The Meadowlands: Wilderness Adventures at the Edge of a City

by Robert Sullivan

Book Overview

Imagine a grungy north Jersey version of John McPhee's classic The Pine Barrens and you'll get some idea of the idiosyncratic, fact-filled, and highly original work that is Robert Sullivan's The Meadowlands. Just five miles west of New York City, this vilified, half-developed, half-untamed, much dumped-on, and sometimes odiferous tract of swampland is home to rare birds and missing bodies, tranquil marshes and a major sports arena, burning...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385495080
• ISBN13: 9780385495080
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating insight into an initially unrelentlingly ugly place....

Sullivan does a great job of revealing the beauty and promise of an area hugely blighted by urban and industrial development, offers an example of how we might look more closely at many things, and highlights how careless we can be in destroying our natural environment...

A great book

The book knows its place and doesn't try to do too much, and in doing so it succeeds. It is the story of a very curious and imaginative guy exploring a complex and old place. It tells exactly what happened, without embellishment, and comes off as a sincere work. The stories and characters stand on their own.

A Humorous and Human Face on the Blight

A great read that brings the Meadowlands to life. Sullivan's writing draws you in, inviting you on his explorations--it's never ponderous. I especially appreciate his ability to blend the historical with the human: We learn how politics and people have affected the Meadowlands over the years. Note: Although other reviewers express the wish for a "true" map in the book, I got a kick out of the informal one that appears opposite the title page: It's a perfect match for the book's tone. I'm on the search for more writing by this author, and--even more telling--I'll probably head over to the Meadowlands next time I'm in NYC.

FROM AUNT MILLIE'S TO HOMEMADE

I loved this book. The author writes in an engaging, informative style. He takes a subject matter which, at first, appears to be fairly bland and uninspiring, and turns it into a "can't stop 'till it's done " winner- like taking a jar of off-the-shelf Aunt Millie's-type tomato sauce and adding fresh ingredients to give the eater/reader a whole new perspective.

Finding and Showing us the Beauty of an Abused Landscape.

Written in a cool and quietly passionate style, Robert Sullivan's "The Meadowlands" tells the story of a largely neglected, much abused and exploited near-urban natural space. (In a large way, he lets The Meadowlands tell its own story). It is clear that Mr. Sullivan feels the beauty within the human-made ugliness of this resourceful wetland community sitting across the Hudson River from New York City, and centered amongst great industrial pollution. The natural habitat and the people living within that habitat, past and present, are the focuses of this easily accessible and well-written homage to a nostalgic playground from Mr. Sullivan's youth, and a site of deep meaning for him, as well. With compassion, but without deleting their idiosyncrasies and foibles, the author shares with us the various characters he encounters, both past and present. The Meadowlands shows how human beings have been neglectful of their natural surroundings, and tells us about the peopl! e who enjoy the gifts abused nature can still provide to us and, with vibrancy, brings to life the story of people who care deeply about these wetlands. Finally, Mr. Sullivan shows those willing to learn from this book, the importance and value of what we might consider the insignificance of restoring and preserving the many misused natural habitats that survive, and even thrive, all around us.