Rating: 
Summary: A must read for anyone who grew up in the area
Review: After searching for books on the history of the Secaucus area, I stumbled across Robert Sullivan's book and bought it, not knowing what to expect. More than anything, it was very pleasing to read about places and things that I knew about since childhood. It opened my eyes to a lot of history I wasn't previously aware of as well.In short, this book should be required reading for all Meadowlands-area residents! You won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: Paddling Through the Muck & Mire
Review: Being an avid kayaker, I've often wondered what it would be like to paddle the swampy marshlands of the Meadowlands. Riding on the NJ Turnpike, and amidst the backdrop of the Manahttan Skyline, the Meadowlands looks like an appealing natural area to paddle (..at least from a paddler's perspective). Although the area is historically notorious for being one of the most polluted in the state, I've often seen many wading birds feeding in the area so I figured "how bad could it be?" Robert Sullivan answers this question in an entertaining account of his canoe expeditions in this area. His trek through the muck and mire lead him on searches for Jimmy Hoffa's body and other 'treasures'while also detailing the local history of the area and the mob related lore of the garbage and solid waste disposal industry. His graphic and detailed accounts of the garbage that have been dumped in the area would make any paddler seriously consider whether they should paddle it. At the same time, Sullivan has also created a curiosity which has motivated more people than ever before to pick up a paddle and check it out. Beyond the humorous account of his adventure, this book is an easy read that makes us more aware of the vast natural area we have abused and taken for granted. Hopefully it will inspire people to assist restorative and preservation efforts of this area of great potential, preventing it from becoming a continued dumpsite or concrete jungle.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid and engaging tale of one man's obsession with a swamp.
Review: Highly readable and engaging, this book allows the reader to go with the pleasantly obsessed author on his many outings to the Meadowlands. We learn a lot, from the checkered past of its epicenter, the much-maligned city of Secaucus, to the true burial site of Penn Station, to the essential disappointment of the much-vaunted Pulaski Skyway. The book doesn't try to be comprehensive or terribly organized, but that's part of its quirky charm. This is a perfect book to take along on any kind of vacation or adventure. Humorous and good-spirited, the author maintains his informative yet comical composure throughout this delightful memoir/travelogue/adventure/nature book.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging and informative
Review: I enjoyed this light set of anectdotes about urban North Jersey's backyard. As I child I'd often make similar explorations in the 'meadows', so Sullivan's stories remind me of wonderful times. (Of course, his explorations are like that of Sir Hillary's compared to my own forays.) The writing is easily digestible, with each anectdote standing alone - if you prefer to read in smaller sessions. I was quite happy to read all his adventures at once. Anyone with an interest in the outdoors, and even an urban local like myself can learn a lot from this book - including an interesting mystery or two. I may dig out my waders and start my explorations again, just to find some of the treasures he writes about.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a Reason to go to New Jersey!
Review: I got a chance to read this book pre-pub and found it outrageously entertaining. Anyone who thinks this is strictly about football and harness racing is in for a glorious surprise. Mr. Sullivan's tales of trekking through the wasteland in search of remians of the old Penn Station and Jimmy Hoffa's body are eerie yet fascinating. The tales of boom and bust on Manhattan's marshy neighbor add historical value to a region currently known for only its stench and unsightliness. People all over the country should enjoy the witty and comical writing while perhaps gaining a new respect for their respective nearby dumping grounds. Hooray! The drive along the NJ turnpike will never be the same...
Rating: 
Summary: A Humorous Little Book about a Huge Dumping Ground
Review: Sullivan has written a very strange, tongue in cheek book about an area of the country that is perhaps the most abused and neglected in the entire country. The state of New Jersey led the nation in "superfund" cleanup sites last time I checked, but even by New Jersey standards the Meadowlands stands apart as a symbol of toxic dumping, abuse of nature and poor planning. Sullivan will have us believe that whenever he has some time on his hands while in New York, he packs a lunch, heads over the Hudson river into New Jersey and wanders around the swamp that is the Meadowlands. The book is amusing and usually informative- part environmental history, part ecology lesson, and part urban legend folklore. He recounts tales of reported Mob hits and labor disputes, tells of alleged buried pirate treasure, and explains how Hollywood "western" movies were filmed in the Meadowlands before there really was a movie industry in Hollywood. He embarks on some amusing canoe explorations of some of the more inaccessible areas of the swamp, with a companion who complains that he is likely "cutting ten years off his life" by paddling through the putrid swamp with Sullivan. Readers will learn probably more than they ever wanted to know about the composition and ecological breakdown of garbage dumps, including the creation of a slimy liquid called "leachate" which oozes out of the manmade hills and into virtual "moats", before blending into waterways such as the Hackensack River. All in all, while the book was often engaging and Sullivan's narrative mostly kept your interest, the book could've been better. There is little organization to the chapters, and while many of Sullivan's points are made with subtle irony (like the issue of whether his hotel room had a "view) he doesn't really have an overriding theme or purpose in telling his story. He seems more interested in finding cool stuff, like the remains of old Penn Station, foreign translations of Gone With the Wind or Jimmy Hoffa's body, than he is in efforts to restore or develop the meadowlands. The book jacket makes it seem like the book will explore various doomed efforts to develop areas of the Meadowlands, but all relatively recent efforts to do so were ignored in favor of lengthy accounts of turn of the century plans to alter the landscape and farm the land. There are apparently modern housing complexes and industrial parks there now, but we never hear from those people who live and work in the developed areas, only those who live in modified fishing shacks in the middle of the swamp. The book was an interesting diversion, especially for those like myself who drove by this region for many years, but ultimately the book seemed shallow and insignificant.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, brief book of essays on the Meadowlands
Review: Sullivan takes a fun look at one of the most maligned regions of the U.S. - the New Jersey meadowlands. He definitely looks at it as an outsider (he is from the Pacific NW) with a mixture of repulsion and ivory-tower superiority, but with a bit of respect at times for the survival of the area and the people around it. Unlike John Quinn's _Fields of Sun and Grass : An Artist's Journal of the New Jersey Meadowlands_, which was written by a Meadowlands native and mainly deals with the economic and environmental legacy of the area, Sullivan mostly looks at the region from a sociological standpoint, stressing his encounters with the people in and around the meadowlands (and humanity's legacy there) rather than the actual natural area itself. If asked to choose, I personally preferred Quinn's work myself, but Sullivan's book is a worthy companion to Quinn, and I strongly recommend that you read both books to get a total picture of the meadowlands. My favorite chapter, in fact, dealt with Sullivan's quest for the remains of New York Penn Station, a neoclassical gem of a train station in Manhattan that was torn down in the name of "progress" in the 1960s and which is reported to be buried in the swamps of NJ (read _The Destruction of Penn Station_ by Peter & Barbara Moore for more on the station's demise). Sullivan tackles the project with one part archaeology and one part good detective work, and it reads like a charm. Sullivan thankfully has an engaging writing style, making the book read like a series of interconnected essays that briskly flies along like a phragmites reed bending in the wind. Since its written more for the general audience (who may not be as familiar with the meadowlands as us NJ denizens), give it a good read, and you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, brief book of essays on the Meadowlands
Review: Sullivan takes a fun look at one of the most maligned regions of the U.S. - the New Jersey meadowlands. He definitely looks at it as an outsider (he is from the Pacific NW) with a mixture of repulsion and ivory-tower superiority, but with a bit of respect at times for the survival of the area and the people around it. Unlike John Quinn's _Fields of Sun and Grass : An Artist's Journal of the New Jersey Meadowlands_, which was written by a Meadowlands native and mainly deals with the economic and environmental legacy of the area, Sullivan mostly looks at the region from a sociological standpoint, stressing his encounters with the people in and around the meadowlands (and humanity's legacy there) rather than the actual natural area itself. If asked to choose, I personally preferred Quinn's work myself, but Sullivan's book is a worthy companion to Quinn, and I strongly recommend that you read both books to get a total picture of the meadowlands. My favorite chapter, in fact, dealt with Sullivan's quest for the remains of New York Penn Station, a neoclassical gem of a train station in Manhattan that was torn down in the name of "progress" in the 1960s and which is reported to be buried in the swamps of NJ (read _The Destruction of Penn Station_ by Peter & Barbara Moore for more on the station's demise). Sullivan tackles the project with one part archaeology and one part good detective work, and it reads like a charm. Sullivan thankfully has an engaging writing style, making the book read like a series of interconnected essays that briskly flies along like a phragmites reed bending in the wind. Since its written more for the general audience (who may not be as familiar with the meadowlands as us NJ denizens), give it a good read, and you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Mundane
Review: The author, Robert Sullivan, lives in Portland, Oregon, having grown up in the New Jersey - New York City area. By his own admission, he can "walk in the woods outside of the city where I ended up living and see beautiful trees and huge mountains topped with spectacular glaciers", an experience that only causes him to "miss the world's greatest industrial swamp". Thus, he "began taking cross-country trips to the Meadowlands and spending more and more time there". This book is a result of Bob's preoccupation. No, let's call it what it is - a curious obsession in need of some serious therapy. It's not that the book is poorly written or overly boring. It's just that it's about people, events and a place that are so excruciatingly MUNDANE. Get a life, Bob! There was absolutely nothing in the book that makes me want to get anywhere near the Meadowlands! Isn't that one of the motivations, overt or subliminal, for writing a travel essay about this, or any other, place? Please say you're not planning to make a travel documentary on the same subject!
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: The book knows its place and doesn't try to do too much, and in doing so it succeeds. It is the story of a very curious and imaginative guy exploring a complex and old place. It tells exactly what happened, without embellishment, and comes off as a sincere work. The stories and characters stand on their own.
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