Tattered Cover is honored to host the launch event for Pulitzer Prize finalist Ted Conover's new book Cheap Land Colorado! He will be in conversation with U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper. This event will take place at our Colfax location (2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80206) on November 1st at 6pm. This event is free and open to the public. Books will be available to purchase at the event.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author Ted Conover, a passage through an America lived wild and off the grid.
In May 2017, Ted Conover went to Colorado to explore firsthand a rural way of life that is about living cheaply, on your own land—and keeping clear of the mainstream. The failed subdivisions of the enormous San Luis Valley make this possible. Five-acre lots on the high prairie can be had for five thousand dollars, sometimes less. But along with independence and stunning views come fierce winds, neighbors with criminal pasts, and minimal government and medical services.
Conover volunteered for a local group trying to prevent homelessness during the bitter winters. He encountered an unexpected diversity: veterans with PTSD, families homeschooling, addicts young and old, gay people, people of color, lovers of guns and marijuana, people with social anxiety—most of them spurning charity and aiming, and sometimes failing, to be self-sufficient. And more than a few predicting they’ll be the last ones standing when society collapses.
Conover bought his own five acres and immersed himself for parts of four years in the often contentious culture of the far margins. He found many who dislike the government but depend on its subsidies; who love their space but nevertheless find themselves in each other’s business; who are generous but wary of thieves; who endure squalor but appreciate beauty. In their struggles to survive and get along, they tell us about an America riven by difference where the edges speak more and more loudly to the mainstream.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ted Conover is the author of several books, including Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, and National Geographic. He is a professor at, and the former director of, New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
John Hickenlooper took an unconventional path to public office. After starting out as a geologist, John took a chance by opening the first brewpub in Colorado. As a small business owner, he gained a deep understanding of the local community and the value of collaboration. John entered public service because he knew he could listen to the diverse array of Colorado voices and get things done. As Colorado’s U.S. Senator, John is committed to bringing people together to solve our country’s toughest problems.
