America


Book Description

A portrait of the nation through tales of travelers who have traversed the breadth and depth of America the beautiful.




Nature Writing


Book Description

In this comprehensive study of the genre, Don Scheese traces its evolution from the pastoralism evident in the natural history observations of Aristotle and the poetry of Virgil to current American writers. He documents the emergence of the modern form of nature writing as a reaction to industrialization. Scheese's personal observations of natural settings sharpen the reader's understanding of the dynamics between author and locale. His study is further informed by ample use of illustrations and close readings core writers such as Thoreau, John Muir, and Mary Austin showing how each writer's work exemplifies the pastoral tradition and celebrate a spirit of place in the United States.




Snowshoeing Through Sewers


Book Description

In these 10 alternately poetic and comic tales set in the New York/Philadelphia corridor--the most densely populated chunk of America--the author of Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike looks for adventure in the megapolis, "not where no one has been but where no one wishes to go".




The George Washington Bridge


Book Description

Since opening in 1931, the George Washington Bridge, linking New York and New Jersey, has become the busiest bridge in the world, with 103 million vehicles crossing it in 2016. Many people also consider it the most beautiful bridge in the world, yet remarkably little has been written about this majestic structure. Intimate and engaging, this revised and expanded edition of Michael Rockland's rich narrative presents perspectives on the GWB, as it is often called, that span history, architecture, engineering, transportation, design, the arts, politics, and even post-9/11 mentalities. This new edition brings new insight since its initial publication in 2008, including a new chapter on the infamous “Bridgegate” Chris Christie-era scandal of 2013, when members of the governor's administration shut down access to the bridge, causing a major traffic jam and scandal and subsequently helping undermine Christie’s candidacy for the US presidency. Stunning photos, from when the bridge was built in the late 1920s through the present, are a powerful complement to the bridge's history. Rockland covers the competition between the GWB and the Brooklyn Bridge that parallels the rivalry between New Jersey and New York City. Readers will learn about the Swiss immigrant Othmar Ammann, an unsung hero who designed and built the GWB, and how a lack of funding during the Depression dictated the iconic, uncovered steel beams of its towers, which we admire today. There are chapters discussing accidents on the bridge, such as an airplane crash landing in the westbound lanes and the sad story of suicides off its span; the appearance of the bridge in media and the arts; and Rockland's personal adventures on the bridge, including scaling its massive towers on a cable. Movies, television shows, songs, novels, countless images, and even PlayStation 2 games have aided the GWB in becoming a part of the global popular culture. This tribute will captivate residents living in the shadow of the GWB, the millions who walk, jog, bike, skate, or drive across it, as well as tourists and those who will visit it someday. .




Image_Identity_Reality


Book Description

This book is a result of the international conference English Language and Literature Studies: Image, Identity, Reality (ELLSIIR), held at the English Department of the Belgrade Faculty of Philology to mark its 80th Anniversary. The conference covered a wide range of topics from extremely diverse fields, namely: theoretical linguistics, applied language studies, literature and cultural studies. This book comprises papers covering all of these areas, divided into three sections according to the shared topic: Image, Identity and Reality. Owing to its interdisciplinarity, its argumentative and theoretically founded wealth of knowledge, and the outstandingly interesting topics, the book will be very useful for academic study, and a valuable resource in understanding the range of subjects covered in its three chapters, not only to experts interested in scholarly research, but also to the general public, as a reliable and trustworthy source of information.




City Wilds


Book Description

The assumptions we make about nature writing too often lead us to see it only as a literature about wilderness or rural areas. This anthology broadens our awareness of American nature writing by featuring the flora, fauna, geology, and climate that enrich and shape urban life. Set in neither pristine nor exotic environs, these stories and essays take us to rivers, parks, vacant lots, lakes, gardens, and zoos as they convey nature's rich disregard of city limits signs. With writings by women and men from cities in all regions of the country and from different ethnic traditions, the anthology reflects the geographic differences and multicultural makeup of our cities. Works by well-known and emerging contemporary writers are included as well as pieces from important twentieth-century urban nature writers. Since more than 80 percent of Americans now live in urban areas, we need to enlarge our environmental concerns to encompass urban nature. By focusing on urban nature writing, the selections in City Wilds can help develop a more inclusive environmental consciousness, one that includes both the nature we see on a day-to-day basis and how such nearby nature is viewed by writers from diverse cultural backgrounds.




Navy Crazy


Book Description

Navy Crazy is a different kind of war story depicting the backwardness of military medicine in the mid-1950s. A memoir of a young medical corpsman learning to survive on a locked psychiatric ward for Navy and Marine mental patients at the hospital on the U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan from 1955-57. Rockland captures the ward's atmosphere, its flavor, its culture and its language. A raw personal history not filtered, not for the faint of heart.




Married to Hitler


Book Description

Adam Levin is a Jewish college professor going through a divorce in the mid-1970s. He lives in a typical New Jersey suburban town, but nothing is typical about Adam—he’s obsessed with his hatred of Adolf Hitler and anything German. His internal and external adventures are filled with uncomfortable and bizarre situations leading to zany and hilarious outcomes. Only Adam can go on a vacation to the Grand Canyon and fall deeply in love with a German lesbian, who proclaims he is “married to Hitler” and must confront his past and divorce himself from Hitler.




The Jews of New Jersey


Book Description

Jews have called New Jersey home since the late seventeenth century, and they currently make up almost 6 percent of the states residents. Yet, until now, no book has paid tribute to the richness of Jewish heritage in the Garden State. The Jews of New Jersey: A Pictorial History redresses this lack with a lively narrative and hundreds of archival and family photographsmany rarethat bring this history to life. Patricia Ard and Michael Rockland focus on representative Jewish communities throughout the state, paying particular attention to the extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Through the joys and struggles of homemakers, storekeepers, factory workers, athletes, children, farmers, activists, religious leaders, and Holocaust survivors, the authors tell the stories of how these communities have evolved, thrived, and changed. They note the difficulties posed by intermarriage and assimilation and, at the same time, depict a burgeoning revival of Jewish orthodoxy and traditions. The Jews of New Jersey will please both the historian and general reader. Its heartwarming stories and pictures truly make the point that it is through the joys, triumphs, and defeats of everyday people that history is made.




The Other Jersey Shore


Book Description

River otters, black bears, and red foxes drink from its clear waters. Prickly pear cacti grow from the red shale cliffs that overlook it, while on the river near Bordentown lies the archeological remnants of a sprawling estate built by the former King of Spain, Napoleon’s brother, who lived there for almost twenty years. You might imagine this magical and majestic waterway is located in some faraway land. But in fact, it’s the backbone and lifeblood of the Garden State: the Delaware River. The Other Jersey Shore takes readers on a personal tour of the New Jersey portion of the Delaware River and its surroundings. You will learn about the role that the river played in human history, including Washington’s four crossings of the Delaware during the Revolutionary War. And you will also learn about the ecological history of the river itself, once one of the most polluted waterways in the country and now one of the cleanest, providing drinking water for 17 million people. Michael Aaron Rockland, a long-time New Jersey resident, shows readers his very favorite spots along the Delaware, including the pristine waterfalls and wilderness in the Delaware Water Gap recreation area. Along the way, he shares engrossing stories and surprising facts about the river that literally defines western New Jersey.