quality. Readable with a page loose. Very happy with this purchase. Cant stress the importance of the accurate description of the quality. Thank you !

A poem of a story. Humanity at it's rawest. Alcohol used as a suicidal choice weapon. Knew a couple similar, ended up living in a cave, 2 old people, he a drunkard she his enabler, loyal to his end.