To Aspen and Back: An American Journey + Free Shipping
To Aspen and Back: An American Journey + Free Shipping
Written by Peggy Clifford
Introduction by Hunter S. Thompson
Afterword by Daniel Joseph Watkins
Photos Curated by David Hiser
Designed by Curt Carpenter
Edited by Catherine Lutz
232 Pages - Lavishly Illustrated in Black and White
“Like New York and Hollywood, Aspen describes a state of mind and a way of life. In its 100-year history, the town has staged the birth, death, and resurrection of the ‘American Dream.’ It is the legend of that attainable dream that Peggy Clifford illuminates in her story of the growth of this American town. … But the directions of dreams are not always consistent. The town-out-of-time attracted innocents, dreamers, and fugitives from the Land of Plenty, but the town of art and sport they created attracted others smart enough to know a good and profitable thing.”
So reads the original book jacket of To Aspen and Back, journalist Peggy Clifford’s account of the town she called home for 26 years. Published in 1980, it is an insightful, acutely observed history and a deep examination of the social and cultural forces that at the same time shaped this Shangri-La in the Colorado Rockies and threatened to destroy its ideals. Told in prose that both sings in its simplicity and invites deep connection with the idea of Aspen, the tale is astoundingly relevant today, over 40 years after its publication, not just as the continuing story of Aspen the town but for what it reveals about us and how we, as Americans, choose to pursue versions of the American Dream.
Republished in 2022, To Aspen and Back comes even more vibrantly to life with a full complement of photographs. Curated by leading photographer David Hiser, a chronicler of Aspen in his own right, the photos artfully and vividly complete the picture that Clifford painted of the town, its unique cast of characters, and the magnetic spirit binding it all. This enhanced republication includes the original introduction written by Hunter S. Thompson, a friend, admirer, and political collaborator of Clifford’s who called her “the ultimate authority” on Aspen and her book “an act of passion.” The book also features a new afterword by Daniel Joseph Watkins, who saw the value of Clifford’s story of Aspen as a living idea and led the effort to republish this new and improved version.
Reviews of To Aspen and Back: An American Journey
“A suitable introduction to one of America’s top petting zoos.”
“To Aspen and Back is a lovely, bittersweet memoir about an important American journey. Peggy Clifford is at once a lyrical writer and a no-nonsense investigative reporter. Her story of ‘Progress, American Style’ in this fairyland town is a wonderful, balanced picture of a way that we have all affected, or been affected by, the so-called ‘American Dream.’ It is a fascinating view into the shakers and movers and losers involved in the creation of a gaudy and beautiful monster during this past quarter century...an evenly tempered book, written right on the nose but without rancor: a fine evocation and provocative document for our times.”
“The best social history of a period since Gatsby...Clifford’s given us a beautiful read...and a most accurate picture of a pulverized and searching America.”