Now more than ever, Las Vegas is for smart people too. The Mandalay Resort Group, one of the nation's top casino companies, is supplying start-up money for the program, which will provide housing, work space, transportation and funding for writers who have been persecuted for free speech. Rushdie's new written work will be instantly displayed on 8-foot monitor screens above his private simulated waterfall. Aides to Rushdie commented that his Las Vegas package would include Kevlar bathing trunks and a carton of Kool Filter Kings every week.
Kids are already interested in the wacky author-protection environment.
Gift stores at the Mandalay are already selling out of their plush velour Rushdies. T-shirts have also proved popular stock items. Previously imprisoned Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer will be singing soft hits every Wednesday in July in the Treasure Island Exile Buffet, next to an interpretive jazz-dance version of the overthrow of Indonesian President Sukarno, featuring Erik Estrada and former Playboy Playmate Yasmin Perth. And as much as any city in America, we stand for freedom of expression. For more columns by Wilson, visit her column archive.