Paging New Jersey: A Literary Guide to the Garden State

by James F. Broderick

For 300 years, New Jersey writers, books, and historical events have helped shape the cultural landscape of the nation, and yet the state is rarely credited for its numerous contributions to American letters and folklore.  Paging New Jersey is just the book for those interested in uncovering a treasure trove of information about the Garden State’s key role in the creation of U.S. literary and popular culture.  New Jersey writers from Stephen Crane to Toni Morrison are included as well as longtime Camden resident Walt Whitman and Newark native Philip Roth.

James F. Broderick’s unique look at  the state’s literary and cultural history answers intriguing Jersey-related questions such how author Peter Benchley got the idea for Jaws ; where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton; why the Hindenberg exploded over Lakehurst in 1937; and where to find help in locating Captain Kidd’s buried treasure along the Jersey Shore.  Most people know that television’s fictional Tony Soprano lives in New Jersey, but what about the state’s other mobsters— The real “goombahs?”  Who are they and what have these particular Jersey devils written?

Full of commentary, biographical information, and history—along with suggested reading lists— Paging New Jersey is a crash course in Jerseyana.  For those who live in the state, expatriots, and yes, even those who think all New Jersey has to offer is the Turnpike, Broderick’s engaging yet learned book provides an entertaining look at the Garden State’s rich cultural heritage.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

James F. Broderick is a writer and an associate professor of English and Journalism at New Jersey City University.
After starting his journalism career in rural Indiana, he worked at newspapers and online news services in Cincinnati, Suburban Chicago, New York City, and Jersey City, New Jersey. After receiving his master's degree from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, he published his first book in 2003, PAGING NEW JERSEY, which the New Jersey Center for the Book named one of the 10 "Notable Non-Fiction Books of the Decade." His fifth non-fiction book, published in 2012, is NOW A TERRIFYING MOTION PICTURE! His suspense novel, STALKED, will be published by Whiskey Creek Press in 2013.
He lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with his wife Miri, daughters Olivia and Maddy, and three rescue cats.

Reviews

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paging New Jersey is an interesting read of the authors that called my home state, THEIR home state, if only for a few years. The book also lists authors that wrote about New Jersey and some of the history of the state.

[GK Stritch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know a British-based theater troupe called "American Company of Comedians" staged a series of Shakespeare's plays in Perth Amboy in 1752? What was the name of the eighteenth-century playwright from that City by the Bay? This book is full of info on writers connected to New Jersey. Page away with this literary guide to the Garden State; it goes by fast because 210 pages isn't quite enough.