Imagine a grunge nort Jersey version of John McPhee's classic The Pine Barrens and you'll get some idea of the idiosyncratic, fact-filled, and highly original work that is Robert Sullivan's The Meadowlands. Just five miles west of New York City, this vilified, half-developed, half-untamed, much dumped-on, and sometimes odiferous tract of swampland is home to rare birds and missing bodies, tranquil marshes and a major sports arena, burning garbage dumps and corporate headquarters, the remains of the original Penn Station--and maybe, just ,maybe, of the late Jimmy Hoffa. Robert Sullivan proves himself to be this fragile yet amazingly resilient region's perfect expolorer, historian, archaeologist, and comic bard.
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"I like to think of the Meadowlands as an undesignated national park," writes Robert Sullivan in his end-of-the-millennium take on Thoreau. In The Meadowlands, Sullivan does his Thoreauvian bean-counting in one of America's most infamous dumping grounds, the huge tract of marshy land just outside New York City that has withstood any and all attempts to subdue it with agriculture, industry, development, and an ever-shifting deluge of flotsam and jetsam. He may just be the first person in a century to willingly explore this fascinating but abused piece of real estate, and his investigation gives new meaning to intrepid reporting. By foot he tramps through the muck, and by canoe he navigates polluted rivers and marshes, noting the variegated species of trash and industrial cast-offs with as much zeal as he observes the surprisingly rich diversity of wildlife. Revealed in these stories is a landscape bursting with nature amid the curious man-made detritus of urban consumption. With only a touch of irony, the author refers to his stomping ground as "Big Sky Country, east," imagining he's "in a National Geographic special and visiting little tribes of people unknown to everyone else." He pursues the history of the Meadowlands with equal enthusiasm. Eccentric characters, tall tales, and scuttlebutt haunt the area, from the rumor that the land serves as the final resting place for Jimmy Hoffa (as well as a number of other Mafia hits) to the pitiable stories of the many dreamers who have sunk a fortune in the squelching mud. And throughout this smart, thoroughly researched adventure, Sullivan maintains a witty and lyrical voice that transforms his trip inside a nationally maligned place into a fun, informative romp.
Pressestimmen
"Provocative, audacious . . . by looking observantly, without trite moralizing, at the natural world . . . this book suggest a challenging new model for how we ought to pay attention." --Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review
"It's full of add, compelling stories and is often hilarious. In short, it's a delight." --Men's Journal -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Taschenbuch .
"It's full of add, compelling stories and is often hilarious. In short, it's a delight." --Men's Journal -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Taschenbuch .
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Einleitungssatz
WHENEVER I'M IN NEW YORK AND I HAVE A LITTLE TIME ON my hands, I grab a backpack and some maps and a compass and maybe some lunch and I hike through Times Square and up the stairs of the Port Authority Bus Terminals, where I catch a bus out to the Meadowlands. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
Buchdeckel | Copyright | Inhaltsverzeichnis | Auszug | Rückseite
WHENEVER I'M IN NEW YORK AND I HAVE A LITTLE TIME ON my hands, I grab a backpack and some maps and a compass and maybe some lunch and I hike through Times Square and up the stairs of the Port Authority Bus Terminals, where I catch a bus out to the Meadowlands. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
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Von Joseph Haschka
Format:Taschenbuch
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!
Von Michael S.
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
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.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Taschenbuch
The Meadowlands the book is much like the Meadowlands the place: both are filled with murky meandering channels, flowing sluggishly in random directions, and seeming to lack any overall organization or central purpose.
To a reader looking for light inconsequential entertainment, this book's jumble and lack of advocacy are its charms. But someone hoping to learn a bit about the Meadowlands' biota, ecological history and culture will be left stuck in the muck.
A good editor would have helped Sullivan craft a much finer book. A little more diligence to accuracy while writing would have helped Sullivan be more believable. For instance, when Sullivan writes on the effect of the weather systems known as 'Nor'westers' on the Meadowlands, does he really mean 'Nor'easters'? That is an incredibly sloppy mistake by a writer who isn't really paying all that much attention. And one that a good editor should have caught. At the end, I was left wondering how much 'creative liberty' went into the writing of this book. Based on this work, Sullivan simply is not a budding McPhee, Zukav or Lopez. This book much more cotton-candy filling than it is delicious science.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Taschenbuch
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.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
A great read that brings the Meadowlands to life. Sullivan's writing draws you in, inviting you on his explorations--it's never ponderous. I especially appreciate his ability to blend the historical with the human: We learn how politics and people have affected the Meadowlands over the years. Note: Although other reviewers express the wish for a "true" map in the book, I got a kick out of the informal one that appears opposite the title page: It's a perfect match for the book's tone. I'm on the search for more writing by this author, and--even more telling--I'll probably head over to the Meadowlands next time I'm in NYC.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
If you ever wondered why Secaucus NJ smells like a diaper truck parked in the sun on a hot summer day, this book will explain why. I was a native New Jerseyan until a year ago, and used to work occasionally in the Secaucus/Meadowlands/Giants Stadium area (Harmon Meadows Mall), although I lived about 30 min north of there (near Suffern NY). I didn't realize just how polluted the Meadowlands was until I read this book. It's a pretty good history of the area, its local characters, and the author's inexplicable obsession to explore the crappiest area I ever have had the misfortune to visit. Of course the book covers the Jimmy Hoffa connections, the Pulaski Skyway (definitely the most dismal aerial view of urban blight I've ever witnessed). Unfortunately, the first thing visitors usually see when they come to NJ is the Meadowlands, which do not represent NJ by a longshot. I enjoyed this book a lot, just don't judge the whole state by this one horrendous area.
Von Ein Kunde
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
I loved this book. The author writes in an engaging, informative style. He takes a subject matter which, at first, appears to be fairly bland and uninspiring, and turns it into a "can't stop 'till it's done " winner- like taking a jar of off-the-shelf Aunt Millie's-type tomato sauce and adding fresh ingredients to give the eater/reader a whole new perspective.
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5.0 von 5 Sternen
A great book about a notorious area.
Without getting into an environmental polemic, (which would have been easy), Sullivan writes of a collection of adventures into the Meadowlands of New Jersey. Lesen Sie weiter...
Am 28. Juli 1998 veröffentlicht
5.0 von 5 Sternen
Finding and Showing us the Beauty of an Abused Landscape.
Written in a cool and quietly passionate style, Robert Sullivan's "The Meadowlands" tells the story of a largely neglected, much abused and exploited near-urban natural space. Lesen Sie weiter...
Am 21. Juli 1998 veröffentlicht
5.0 von 5 Sternen
Terrific!
No nickel analyses here. This was simply a great read-fascinating and evocative. A must for anyone who likes earlier McPhee.
Am 24. Juni 1998 veröffentlicht
3.0 von 5 Sternen
Entertaining but Over-Hyped
Perhaps it was the aggressive marketing, but I found myself disappointed with the book. There is much of interest and entertainment to be found here, but a number of vignettes... Lesen Sie weiter...
Am 20. Mai 1998 veröffentlicht
5.0 von 5 Sternen
get this man a MacArthur!
A deft, deadpan elegy for a place that almost everyone else thinks is "nowhere". Elegy is not quite right - it's full of life and vitality. Lesen Sie weiter...
Veröffentlicht am 9. Mai 1998 von Christopher Gray
5.0 von 5 Sternen
fellow meadowlands traveller loves this book.
Reading this book is a map of my neighborhood and all the 'stuff' that is buried in those meadows. Ive ridden my bicycle through the meadows for awhile now and they are an... Lesen Sie weiter...
Am 6. Mai 1998 veröffentlicht
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