Laufer, Peter and Sheila Swan Laufer.  Neon Nevada.  Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2011, 128 pages, $16.95 (hardcover)—“Neon is associated with the highest aspirations of the American dream as well as the lowest manifestations of commercialism and banality,” Lili Lakich, the founding director of the Museum of Neon Art in Las Angeles, writes in the foreword to Peter Laufer and Sheila Swan Laufer’s book Neon Nevada. “No other medium so aptly expresses the American spirit.”

To those who do not follow neon art closely, this could very well seem to be a heady introduction.  It might leave questions of how and why such assertions could be made.  Throughout the 100-plus pages of this book of photographs and brief essays on the culture and art of neon in Nevada, the authors do their level best to prove the accuracy of Ms. Lakich’s soaring prose.

The latest version of Neon Nevada is a follow up to a previous version published in 1994 by the University of Nevada Press to wide acclaim.  Their concept from the beginning was to drive the state, photograph the neon gems, and interview fellow aficionados around the state, a process they repeated again for the second version.  This version, the latest, captures the differences in Nevada’s neon culture nearly two decades later, during a time when Nevada’s urban centers and rural areas have gone through both enormous growth and an incredible economic downturn, all of which is reflected in their neon.

By far the most appealing aspect of this book is the photography that Peter and Sheila compile, as is fitting for a book focusing on a visual art.  They offer gems, like a reproduction from the Nevada Historical Society of the oldest known usage of neon in the state, “The Peoples Market” in Elko.  There are the various images of Nevada icons like Wendover Will, Cactus Jack, Vegas Vic, and Laughlin Lou, all intended to attract passersby off of the highways and onto the various strips throughout the state.  By far the largest category is of the various bar signs, casino walls, and motel signs still in existence throughout the state.  The final category is of reproductions created by artists who are as big of fans of the craft, the image, and the feel of neon as the authors are.  The images are presented brilliantly, and on purpose, as they describe in their methodology:

Our goal as we collected our neon was to show the signs from the perspective of passersby but at the same time to isolate the neon from any adjacent images so that each photograph captured the pure essence of the sign.  We sought to keep street lights out of our frames and to choose angles carefully so that adjacent street scenes did not create unwanted distortion and distraction. (p. 68-69)

Nearly equal to the images presented in this book is the writing.  This should come as no surprise given the qualifications of the authors.  Peter Laufer holds a PhD, has written more than a dozen books, and is currently a journalism professor at the University of Oregon.  Sheila Swan Laufer is a photographer, a documentary maker, and an author.  Peter’s background in journalism and Sheila’s in memoir writing come through, especially when they examine neon in terms of culture, class, and history.  For example:

At the north end of Carson, an old miner called attention to the 49er Motel.  His neon finger held an incandescent golden lightbulb—his nugget.  But at the 49er Motel, sign maintenance was not pressing business.  The gold nugget lightbulb was burned out. (p. 23)

Neon Nevada combines prose like this and imagery of neon to near perfection throughout the entirety of this little book.  Neon is undoubtedly an important part of Nevada’s image, brand, and history, pictures of it throughout time capturing the state’s economic health, self-perception, and appeals to tourists.  Although Lili Lakich’s foreword might raise an eyebrow by comparing neon signs to the “highest aspirations of the American dream” and the “lowest manifestations of commercialism,” and stating that “no other medium so aptly expresses the American spirit,” the execution of this book just might prove her to be correct.