Customer Reviews

Whiteout: Lost in Aspen

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ted Conover has a distinctive modus operandus. He writes ethnographic studies of disadvantaged people by becoming part of the population as much as possible. He began, as a college student, becoming a hobo and riding the rails, as documented in "Rolling Nowhere". In his brilliant "Coyotes", he's amazingly successful at integrating himself into the illegal alien population, crossing secretly into the USA several times with Mexican migrant laborers. Most readers will know him from his recent "Newjack", where he becomes a prison guard and Sing-Sing to comment on the lives of guards and inmates.

"Whiteout" is the odd man out in Conover's oeuvre. We're on familiar territory initially - Conover is a cab driver in Aspen, spying on the lives of tourists while living the life of a working stiff. But he never fully commits, living with a wealthy friend in a palatial mansion, and later house-sitting for another millionaire. Later, he becomes a reporter for the local paper, and most of the book reads like extended versions of the newspaper stories he had opportunity to cover. We get a number of interesting pictures of life in Apsen, from ski bums to society madams, to an odd interlude in northern Florida with a former drug runner who _used_ to be based out of Aspen.

Perhaps the shotgun approach is meant to mirror the diversity and complexity of the interaction of social classes in Aspen. Or perhaps Conover saw an opportunity to turn a year off in Apsen into a book with a major publisher. Either way, the reader is left wishing that Conover would pick someone - anyone - to identify with, profile and feature. Instead, we get a mishmash that could only be appealing to readers interested in Apsen or the celebrities who live there. Skip this one and pick up any of his other books instead.

Ted Conover, who's known for his looks at the grittier side of life, tried something different in this book: a look at privilege and pleasure as they are enshrined in Aspen, CO. I think that writing about the rich is probably harder than it sounds--for one thing, the average reader doesn't have a lot of sympathy, and for another, most social analysis is directed at the less fortunate. But Conover looks, mostly seriously, at a place that is fairly silly, and the result is Insight of a very high grade.

The focus goes both tight and wide, the observations are sharp but not dismissive; we find ourselves in the company of starlets and busboys alike, and presented with quite a few moral dilemmas (is it RIGHT to live this way? how come everybody in the real world looks less attractive after Aspen?). Conover's candor alone makes Whiteout worth the price of admission. If your soul is lingering in Sing Sing after reading Newjack, this Rocky Mountain sojourn could be just the thing you need ...

Conover is expert at gate-crashing and we are so lucky that he's a great writer, too. Here, he's written about his stint as a cab driver in Aspen, but the engrossing part is his own ability to crash celebrity-only functions.

It's an interesting study in the interaction of haves and have-nots, for the rich and pampered of this famed snow town NEED the hardworking waiters and drivers and maids and ski instructors and yet are often bizarrely detached from the realities of working a steady job. Conover finds ways of crossing into the world of the haves, without ever forgetting who he is.

Conover doesn't show real envy for the rich and famous, but he enjoyed their parties. He's a downhill skiier and cyclist, so he certainly enjoyed the outdoorsy life there and treats a venture into a star studded party as just another nature hike worth detailing. Conover shows a kind of pity, in fact, in a brilliant little section about hanging out in a bar booth with Mick Fleetwood and friends.

Who you'll meet in the vignettes and tales of Conover's observations of Aspen life: the plethora of fine-looking young ladies, the unreal mansions with their no-holds-barred parties, the spoiled nouveau riche corporate wives, movie stars and rock stars, the crotchety old guard of the small town, drunks and granola eaters, skiers and commuters from the working class lowland.

It's not a gossip-fest, nor is it a boring social critique. But it's a real slice of life. And you get a little local history and politics, too. It's a fine book for anyone who is fascinated by how the other half lives.

The author's own mobility, personable nature, and mutability are his true assets. He seemed to walk away from Aspen satisfied and with a desire to explore other realms. Which he does, again and again, in his brilliant books.

Good gift for a ski bum, for a social climber, for anyone who admires the art of schmoozing and faking it. Could be a bit too depressing for someone who lost in an attempt to get rich and join the upper crust.

... and 10 years have passed since my last visit. Maybe it's time for another road trip, to see what's become of that trendy town. In the meantime, reading about some of its past days will have to do.

Investigative journalist and Colorado native Ted Conover went to Aspen in 1988 to specifically gather material for a book. He hoped to shed light on how and why the tiny silver mining settlement turned into the ultimate poster child for decadence and celebrity. He hoped to determine exactly what "The Aspen Idea" entailed. And so he tried to blend into the community, working first as a taxicab driver and then as a reporter for the Aspen Times newspaper. Both jobs gave him insights into the lives of the various kinds of individuals who can be found there: the native townspeople; the workers who keep local businesses afloat but can't afford to live there; the tourists and outdoor sports fanatics; the hangers-on who camp out in hiding; the servants who maintain empty houses; and the "absentee castlebuilders" who fly in to occupy their McMansions for only a few weeks each year. It's an interesting population mix that's unique to Aspen; at least, it was, during Conover's two-year stay.

Reading his interviews now, 20 years later, is both a thoughtful and sad process. Conover was lucky enough to snag personal time with singer-songwriter John Denver, marble miner Steve Albouy, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, and town matron Elizabeth Paepcke. All are now gone: each one of the men, due to tragic circumstances that Conover might explain away as being certain and predestined casualties of the Aspen life. He also had a chance to hang out with a group of former marijuana dealers who made, then lost, much money in that mountain resort. Theirs is a cautionary tale complete in these pages.

Key to the region is a proliferation of New Age workshops, lifestyle sessions, and environmental conferences. Conover sampled a few of them and successfully walked away in one piece, though he was partially jaded by his experiences. Apart from the celebrity spotting, the active night life, and the touchy-feely encounters, Aspen's main source of business is of course its location and appeal to outdoor enthusiasts. Himself a skier and a mountain biker, Conover documented the culture of those sports in which participants duly accept the risks in order to achieve the downhill rush. After all, when you are skiing, "Not only are you the driver, you are the car." Some of his most compelling passages surround the rescue efforts undertaken to search for skiers lost in an avalanche. Yes, the Aspen Life comes at a cost.

Anyone who has spent time in Aspen will enjoy reading this book, even if they don't agree with Conover's assessment. Everyone should visit the place at least once, just for the experience.

I became a fan of this author after reading Newjack, his account of his year as a corrections officer at Sing Sing. Next I read Coyote, where the author joined up with Mexican illegal immigrants and lived their life in order to write his book. Now White-Out...hmmm. I found it pretty boring. Living in Aspen, the author is first a taxi driver, and then he moves on to other jobs, but all we read is about how this celebrity was seen here, another one attended this party with a new girlfriend, another few famous people belong to the same health club he joined. Oh wow. Not exactly riveting stuff. Skip this book but don't give up on the author - his other books I've read get five stars. (By the way, the previous reviewer, Sartin, was writing about the book Coyote, so how her review ended up on this page is a mystery!)

This is not Conover's best work...."Newjack" about his stint as a prison guard is his best by far.

But, this is a solid book. It is dated, and reading about the Aspen of the 1980s is pretty funny. Don Johnson? John Denver? Who? But, replace the names with up-to-date celebrities and his analysis of the culture of the rich is pretty much dead on, maybe moreso today than it was then. He describes the construction of a 70,000 square foot mansion, or crazy parties - and there is little different from the excesses Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, Bernie Madoff, etc.

One aspect of the book that seems less current is the "New Age" healers, etc., that populated Aspen at the time he was there. That part didn't seem to hold up very well in the present day. Also, it's the one section where Genoways is clearly judgemental - but without turning the mirror on himself. And, drugs are part of the culture, but he gives them a little more attention than they deserve (but cocaine was everywhere in the late '80s, so at the time it probably seemed very current).

He does a better job of exposing his own flaws in the rest of the book, and how he gets sucked into this "lifestyle" (a relevant word in the text). He's not trying to act better than anyone, and so the reader can accept him as a reliable narrator. He has great skill with relating conversations and anecdotes, and his attention to detail is marvelous.

In 2011, a reader obviously won't pick this up to learn anything current about 1993 Aspen, Colorado. But, if you read it as an "ethnography" of an insular, high-end 'culture,' I think there are still things to learn. If you have a bunch of large houses in your town, but never see the residents, this will help explain why - it's because they don't view themselves as citizens of the same place you are, and they don't want their paths to cross with yours. This book will give you a look into that world, even if it has nothing to do with where you live.

Read Conover's "Newjack" or "Rolling Nowhere" first, but this is good too (I did not really care for his new "Roads of Men" book, but it has its moments as well).

Interesting commentary on a slice of society we seem to only know from the entertainment shows or gossip sections of newspapers. It should be noted that this book is dated. In over 10 years, I am sure Aspen has changed some and the main players have changed or just been replaced.

The author writes well, has insightful commentary. Some reviews complain that the book jumps around and is a bunch of "mini" stories. I thought the book flowed well. The author took different jobs and moved through different circles of Aspen society, so the book had to move with him.

If you ever did the "circut" of working resort jobs: beach towns in the summer and ski resorts in the winter, this book may resonate more with you than someone who has never lived in a resort town. It certainly is a society of us and them of the many sub-groups/cultures that inhabit those towns and the author captures that very well.

Overall, an easy and enjoyable read, with some thought provoking passages and commentary.

Ted Conover is one of my favorite authors. I enjoy his ability for immersing himself into whatever subject he is writing and yet managing to maintain a certain impartiality in his observations. Whiteout is no exception to this trend. In it he captures an image of the soul of this very stratified city. He presents the experiences of people from various of it's walks of life and how they interact. What emerges is a work that not only analyzes life in Aspen, but also gives the reader an opportunity for self-examination of his own life and circumstances.

Once again, Ted Connover came through with a completely unique glimpse of a society few people are able to witness. With an amazing gift for immersing himself in different cultures, Ted provides a glimpse into the mostly ultra-rich lifestyle of the Aspenites. I found this novel to be thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking.

A YOUNG MAN BUMS IN ASPEN AND DSCOVERES LIFE IS OKA