About the Author

Robert Sullivan has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Outside, Cond� Nast Traveler, and Vogue, where he is a contributing editor. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

"Provocative, audacious . . . by looking observantly, without trite moralizing, at the natural world . . . this book suggest a challenging new model for how we ought to pay attention." --Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review

"It's full of add, compelling stories and is often hilarious.  In short, it's a delight." --Men's Journal

The Meadowlands of New Jersey‘a mammoth site of industrial waste, urban detritus, mosquito-infested swamp, and 25 acres of landfill that oozes a billion gallons of leachate every year‘encompasses Snake Hill, Secaucus, and Newark, NJ. As he hikes, motors, and canoes through this rank wasteland, Sullivan, an amateur urban anthropologist, relates fascinating detail culled from oral, anecdotal, and documented history. For example, he discloses how Snake Hill became the inspiration for the Prudential Insurance Company's Rock of Gibraltar logo, describes Newark's once-remarkable industries, profiles the eccentric local inventors of the yo-yo and the box-car, and investigates the lore of Jimmy Hoffa's burial site. Finely wrought and imaginatively styled, this is recommended for large public and academic libraries.‘Lonnie Weatherby, McGill Univ. Lib., Montreal

"Provocative, audacious . . . by looking observantly, without trite moralizing, at the natural world . . . this book suggest a challenging new model for how we ought to pay attention." --Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review

"It's full of add, compelling stories and is often hilarious. In short, it's a delight." --Men's Journal