Author: Peter Genovese
Subject: New Jersey and the Region
Paper ISBN 0-8135-2061-4
Pages: 268 pp. 420 b&w and 58 color illus."Walt Whitman wrote, 'Oh highway . . . you express me better than I can express myself.' Peter Genovese has taken Whitman up--and what better place to do so than in New Jersey, the roadside pop architecture capital of the world. With an unfailing eye, Genovese has sought out the wonderful signs and structures, and the stories associated with them, that make New Jersey, as he writes, a 'roadside-watcher's dream.' Roadside New Jersey is that rare book: as much fun as it is profound."--Michael Aaron Rockland, author of Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike
New Jersey's real roadside lies beyond the main highways, malls, and high-tension lines. Newspaper columnist Peter Genovese pays a fond, funny tribute to New Jersey's roadside attractions--odd buildings, quirky storefronts, amusing and confusing signs and billboards, strange street names, diners and motels, roadside art--and the people behind them. He takes you to--
o an American flag made of 800 plastic milk jugs
o the windmill that is also a house on Route 72
o the Hubcap Pyramid on Route 322
o eighteen-foot high Miss Uniroyal on Route 168
o the World's Largest Cigar Store
o the Biggest Ice Cream Cone in the World
o God's Country and Busy Seed Corner
o pirate ships and bowling pin men
o the Dog and Cat Deli and Bow Wow Heaven
o the Pain Clinic and the Vacuum Hospital
Genovese captures real motels and pet motels, classic diners and roadside luncheonettes, love notes and cryptic messages scrawled on rocks and bridge trestles. He talks with a kid who lives in a windmill, the King of Route 40, Hubcap Jack, the state's only milk jug artist, and the man who runs the world's largest stone museum. His photos evoke and celebrate the glorious eccentricities of roadside New Jersey.
Peter Genovese writes a regular column, "Passing By," for the The Home News. He lives in Manasquan, New Jersey, but is more likely to be found on the road.
