Loving Las Vegas Summary

Colson Whitehead’s story “Loving Las Vegas” was a flashback to his past experience with Las Vegas, including his two friends Darren, and Dan. Darren was a part of a writing group known as “Let’s Go,” which consists of exploring and writing on specific areas in the country. The current writing project for Darren was about Vegas, so Darren loaded up his friends in a beat-up vehicle, and they began to travel. Even though Vegas was the end location, they decided to travel around the country to visit major cities, including Chicago, The Grand Canyon, New Orleans, and more. The group enjoyed their time traveling around experiencing all the new locations, but they still haven't made it to their final destination, Las Vegas. Before they arrived in

Las Vegas, they decided to buy multiple pieces of cheap clothing because they knew they would not want to waste time doing laundry. Although they were there to write about the city, they must still live the Vegas experience. The group went to casinos and attempted to live it as much as possible. After countless hours of having an amazing time within the city, the group switched their focus on to the assignment of the trip; to rewrite the past statement written on the city. The last person wrote, “Forget Hollywood images of Las Vegas glamor, the city at base is nothing but a desert Disneyland. As a small, small world of mild, middle-aged debauchery, Vegas simply replaces Mickey and Minnie with overbright neon marquees monolithic hotel/casinos, besequinned Ziegfieldesque [sic] entertainers, quickly marrying them in rococo wedding chapels” (616). After the experiences the three went through, Darren finally planned out what he was going to write, “The magic formula of this oasis of mild, middle-aged debauchery–offer everything but the gambling cheaply, and, if you gild it, they will come–was hit upon by Bugsy Siegel in the 1940s. Das Kapital is worshipped here, and sacrifices from all major credit cards are happily accepted” (616). That is the story we are given, and it seems like it was a very simple story about three young kids traveling around the country, yet it is much more than that. This story introduces the idea that everyone has a path in life, and that once people are exposed to more of the world, then they will achieve their correct path.
For a first read this may seem like a story about three ordinary kids who travel around the country.

Is that wrong? No, however the story shows how much a life of an ordinary kid can change by just simple traveling around the world, and experiencing new things. In the story, the kids seem like they are poor, and careless. Whitehead explains that, “Dan hooked up our ride with new speakers. We didn’t have money or prospects, but we had our priorities straight” (613). Just like any teenager, they do not see money as a huge deal, so they spent it on the items that they believe help the time go through (speakers). Although the kids are very relaxed and easy going, they still appear to be very intelligent. Whitehead believes, “Gambling was a weakness of the ignorant masses, the suckers inhabiting the Great American Middle we’d just driven through” (614). Therefore, he told himself that he was not going to gamble at all. As the kids continue to live their relaxed lifestyles, it appears that they begin to feel more alive as they travel around to new areas of the world. For example, Whitehead (who is against gambling), “dropped a nickel into a one-armed bandit and won two dollars” (613). Traveling around the world gives new perspectives to people in the world, which causes them to be opened to new

ideas.
So, how exactly does traveling around the United States make any difference in the outcome of the kids in this specific story? With the three kids traveling around the country, they were exposed to new views and experiences, which would eventually lead to them finding the path they want to proceed in within their life. Do you think that sitting in the same small town all your life is going to give you any new perspectives in life? No. Everyone should be able to relate to this, when you travel to a new location you feel like a new person, and you have a new mindset on life. This causes your mind to think differently and it will cause one to be open to new views in life, therefore causing you to take a new path. The three kids all were opened to a new life when they stepped foot outside of their home. From Chicago, all the way to Las Vegas, there were unforgettable experiences for them.
These three kids in particular are very lucky individuals. Not everyone in this world actually finds the correct path that they want to take in their life. A large number of people may have an overall plan on the route that they will be taking place in when they grow up, but at the same time there is a large number of people who have no idea of what they want to do. For the ones that are “lost” on where they want to go in life, it seems like if they travel around and experience new areas, then they will be opened to more experiences and ideas. No one can force another to do something, it is all up to the person themselves on what they want to do with their life.
Even though the three kids appear to be nothing more than just ordinary, dumb kids, they all actually have moved on to become very successful people in the world. First, Colson became Whitehead became a professional writer and, “got a job working for the books section of the newspaper” (617). Whitehead’s friend, Dan, founded the visual effects company “Look FX,” and helped animate for movies, including movies directed by his friend, Darren. Darren directed two films known as “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan.”
Whitehead’s story should be an eye opener to every young reader in the world, or to anyone who is still trying to locate their path in life. If you just sit in the same town all your life, and never go out to experience more of the world, you will most likely never find anything very satisfying in life. The more one experiences in life, the more ideas they will be exposed to, therefore they will have a larger perspective on what life is, and what path they should take in. Everyone has a path in life, but not everyone finds it. How will you find your path?