New Jersey Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Peter Genovese

New Jersey--home of "The Sopranos,' ten-story-high landfills, and the ugliest highway in the history of pavement (the New Jersey Turnpike), also claims the world's best spaghetti, nicest sandwich, and biggest ice cream cone, not to mention world-famous crabs, cheesesteaks, chili dogs, peanut brittle, and milkshakes. But it's not all about food. Within these pages you will discover animal actors, the nation's oldest nudist camp, and International Castor Oil Association (which is taking new members).

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book from the 'Just Jersey' shop in Morristown, NJ.

As a non-native New Jersey resident, I really enjoyed reading all about the history of the state through longtime establishments, weird roadside attractions, and people narratives.

The book is sectioned off by Northwest, Northeast, Central, and Southern New Jersey. That is helpful for when I plan to go explore in certain areas. I will be able to quickly reference this book to create an itinerary.

This felt like it was geared toward locals. In the beginning, the author expressed a lot of dislike for people not from New Jersey. Particularly New Yawkers. So I felt a little bit left out of the joke. It didn't last long, and before I knew it was I was engrossed in a lot of quirky New Jersey stuff.

Definitely pick this up if you are interested in exploring a bit of New Jersey's interesting side.

[Joanne Kilroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! This is a must-read for all New Jerseyans.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much repetition, and bordering/infringing on Weird NJ