Memoir by Anthony Bondi
FLAMINGO WASH
THE ERA OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION IN SMALL LAS VEGAS
FLAMINGO WASH by Anthony Bondi captures the spirit of the local culture and counterculture of Las Vegas from the 50s to the turn of the millennium. From his personal and archival lens, Bondi’s coming of age in Las Vegas is woven together with the growth of the dazzling city through the historic moments of the atomic fever, the explosive shift as an entertainment destination, arts and culture, and urban development. With unexpected, heartfelt, and comical stories never before told (like Bondi’s experience living in an apartment complex famed for its nudist tenants), Flamingo Wash is not only a personal story, it is a historical and cultural lens into a city that continues to reinvent itself.
Release: July 11, 2025
264 page paperback, includes over 70 black and white images with an expanded digital gallery
ISBN 9781733422796
Avantpop Publishing
book release event
reading and panel discussion
July 11th, 2025 6:30pm
at spckrft, las vegas, nv
a Reading and conversation
July 17th, 2025 7:00pm
at the writer's block, las vegas, nv
“Tony Bondi is the philosopher king of Las Vegas with the cred to wear the crown."
"This emperor of insight (often with no clothes but owning it) grows up inside and alongside the city doing the same. He expertly explains the weirdness and normalcy of America's most curious place in equal measure. FLAMINGO WASH is a compelling, detailed coming of atomic age story like no other.”
Dayvid Figler, Writer, Host - City Cast Las Vegas
"pART MEMOIR, PART HISTORICAL ARCHIVE"
"Bondi's voice is tinged with nostalgia as he blends anecdotes from the unique subcultures of Las Vegas to paint a vivid picture of life before the internet.”
Polly Superstar, Book Doula and Retreat Host at Writing With Mermaids
“Not only is this magnificently written, it captures some of the real magic that exists in such an unlikely city."
"It's like taking a rollercoaster ride with a genius artist through the convoluted back alleys and also the main streets of Vegas...”
Harry Fagel, Poet - Bellowing at the Volcano
“Anthony Bondi is a storyteller's storyteller."
"Whether speaking or writing, his words are woven with insight, respect, and an aching appreciation for the overlooked and often maligned gems of Las Vegas' seedier history.”
Nancy Good, Artist/Advocate/Actor/Model
"A must-read for anyone fascinated by the city of sin and the hedonistic heights of clothing-optional pool parties!"
Staci Layne Wilson, author of the Rock & Roll Nightmares book series
ANTHONY BONDI
Anthony Bondi is a Las Vegas native. His digital collages and staged photography have been widely shown in Las Vegas galleries. For many years he presented large-scale interactive sculptures at Burning Man. In 2014, he was a featured correspondent on the Las Vegas episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. Flamingo Wash is his first memoir.
For many years, Vegas had a robust number of paper media publications that covered, among other topics, the development of the arts in Las Vegas. Most of these publications are long gone. Little of what was written then has been online. Bondi saved the paper articles. Now scanned and published, it is an archive of 850 articles about the subject, Las Vegas Arts in Print Media 1990-2015, in 45 chapters. anthonybondi.com
