Mile High Stories

by 5280Magazine (Editor)

5280, Denver's award-winning city magazine, celebrates its 25th anniversary with a collection of its best longform writing in Mile High Stories.

356 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2018

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been somewhat obsessed with 5280 Magazine since I stumbled upon their longform work either my junior or senior year of high school, so I was excited to happen across this book in a local bookstore last summer. I'd entered the store with the (unrealistic) plans to not buy anything, but as soon as I spotted Mile High Stories, those plans were scrapped.

The book is a collection of some of 5280's best longform work since the magazine's establishment in 1993. It contains a variety of investigative and narrative pieces. Some are personal essays, others are hard-hitting journalism. All of them employ the tools of creative writing to tell evocative, engaging stories. Narrative longform nonfiction is a favorite of mine, so I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I'd recommend it to almost anyone, but especially aspiring writers or journalists who want to see how stories can unveil the hidden worlds of the places we live.

[Dellanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m new to the Denver area and picked this book up as a way to get acquainted with my new city. The writing is of a high quality. Some stories spoke to me more than others as is typical with any anthology. I found myself googling some of the story subjects (particularly with the older stories) to see what happened to them. It would have been nice to have postscripts on some of them. My only other issue with the book is that most of the stories were sad. I had to take a break from reading at times. But all the stories held my attention and I feel like I know more about some of the recent history of the city.

[Kellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great snapshot of Colorado specific news and topics over the past 25 years. I immensely enjoyed nearly all the writings in this collection. As a Colorado native I remember hearing about most of the news/topics written about here, but it was a good overview and help jog many memories for me. I was able to learn more about these topics too. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Colorado and/or great journalism.

[Andrea Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

20 short stories from Colorado. Some better than others. A good book to read in pieces... one story at a time.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing good about Colorado. The most depressing collection of journalism I’ve ever read.

[Joan]

Interesting read. Brought back memories for some of the stories. Some were joyful and some were sad. If you lived in Denver, this is a good recap of the happenings 25 years.