The History of Vegas

A collection of dark short fiction about neglected and troubled teenagers, named a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year. Trouble. From the first page of each of the edgy and unrelentingly intense stories in this debut collection, the teenaged characters are headed for big trouble. The adult world has mostly failed them, and they find themselves entering into highly charged situations where they make their own rules, with misguided understanding of the consequences. The stories burn hot and fast, providing searing insights into their world of sex, drugs, drinking, violence, and accidental grace, played out in small, tough towns. Written with raw directness and understanding that makes these stories impossible to forget, The History of Vegas announces an exciting, fresh talent. "Bright, brooding, iconic, and dark." —Anthony Swofford, New York Times bestselling author of Jarhead "In essence, Angel is writing a kind of abbreviated naturalism, the kind of fiction that writers like Raymond Carver and Larry Brown honed to perfection. Angel excels at it as well, whether the setting is the urban jungle of Las Vegas, the dirt roads of the lonely, expansive West or even the seemingly placid suburbs." — San Francisco Chronicle Book Review