A SCHOLARLY BOOK REPOSITORY
Take an unforgettable road trip down one of America’s most fascinating highways, U.S.
On what highway can you find the headquarters of the FBI, Dow Jones Interactive, and the National Enquirer? What road is home to the Bronx Zoo, the Okefenokee Swamp, and Flipper? On the side of what freeway can you find the Super Duper Weenie Wagon, Larry’s Redneck Bar, and the Big Chicken Barn? Peter Genovese found them all, along with about a million other fascinating and bizarre attractions, on U.S. 1, ‘the best damn highway in America,” as he calls it. Join him for the road trip of a lifetime The Great American Road Trip: A Journey Down U.S. 1.
U.S. 1 may not be America’s scenic highway, but it’s certainly the most colorful. It runs through Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Miami, in addition to Caribou, Maine, Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, and Alma, Georgia. It zig-zags along the wild and beautiful Maine coast and soars over the Atlantic Ocean as the Overseas Highway, one of the most spectacular stretches of road anywhere. The Star-Spangled Banner is on U.S. 1. Madonna lived on U.S. 1 (until she sold her house to Rosie O'Donnell). U.S. 1 is Main Street and the Miracle Mile, two-lane blacktop and six-lane expressway, straight as an arrow in some places and twistier than a Philadelphia soft pretzel in others.
Genovese spent two years on U.S. 1, talking to everyone from doughnut makers, dolphin trainers, and swamp guides to real Miami vice cops and the keeper of the national parasite collection. His resulting book is the most complete portrait of an American highway ever written. With his unerring eye for detail, sense of humor, and understanding of human nature, Genovese takes readers on a sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always illuminating 2,450-mile journey from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida.
Ride along with Genovese and grab a drink at the Last Resort Bar or the Last Chance Saloon, then pick up a paperback at the Banned Bookstore. Visit Oscar, the biggest gator in the Okefenokee Swamp, have dinner at Hog Heaven, and take in a Portland Seadogs baseball game. Tour a Budweiser brewery and go into the pit at a NASCAR race. Looking for someplace to stay? How about the world’s only underwater hotel, the Jules’ Undersea Lodge, or in a cabin made entirely from one pine tree at the Maine Idyll Motor Court? If it’s culture you seek, the highway boasts dozens of museums. While you may have heard of the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American Art, how about the Blacks in Wax Museum, Tragedy in the United States Museum, and the Mushroom Museum? There’s something for everyone on U.S. 1, and Genovese has written about it all in The Great American Road Trip.
There is nothing more "Jersey" than a diner. Adorning the highways and byways of fully half of the state's 566 municipalities, no one in New Jersey lives far from one. There are more diners here than in any other state, and on top of that, one of the two remaining diner manufacturers is located in the Garden State.
In a year of roadside research, Peter Genovese talked to owners, employees, and customers, and ate more bacon and egg sandwiches than he cares to remember. The result is a funny, revealing book about a beloved American institution. Whether you want to know where and how diners started, who invented eggs served in a skillet, why these twenty-four-hours-a-day eateries are so popular, or, most important, which one has the best French toast, Jersey Diners has the answers.
Packed with facts, trivia, and stories about the owners, employees, and clientele, the book is also complemented with over three hundred evocative, beautiful photos of the buildings, their distinctive dTcor, the food, and the people who love it from Sussex to Salem counties.
This newly revised edition includes a fully updated directory that details where you can find every diner throughout the state!
This is not your typical Jersey Shore book.
Yes, you'll find the obvious-beaches and boardwalks, lifeguards and lighthouses, fishing and food. But Peter Genovese will also take you off the beaten track for an insider's look at this famous (and infamous) 127-mile stretch from Sandy Hook to Cape May.
Birders, tiki hut builders, beach cleaners, wheel-of-chance operators, she-crab soup makers-they're all here. You'll check out an Airstream-only trailer park and visit a Point Pleasant Beach house where the music of Frank Sinatra plays nearly 24/7. Genovese will introduce you to the owner of the Stone Pony and to participants at the grueling Atlantic City Around-the-Island Swim as they describe their battles with tides, exhaustion, and face-stinging jellyfish. All of that, plus you'll find out why Ocean Grove residents write their names on their flowerpots.
Beach reading just doesn't get any better than this.
Spend a summer with Peter Genovese as he chronicles a typical wild and wacky, kitschy and classy season along the New Jersey coastline.
Lifeguards, surfers, beachgoers, birders, ice cream vendors, seashell sellers, banner pilots-they're all here. You'll be on the scene when Atlantic City's mayor officially begins summer by "unlocking the ocean," get a whiff of the state barbeque championship, watch the nation's longest-running all-women lifeguard competition, and even spend a weekend, Survivor-style, on a Barnegat Bay island.
The Ocean City Baby Parade, Clownfest, the state's hottest bikini contest, and the World Series of Surf Fishing are all covered. You'll also meet the folks at the Diamondback Terrapin Conservation Project, the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge, and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Genovese introduces you to Little Miss Chaos and the King of Corn, the Jersey Shore Hot Dog Queen, and Lucky Leo. You'll go on patrol with the New Jersey State Marine Police, meet the man behind Big Mike's E-Z Bail Bonds, and find salvation at the Boardwalk Chapel.
The Jersey Shore Uncovered flawlessly depicts the timeless allure of New Jersey beach culture. Along with his stories, Genovese brings readers hundreds of color and black-and-white photos that brilliantly capture exactly what makes this 127-mile stretch of shoreline unique. Whether you've never been to a New Jersey beach or you're a Jersey native who spends your summers "down the Shore," you're certain to learn a thing or two from this book. So get settled in your beach chair, put on some suntan lotion, and enjoy.
For this new book, Genovese spent months scouring the state for rich stories and fascinating locations. New Jersey State of Mind takes us on a journey to over twenty-five of these places and introduces us to the colorful characters who live and work there, from a demolition derby driver to a female craft brewer, and from a Cuban celebrity chef to a Portuguese pig breeder. He also reveals the many natural wonders that have earned New Jersey its “Garden State” nickname, from cranberry bogs to river tours to wild bird sanctuaries.
Collectively, these pieces paint a picture of a diverse state full of hard-working individuals who care for their communities. This book cuts through the myths and stereotypes surrounding the state and reveals the proud beating heart of the real New Jersey.
In this funny, fascinating book, Genovese explores the bloggers who write about New York pizza, the obsessive city dwellers who collect and analyze the delivery boxes, Mark Bello’s school where students spend a day making pies from scratch, and Scott Wiener’s pizza bus tours.
Along the way, readers learn the history of legendary Totonno’s on Coney Island (Zagat’s number-one pizzeria for 2012), along with behind-the-scenes stories about John’s on Bleecker Street, Joe’s on Carmine, Lombardi’s, Paulie Gee’s, Motorino, and more than a dozen other favorite spots and their owners. Throughout these profiles, Genovese presents a brief history of how pizza came to the city in 1905 and developed into a major attraction in Little Italy, a neighborhood that became a training ground for many of the city’s best-loved pizzerias. Enjoyable facts and figures abound. Did you know that Americans put 250 million pounds of pepperoni on their pies every year? Or that Domino’s has more outlets per capita in Iceland than in any other country?
Beyond the stories and tidbits, Genovese provides detailed, borough-by-borough reviews of 250 pizzerias, from simple “slice shops” with scant atmosphere to gourmet pizzerias, including shops that use organic ingredients and experiment with new variations of crusts and toppings. Complemented by hundreds of current and never-before-seen archival photos, the book gives the humble slice its proper due and will leave readers overwhelmed by a sudden desire for New York pizza.
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