In an earlier post, I observed "Be Nice to New Jersey Week" by listing some favorite books by New Jersey natives. Since then, friends have offered their own recommendations. Here are their New Jersey-centric titles of choice:
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
The Pine Barrens by John McPhee
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
Clockers by Richard Price
My New American Life by Francine Prose
Garden State by Rick Moody.
Also, be sure to check out this New York Times article about "the forgotten man behind William Carlos Williams's 'Red Wheelbarrow.'"
Happy reading. Meanwhile, we New Jerseyans will continue to lick our wounds—and eat our WindMill hot dogs. As one friend noted, perhaps with unrealistic optimism: "Hey, we gave the world Carli Lloyd. No one should dis NJ for at least four years."
Photo of Lucy the Elephant (in Margate City) by Gina Asprocolas
