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Title: Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike by Angus Kress Gillespie, Michael Aaron Rockland, Ruth Strohl-Palmer ISBN: 0-8135-1466-5 Publisher: Rutgers University Press Pub. Date: November, 1989 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: The definitive history on the Turnpike
Comment: As a lifelong New Jerseyan who endured the "what exit" jokes by out-of-staters (Exit 12, now that you've asked), Rockland and Gillespie try to tackle the cultural significance of the loved and loathed New Jersey Turnpike. They cite the popular reference in the Simon & Garfunkel tune, "America," and stress that the Turnpike is one of the most heavily-traveled highways in the world.
What they do well is describe in entertaining detail the story on how and why the Turnpike was built (note: the secretive NJ Turnpike Authority did not cooperate with the authors when they were researching this book) and the many anecdotes about the road that bring new insights into New Jersey (and American) politics and history.
The authors make two main cultural arguments throughout the book:
The first one is how the negative opinion of New Jersey has been shaped over the years by travel on the Turnpike. Let's face it -- the Turnpike travels through the least attractive areas of the state. From the decayed industrial north to the straight, flat and boring stretches in South Jersey, the Turnpike is not a great public relations tool for the state of New Jersey. New Jersey is not all oil refineries (exit 12 & 13), huge megawarehouses (exit 8A) or bland suburban sprawl (exit 9 & 10), but since millions of people from around the globe have traveled on this road to or from Newark Airport or along the Northeast, they think that what they see along the Turnpike is typical to the Garden State (yes, we still have gardens).
Second, the authors' argue that the Turnpike was the ultimate expression of form over function -- an idea that reached its zenith in the mid-20th century. The road was built with efficiency and safety being its highest (and perhaps only) priorities and the roadbuilders did not consider aesthetics or the concerns of neighbors or private landowners when building or maintaining the road.
This book is a great and worthy complement to works like Robert Caro's The Power Broker or other works on famous roads like Rt. 66, Highway 1, the National Road (US Rt. 40), etc. You don't have to be a New Jersey-phile to enjoy this book!
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Title: The White Boy Shuffle : A Novel by Paul Beatty ISBN: 031228019X Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 04 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Hunger of Memory : The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez ISBN: 0553272934 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 January, 1983 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser ISBN: 0060938455 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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