Wall Street Journal scribe Christina Binkley was on the scene
for a crucial decade of Las Vegas history, chronicling a span
during which the popular adult playground transformed itself
from a crass theme park of resorts into a world-class destination
run by conglomerates.
In Winner Takes All, Binkley writes what could be a doctoral
dissertation on Vegas and the gambling beat. Binkley worked
her sources up and down the Las Vegas Strip to craft a compact,
informative and entertaining story.
Unfortunately, the book may be mistitled inasmuch as there
was no ultimate "winner" in Las Vegas.
Binkley has the ability to simplify the machinations behind
high-profile corporate buyouts. Readers get a backstage pass
to view three important buyouts: Kirk Kerkorian's 2000 purchase
of Steve Wynn's Mirage Resorts; MGM Mirage's 2004 buyout of
Mandalay Resort Group; and Harrah's 2004 takeover of Caesars.
Binkley shines new light on an old story, revealing that Wynn
forced Kerkorian's MGM Grand, which acquired Mirage Resorts,
to pay $17 million for his residence, including a pair of decorative
frogs for $766.09 and a 10-year-old garbage disposal for $287.04.
Competitive tussles
Binkley calls Winner a Wynn biography masquerading as a book
about the competitive tussle reflected in the subtitle: Steve
Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman and the Race to Own Las Vegas.
Wynn, developer of the Mirage, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas,
is seen as filled with contradictory traits. In anecdote after
anecdote, Binkley illustrates his magnanimity, egotism, eloquence,
weirdness, humor, insecurity, pettiness. The fact she had terrific
access to him did not tilt her evenhanded portrayal.
At times, she is deliciously dishy in a way that is unlikely
to get another interview, as when she implies Wynn had cosmetic
surgery.
If there is a bias here, though, it's toward those who gave
Binkley access. Wynn did, so he occupies most of the book. Loveman
granted her less, so he is depicted as the dull, underestimated
yet brilliant operator of Harrah's whose staff worries about
his girth.
MGM Mirage CEO Terry Lanni gave no face-to-face access. Consequently,
his role in mergers on his watch is treated dismissively.
Kerkorian is an exception; she treats him fairly even though
he gave her no access, perhaps because the 90-year-old mogul
hasn't given an interview in many years.
But Binkley's most alarming failure is that she ignores the
crucial role in the past decade of Wynn's chief rival, cantankerous
Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, with whom Binkley had a
notoriously poor relationship.
Adelson is even wealthier than Kerkorian and runs the Strip
company with the highest market value, a result of his vision
to turn Vegas into the top convention town and his aggressive
approach to Macau and Singapore. Yet he is mentioned only about
half a dozen times. Wynn's story is hardly complete without
fleshing out his rival. Books could be written about the juicy,
extremely public Wynn-Adelson feud.
Historical trivia
The book is marred by some mistakes. Binkley misspells the
name of impressionist Danny Gans (she wrote Ganz), who grins
from the largest marquee on the Strip. She misstates the marketing
slogan as "What Happens in Las Vegas Stays in Las Vegas" even
though the official catchphrase doesn't mention the city name.
And she is wrong about the chronology of Wynn's optioning
the musical Spamalot, saying he did so after the failure of
Avenue Q, when, in fact, he did it before Q opened in Vegas.
That said, Binkley provides plenty of insider detail and historical
trivia to satisfy Vegas enthusiasts. And she can turn a phrase.
Explaining why Vegas moguls don't actually regard it as home,
she writes: "It's hard to love a place that tries so hard, yet
can't respect itself — like the class slut."
Happily, Binkley does respect the city she watched prosper.
Thus, she taps years of serious coverage to write a pleasing,
if flawed, book.
