Rating: Summary: The Meadowlands: More Than Meets the Eye Review: This is an enjoyable, easy-to-read book. Though many that live outside the New York Metro area would probably enjoy it, the millions that have passed through the Meadowlands on the way to work or to Giants Stadium to catch "The Boss" will most enjoy the nuggets of info in Sullivan's book. The Meadowlands is a mix ecology, biology, folk tales, local history, and personal observations that seem to reflect the author's love/hate (mostly love) relationship with the meadowlands. Personally, I found the historical tidbits the most fascinating part of Sullivan's book. Like most people, I rub shoulders with a geographic area on an almost daily basis that I know little about. Why a certain place is named what it is? What was this place about one hundred years ago? The author relates the colorful history behind the town of Kearny and its namesake, General Philip Kearny, a one-armed (you will have to read the book to learn why he had one arm) general killed during the Civil War. Sullivan also relates the fascinating tale of Seth Boyden, a notable inventor from Newark, New Jersey. Now I know who Boyden Ave was named for. The Meadowlands has many of these gems imbedded between its covers. At two hundred pages, Sullivan's book is a fairly quick read. For the millions of folks that rub elbows with The Meadowlands every year, I highly recommend this book. When you are passing Snake Hill while driving down the New Jersey Turnpike, you can turn to your passengers and say, "Let me tell you a little bit about that hill over there...."
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