New Jersey Books

Dr. Landsman provides an in depth review of the influence of the early Scottish settlers in New Jersey, a subject that has not been well studied. His references and notations add considerable amount to the overall work. I recommend this book to anyone interested in colonial history or New Jersey History.

Marsha Cudworth has written a most useful and usable guide to the architecture of Cape May, NJ. Cape May, a National Historic Landmark, lays claim to being America's oldest extant seaside resort. It certainly is one of the loveliest and Ms. Cudworth's book shows why in a series of easy-to-use walking and driving tours.

Especially useful are pen and ink drawings of outstanding structures in this remarkably well-preserved and carefully restored slice of Victoriana-by-the-sea. Many of the drawings are taken from the beautifully-rendered Historic American Buildings Survey of Cape May. Others come from the author's own hands.

This slender volume is neither a full-scale history of Cape May nor a scholarly discussion of the town's architects and builders (for that, one should consult Emil Salvini's "Cape May: Summer City by the Sea" and Thomas & Doebley's "Cape May: Queen of the Seaside Resorts").

But for a lovingly written and charmingly illustrated traveler's companion, this small book is just about perfect. It is a model of the sort of well-researched yet non-academic guidebook which enhances the appreciation of our nation's historic districts for tourists, newcomers, and long-term residents alike.

A nighttime fiction writer, Steven J. Frank has a varied background. He majored in chemistry as an undergraduate at Brown University and earned a law degree at Harvard Law School. He has written short stories, scientific and legal jargon, so he is well versed in a variety of writing styles. He presently resides outside of Boston with his family.

Set in Hudson County, New Jersey, Sell-Out tells the story of a seemingly harmless old man murdered in his own warehouse filled with low-grade leather merchandise. But when the police tie him into a drug scheme, Russ Hartman, a patrol cop with aspirations towards detective, finds himself in the midst of a confusing mass of deception, ethnic interrelationships, and a maze of offshore accounts which may be related to the murder, especially after he has become involved with the niece of the murder victim:

"'Second item,' Neenan said tartly, unhappy with all the interruptions. 'A seemingly innocent relationship between a patrol officer and an attractive victim's relative whom he encounters on the job. Two earnest souls reaching out. Or so perhaps it seems to the patrol officer. But he lacks certain facts. For example, that the object of his affection had an older brother, dead at eighteen from a heroin overdose in a New Jersey City crack house. Or that her surviving brother has had numerous--well, perhaps I overstate the case--has had certain encounters with the criminal justice system.'"

Sell-out is a fast-paced, intelligently written, and at times poetic novel written in vivid color. Frank's characters and locales literally jump off the page. Franks knows when to shroud characters in secrecy, and when to expose their vulnerability. The result is a dark and intensely entertaining whodunit that keeps the reader's head spinning with possibilities until the final critical scene. Russ Hartman is an intelligent cop with a talent in the kitchen and with the ladies who adds to the luster of the tale. His own personal struggles with law enforcement only serve to remind us that there are no absolutes in life. Even as Hartman is trying to do the right thing, he is constantly subjected to being considered a murder suspect in a world where it is sometimes difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys. A fun read.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (7/06)

Anticipating a trip to the New York City and area, this book certainly has taken the scare out of visiting an incredibly large city. "Serendipitous Outings Near New York City" simplifies the trip and gives the reader an opportunity to visit New York City with ease.

Harrison and Rosenfeld intended this book for all walkers - experienced trail hikers, antique hunters, nature lovers, as well as slow walkers that just love to browse and enjoy conversations with those they meet. The book starts off with the "Deserted" Village in the Allaire State Park of New Jersey. The authors give a brief history, description and when the village is open. They explain that guided tours are available if one so desires, but they also encourage self-guided tours. After the walk, they suggest a trek to the Atlantic Ocean where another small town exists.

This is only one of the many walking trips that the authors suggest. They include an easy to follow map and there is no doubt they have trekked the streets and areas themselves. They say things like "Before leaving Stonecrop, be sure to walk on a small path through the woodland garden: Azaleas, rhododendrons, and other shade-loving plants have been carefully placed to blend harmoniously with this natural habitat. Nearby is a pond surrounded by lilies and groupings of..." How enticing is that! With descriptions like this, one can't help but wander on the path.

I'm looking forward to using this book on my trip to the area. At first I wasn't anticipating visiting some of the areas which include New Jersey, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. However, after perusing this book, the travel plans will have to include these areas.

All seven murders were equally vicious. The author must have spent many painstaking hours sifting through old records. Very well written. Once I started reading, I could not put it down. The Janette Lawrence murder is a classic cold case. A must read.

The sheer scope of this collection shows how impactful the landscape (and seascape) of the Jersey Shore has been. There isn't a bad story in this collection. They are evocative, exciting, emotional and just plain well-done.

Absolutely beautiful book wonderfully written and put together! Do not hesitate a moment to buy this! I've spent the past 3+ years constantly looking at this book (Plus its companion book) and I do not grow tired of it! It is pure bliss sometimes to look through it!

In late 1775, sensing that the time for emancipation and liberty was at hand, a slave named Titus quietly slipped away from his master in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Richard Corliss, the slaveholder, offered three pounds reward for the capture and return of Titus. Titus did return, but as Colonel Tye, and he fought gallantly in the Battle of Monmouth, near Freehold. A year later, Colonel Tye did something even more extraordinary. Once again he returned to Monmouth County as leader of an integrated guerilla unit. Tye's intimate knowledge of Monmouth County swamps, rivers and woods served him well, as he and his group plundered the farms and estates of wealthy slaveholders, escaping to a hide out on Sandy Hook. These depredations continued for a year until Tye received a bullet wound and died of lockjaw. Tye would be an honored figure in American history but for one problem: This was the Revolutionary War, not the Civil War, and Tye was fighting on the British side. As far as he was concerned, Tye was fighting for the right side. On November 7, 1778, the Earl of Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, promised freedom to all slaves "willing to serve His Majesty's forces to end the present rebellion." If you had been a slave, which side would you have chosen? An embryonic nation apparently committed to slavery and largely governed by slaveholders, or a powerful maritime empire that promised you your freedom? This wonderful story about a courageous man, which I had never heard before, comes from an eye-opening book by Graham Russell Hodges, "Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, 1665-1865," from Madison House Publishers in cooperation with the Friends of the Monmouth County Park System. Hodges lets the facts speak for themselves. From census figures, newspaper accounts, county and church records, business ledgers, wills, and reward postings for the capture of escaped slaves, we are reminded that New Jersey was a rural state that had much in common with the upper South - Lincoln never carried New Jersey. We did not have large plantations, but slaveholding was common and acceptable enough to make us closer to tidewater Maryland and Virginia than to New England in many of our attitudes. Slavery received an early start in New Jersey and rooted strongly enough to end slowly, grudgingly and later than any other Northeastern states. Vestiges of servitude lingered on into the Twentieth Century, with many African Americans economically bound to the same white families that had once owned them as property. Hodges gives particular attention to the role played by organized religion in the justification and maintenance of slavery, as well as in its gradual demise. The second part of Hodges' book deals with New Jersey's emancipation period, which saw a declining slave population and the growing strength of Monmouth County's free black community up to the Civil War. Local tax rolls reveal an increasing number of mostly poor, yet free, African Americans, a few of whom managed to acquire considerable farm acreage. Tables throughout the book show the distribution of free and slave populations by town and by year. Poet William Carlos Williams advises that we will find what is universal by examining what is found locally. By taking a magnifying glass to the 200 year history of slavery in a single New Jersey county, Graham Russell Hodges brings to light the degradation, violence, hypocrisy, and moral ambiguities of a terrible institution as it was experienced in this state, by people we would have known or even could have been. Its pages are filled with surnames still listed in our telephone books. It is a powerful book. Bob Rixon, WFMU-FM, Jersey City, NJ

The Smithsonian Natural Guides are my new bible for travel. Who really cares about all those motel & restaurant guides w/cheesy attractions anyhow? These guides bring to life what kind of America lies behind (and often even above) the tourist traps.

In the guide to New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania's natural places, Eugene Walter takes the reader to the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes, the Valley & Ridge Province, the Pine Barrens and other lesser known reserves in an often poetical manner, making it for once a travel guide that's a page-turner! His descriptions of certain places follow streams down their courses, allowing full visualization as well as a desire to get in the car and go there!

No reviews for this book? Hard to believe given the number of used copies available. Surely many have read "Society of Captives"?

Sykes uses the sociological framework of Talcott Parsons to analyze the "life of prison" in terms of its effects on the inmates. Sykes was obviously a key reference point for Goffman's work in "Asylums". Sykes works around the idea of describing a maximum security prison as a "total institution", but fails to really nail the concept down.

He makes some interesting observations about the conflicting motives of guards on the front line of the prison. I found troubling his conclusion that the level of control sought to be imposed upon the prisoners was ever elusive. This seemed, to me, to be a justification for the behavior that goes on behind prison walls.

His interesting discussion of prison riot and rebellion prefigures some of Foucault's analysis in "Discipline and Punish". In fact, I picked up my copy of Discipline and Punish immediately after (and during) reading this book and found the effect to be akin to a light bulb going on in my head.

While Sykes lacks the conclusions of Foucault, his simplified analysis of the structure of prison makes reading Foucault's "Discipline and Punish" about 100% easier.

Here is not the place for a more detailed comparison between the two books. None the less, any committed reader of Discipline and Punish should feel compelled to digest this book: After all, it only costs a buck and can be read in a single afternoon!