Slipping us seamlessly into afterhours with its light, Las Vegas can shut all our nightmares out. To come to Las Vegas is to gorge one's senses to the point of ecstasy. All liquor in Las Vegas, for example, is free. The hotel rooms are practically free. Water's ever ready.
Sex is as easy to grab as the escort pamphlets passed out by kids along the Strip.
And it is this electric light that sets the terms for experience here. Tonight, across the street, a man's been wandering among the traffic in the intersection, the busiest four corners in the world, I'm told. He's not saying anything, just swerving around cars. He's been wandering for a half-hour, nearly struck several times. When the cops finally arrive they sit the man down on the curb, take his name, home address, make sure he has a place to sleep tonight, and then leave.