About this Event
Rachel Gross will speak about and sign her new book, Shopping All the Way to the Woods: How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to America, on Tuesday, June 25th at 6:30pm, at Boulder Bookstore.
About the Book:
No escape to nature is complete without a trip to an outdoor recreational store or a browse through online offerings. This is the irony of the American outdoor experience: visiting wild spaces supposedly untouched by capitalism first requires shopping. With consumers spending billions of dollars on clothing and equipment each year as they seek out nature, the American outdoor sector grew over the past 150 years from a small collection of outfitters to an industry contributing more than 2 percent of the nation’s economic output.
Rachel S. Gross argues that this success was predicated not just on creating functional equipment but also on selling an authentic, anticommercial outdoor identity. In other words, shopping for the woods was also about being—or becoming—the right kind of person. Demonstrating that outdoor culture is commercial culture, Gross examines Americans’ journey toward outdoor expertise by tracing the development of the nascent outdoor goods industry, the influence of World War II on its growth, and the boom years of outdoor businesses.
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IMPORTANT TICKETING AND EVENT INFORMATION
*Tickets are $5 (plus a small processing fee).
*A coupon good for $5 off a copy of Shopping All the Way to the Woods, or a purchase on the day of the event is included with your ticket. You will receive this coupon at the event.
*Please note: our events are held on the second floor. To request a reasonable accommodation or discuss your needs, contact [email protected].
*After purchasing your tickets, send an email to [email protected] if you're a Readers Guild member and you'd like to reserve a seat at this event. Seats must be reserved before 5pm on the day of the event.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder, United States
USD 5.00
