The El Rancho Vegas Story
History and Recollections home casino dining entertainment ... about William Saroyan, from Places Where I've Done Time
William Saroyan, 1908-1981 Noted American fiction writer William Saroyan recounted his stay at the El Rancho Vegas in his 1972 collection of autobiographical sketches, Places Where I've Done Time . It is doubtful that Las Vegas boosters ever quoted his summation of their city. 56. The El Rancho Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1949 I had a large room in a detached cottage in which there were four such rooms. I got to bed very late every morning and slept the drunken sleep of the losing gambler. It was November and I had been sick since April, when the little woman had met the terms of a standing agreement between us that if either of us had ever lied to the other in any important way, and had confessed it, the marriage must end. And the little bride had confessed itshe had taken six years to do so, and had chosen the moment that suited her best. She was twenty-eight, and I was forty. She hoped I would continue in the marriage anyway, really she did, she said. Really. I understood how a father might suddenly destroy his entire family and himself. I couldn't look at the woman. I took an airplane to Europe and wandered around in a daze for three months. When I got back to New York I saw her when I went to see the kids, and she was having a grand time. But again she said she hoped I would come backand then she said, "Really I do." I took an airplane to San Francisco, and then I went to Las Vegas, to establish residence in Nevada, and to live there the necessary six weeks in order to obtain a divorce. | |
|
