“Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales”, by Norm Clarke. Paperback, Stephens Press. $15.95.

By LES GAPAY

It’s Vegas, baby!

There’s something about the town. The feel, the buzz, the energy, the celebrities, the shows, the people watching, the buffets, the slots, the volcano at the Mirage, the lions at MGM Grand, the shark tank at Mandalay Bay, the fountains at the Bellagio, the Elvis impersonators and the Liberace museum.

The weather is great about nine months of the year, but Las Vegas is busy even in the hot summers. I usually stop there for three days on the way to Montana in June and three days on the way back to California in late September, camping on the outskirts at Lake Mead National Recreational Area near Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Once, I was on my cell phone walking down the Vegas Strip in 105 degree weather and talking with a friend on the East Coast while taken in with it all and he couldn’t understand the attraction of the place, even though I rarely gamble and then only a few bucks on slots each trip. I went into New York New York and had a great slice of pizza as I do on each trip and then strolled over to the MGM Grand for a bowl of matzo ball soup in the deli and watched sports on TV in the nearby sports book.

You don’t have to spend much. Once I came upon an art opening at a gallery in a hotel and filled up on free shrimp and beer. Good but not expensive buffets can be had at the Flamingo or Harrah’s. Usually, I stop at the Gambler’s Book Shop near downtown and look up an old University of Montana journalism classmate, owner Howard Schwartz from Brooklyn, a walking encyclopedia on Vegas. I watch him feed the pigeons in his parking lot and check out the variety of patrons, which range from serious gamblers to FBI agents to former mobsters.

Once an agent came into the store looking for a book and told Howard: “I’m with the FBI.” Howard cracked: “Half my customers put their hands up against the wall.”

Every day, to find out what’s going on in town I check out Norm Clarke’s Vegas Confidential column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It gives the latest buzz and gossip about celebrities from Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to Pete Rose and Charles Barkley, where to go to eat, what shows are hot and even breaking news about Sin City.

I know Norm from Montana, where we both grew up in the eastern plains part of the state and went into journalism.

Norm, a native of Terry, was a sports writer and editor in Montana (Billings, Helena and Miles City) and then around the country for the Associated Press and eventually a man-about-town columnist in Denver and now in Vegas. Norm has a patch over one eye, which he lost as a child in Terry, and thus is the most recognizable man in Vegas.

Once when I had drinks with him at a fancy restaurant, the waiters and manager kept coming over to talk with him; over lunch at another place, the chef came out a couple of times to chat and I could hardly get a word in.

Rather than in person, I found it’s best to find out about goings on about town by reading Norm’s column and now his latest book, the light-hearted  “Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales,” published recently by Stephens Press.

Norm writes about Pete Rose slapping him at a restaurant at the Palms casino after Norm wrote about him being one of Vegas’ worst tippers. (Ironically, the Prairie County Museum in Terry has a display on famous native Norm that includes some Pete Rose memorabilia.) Also in the book, illusionist Criss Angel, upset by Norm’s writing, says: “Don’t ever write another word about me, or you’ll need an eye patch over your other eye.”

The book is filled with tales about Michael Jackson, Andre Agassi, Rita Rudner, Madonna, Anna Nicole Smith, Paula Abdul, Pamela Anderson, the Hilton sisters, Spears, O.J., Donald Trump, Steve Wynn and many others.

Much of it is taken from Norm’s six days a week columns, but it’s no rerun. Written in a personal style, the book is divided into chapters ranging from class acts to celebrities behaving badly to behind the scenes and only in Vegas, with interpretation and expansion not found in his columns.

Norm even tells how he got some of his big scoops from Spears’ surprise wedding to Jackson’s 2006 move to Vegas. The info comes from people such as valets, strippers, bartenders and corporate executives and sources cultivated over the years. I even gave Norm a tip once about a casino mogul offering unsuccessfully to buy the Catholic cathedral next to his newest resort and it ran a few months ago after Norm was able to confirm it.
Norm has the credentials for the book and column. Alan Feldman, head public relations executive for MGM Mirage, says: “Norm’s is the must-read column every morning.

In a town overflowing with buzz every day, Norm has great access and owns the inside track on what makes the town tick. Norm’s newspaper’s publisher, Sherman Frederick, who calls Norm’s importance to the papers “MVP status,” says: “Casino owners respect Norm because whether it’s a ‘good’ story or a ‘bad’ story, the story creates a buzz around their hotel or establishment. Celebrities trust Norm to get it right. He’s not your garden-variety gossip columnist. He’s an accomplished journalist with a sense of fairness not often seen in the gotcha style celebrity journalism these days. And above all, Norm knows Vegas secrets ... and he tells.”

The book is a light touch in heavy times. It’s entertaining with 200 color photos and a good way to get away for a bit from the cares of the world. Just like visiting Vegas itself. And who isn’t interested in a bit of celebrity gossip once in a while, a stroll down the Strip, a few coins in the slots, a sumptuous buffet, a top show or a peek inside the Playboy Club atop the Palms that Norm gives including a naked Pamela Anderson at Hugh Hefner’s 82nd birthday party. Hey, it’s Vegas.