To Vegas and Back

First-time author Krauss recounts her harrowing childhood during the late 1960s and early 1970s, a story of family abuse that is directly written and painfully honest. In describing her sessions with a therapist later in her life%E2%80%94partial transcripts of which are used throughout the book%E2%80%94Krauss summarizes her story: "my mom moved to Vegas with a Ponzi shyster, he died, she hooked up with a mobster, then a casino owner, became a showgirl at the Tropicana, then ended up with an anti-Semitic monster, named Paul, who almost killed us all." But this outline of her experiences leaves out what the rest of the book provides: a chilling look not only at the dark side of life in Vegas that her mother experienced but also at the horror that her sexually and mentally abusive stepfather visited upon Krauss and her sister. But her descriptions are never lurid, just a shocking reminder of the pain that dysfunctional families often endure. And in the end, after describing how she later achieved her own peace of mind, she is able to deliver a message "that bad things happen to good people, but a positive, even wonderful life can emerge nonetheless." (Mar.)