What's Your Exit?: A Literary Detour Through New Jersey

by Joe Vallese, Susanne Antonetta, Jackie Corley

The Turnpike. The Parkway. The Shore. Malls. Mobsters. Bad accents. No other state in America elicits reaction quite like New Jersey. Though the Garden State has risen to the top of pop culture consciousness, its significant and diverse literary culture has gone sorely under the radar--until now. What's Your Exit? A Literary Detour through New Jersey is a collection of contemporary fiction, poetry, and essay inspired by a place that piques the curiosity of all who have set foot in it...and those who haven't. Themes of family, friendship, sex, love, fear, nostalgia and longing populate this anthology, which features forty-nine writers whose visions of the Jersey landscape are as eclectic and beautiful, and as unnerving and mysterious and bold as the place that unites them.

326 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Joe Vallese is editor of It Came From The Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror and co-editor of the anthology What’s Your Exit? A Literary Detour Through New Jersey. His creative and pop culture writing appears in BOMB, VICE, Backstage, PopMatters, Southeast Review, North American Review, Narrative Northeast, VIA: Voices in Italian-Americana, among others. He has been a Pushcart Prize nominee and a notable in Best American Essays for his essay “Blood, Brothers.” He is currently clinical associate professor in the Expository Writing Program at New York University, and previously served as site director and faculty for the Bard Prison Initiative. Joe holds an MFA New York University, and MAT and BA degrees from Bard College.

Reviews

[Laura Jablonski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. The only reason that I gave it three instead of four is that the plot was simple. If you have a connection to New Jersey you might want to read this for fun.

[Katherine Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

hilarious!

[Rosie49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a NJ native and I was intrigued by an anthology of NJ stories/poems. Great idea -- a little uneven, maybe, but an interesting execution. Loved the table of contents: Coming - Going - Staying. Pretty much sums it up. Like a scrappy New Jerseyean there's some stuff in here worth stealing. (Just Kidding: it gave me some creative ideas though.)

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a story in here about breaking into (and having relations in the sawdust of) a house under construction in an upscale development typical of west-central NJ.

[Alicia Beale · Rating 4 out of 5]

My ethics prevent me from writing a review since I am a co-editor, but I will say this - it's good.