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Rating: 
Summary: a history of NJ as well as a personal history, fascinating
Review: I bought this book expecting it to be a description of intersting stores and shops, perhaps some places to eat alnog some of the secondary highways of NJ. What I got was the personal history of the author as well as a history of NJ. It was a fascinating read as DiLonno takes out along several of the "500" roads of NJ, which are secondary hgihways designed to supplement the larger, faster roads of the state. DiLonno tells us about the towns you pass thru and described the contrast from one end to the other end, and tells us tales from his own past when he traveled some of these roads with his father. These personal details as well as the interesting and obscure facts about the towns is both fascianting and illuminating. I expected a guide to where to shop and eat and instead I got a history of NJ. I throughly enjoyed the book, but I must say that B&W pictures suffer from being (IMHO) not crisp or sharp enough, a tad on the dark side and not having enough depth of field. That's not to say they're bad, but I always believe B&W pictures, to be effective need to be the things I mentioned above, and these weren't. The color pictures are good, but there aren;t enough. (Disclaimer: I actually love B&W, and have nothing against it) One negative: There are 17 roads profiled, in a book of 137 pages so that's roughly 8 pages per road. For some reason he devotes less then one page each to Route 501 & 514. I'm not sure why but since 501 is the only road in the book that goes thru Bergen County, I was disapointed that it was glossed over, especially since Bergen County is home to the earliest colonial settlements anywhere, and since a lot of important history took place here. Otherwise, an excellent, thought provoking book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is full with interesting facts, tidbits and general information regarding New Jersey's many highways and backroads that make up this great state. DiIonno did a great job putting this book together and I recommend anyone interested in the history and many tidbits about New Jersey to buy this book!
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