Happenings

Roderick Nash ~ Thursday, May 22nd ~ 5-7pm ~ Back of Beyond Books

May 22nd, 2025

Be sure to stop in the store Thursday, May 22nd anytime between 5-7pm for a meet and greet with Roderick Nash! He’ll be in the store signing copies of his book “Wilderness and the American Mind”.

Back to All Happenings

"The Hounding" by Xenobe Purvis

An absolute knock-out debut! Once I read the logline, I was hooked, and it did not disappoint. Wonderfully crafted. Wonderfully written. Wonderfully told. An absolute page-turner. This book was layered, and infuriating, and mysterious and absolutely worth the read.

✨ Review by Olivia ✨

Check out all her reviews on our staff picks page and/or purchase a copy for yourself by clicking the links provided in our bio!!

#reading #books #Utah #bookstore #backofbeyondbooks #booksbooksbooks #bookstoread #BackofBeyondBooks #readers #moabutah

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"The Hounding" by Xenobe Purvis An absolute knock-out debut! Once I read the logline, I was hooked, and it did not disappoint. Wonderfully crafted. Wonderfully written. Wonderfully told. An absolute page-turner. This book was layered, and infuriating, and mysterious and absolutely worth the read. ✨ Review by Olivia ✨ Check out all her reviews on our staff picks page and/or purchase a copy for yourself by clicking the links provided in our bio!! #reading #books #Utah #bookstore #backofbeyondbooks #booksbooksbooks #bookstoread #BackofBeyondBooks #readers #moabutah

Vegas: A Memoir of a Dark Season by John Gregory Dunne was originally published in 1974 and had been out of print for years before it was republished this summer. The book blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, as Dunne recounts a “time both real and imagined” that he spent wallowing on the Vegas Strip. The narrative begins when the mortality-obsessed Dunne has a nervous breakdown and decides to leave his wife (acclaimed author Joan Didion) and their three-year old child to “look for salvation without commitment.”

Dunne is not in Las Vegas to gamble, he is instead searching for struggling people he can observe to make himself feel better about his own life. He meets a colorful cast of oddballs and outcasts, and ends up spending most of the book profiling a fame-seeking comedian, a sex worker trying to put herself through cosmetology school, and a private detective who specializes in tracking down errant husbands. Voyeuristic and grotesque, funny and poignant, empathetic and startlingly explicit, Dunne’s Vegas is certainly dated in many ways, yet I still found it to be a fascinating and disturbing depiction of Sin City. It’s a fever dream of a book that probably won’t inspire you to plan a trip to Nevada, but it’s an engrossing read that reminds you things could definitely be going worse.

▪ Review by Nat ▪

Check out more of his favorites and purchase your copy from us by using our links in bio!!

WWW.BACKOFBEYONDBOOKS.COM

#reading #books #desert #moab #backofbeyondbooks #booksbooksbooks #Utah #BackofBeyondBooks #indiebookstore #moabutah #readers

8 1
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Vegas: A Memoir of a Dark Season by John Gregory Dunne was originally published in 1974 and had been out of print for years before it was republished this summer. The book blurs the line between autobiography and fiction, as Dunne recounts a “time both real and imagined” that he spent wallowing on the Vegas Strip. The narrative begins when the mortality-obsessed Dunne has a nervous breakdown and decides to leave his wife (acclaimed author Joan Didion) and their three-year old child to “look for salvation without commitment.” Dunne is not in Las Vegas to gamble, he is instead searching for struggling people he can observe to make himself feel better about his own life. He meets a colorful cast of oddballs and outcasts, and ends up spending most of the book profiling a fame-seeking comedian, a sex worker trying to put herself through cosmetology school, and a private detective who specializes in tracking down errant husbands. Voyeuristic and grotesque, funny and poignant, empathetic and startlingly explicit, Dunne’s Vegas is certainly dated in many ways, yet I still found it to be a fascinating and disturbing depiction of Sin City. It’s a fever dream of a book that probably won’t inspire you to plan a trip to Nevada, but it’s an engrossing read that reminds you things could definitely be going worse. ▪ Review by Nat ▪ Check out more of his favorites and purchase your copy from us by using our links in bio!! WWW.BACKOFBEYONDBOOKS.COM #reading #books #desert #moab #backofbeyondbooks #booksbooksbooks #Utah #BackofBeyondBooks #indiebookstore #moabutah #readers