There's More to New Jersey than the Sopranos

✍ Scribed by Marc Mappen

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 225
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

An American tourist in Europe stopped at a restaurant in Gdansk, Poland, and struck up a conversation with a local. ''Where do you come from?'' he asked. ''New Jersey,'' she said. He smiled and replied, ''Ah, Sopranos!''

Even fans of that popular show, one that held viewers captive, may be a bit disheartened to discover that the first thing that pops into minds around the world about New Jersey is a dysfunctional crime family, just an exit or two off the infamous N.J. Turnpike. But there's no need to live in fear that the only culture and history that the state is known for is, well, let's say, a bit of bada bing. Actually, the echo of the Big Bang--the cosmic event that marked the birth of our universe some 13.7 billion years ago--was first identified by scientists from Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey.

In this lively romp through history from the primitive past to the present day, Marc Mappen's message resonates-- There's More to New Jersey than the Sopranos. Real tales, wise tales, tall tales abound throughout the pages of Mappen's collection, filled with zest, humor, scandal, and occasionally tragedy. Annie Oakley. Ulysses S. Grant. Benedict Arnold. Ezra Pound. Shoeless Joe Jackson. These luminaries and many others share a common bond with the state that witnessed prehistoric elephants roaming its pastures, the explosion on the USS Princeton, a Martian invasion, famous firsts like the phonograph, electric light, and movies, and, well, step aside Tony Soprano: mobster Al Capone strolling along the Atlantic City boardwalk.

Providing a lens into American history through lively prose and more than twenty-five illustrations, There's More to New Jersey than the Sopranos is as much fun as a trip to the Jersey Shore and definitely more rewarding than a night home watching television-- simply stated, this book is one you can't refuse to read.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 8
Introduction......Page 10
1 How We Got to Where We Are......Page 14
2 When Prehistoric Elephants Roamed New Jersey......Page 28
3 New Jersey Was Paradise......Page 31
4 Move Over, Betsy Ross......Page 35
5 Good Golly, Miss Molly......Page 40
6 The Caldwell Murder Case......Page 51
7 “The Cow Chace”......Page 55
8 Classical Gas......Page 59
9 The Congressman’s Cold......Page 62
10 The First Flight......Page 67
11 John Adams’s Ass......Page 71
12 Man Eats Tomato and Lives!......Page 75
13 Explosion on the USS Princeton......Page 79
14 Two New Jersey Soldiers in Confederate Prisons......Page 83
15 General Grant Skips the Theater......Page 91
16 The Jersey General and the Secret of Custer’s Last Stand......Page 94
17 Poor Mary Smith......Page 103
18 Mrs. Stanton Steps Out in Tenafly......Page 106
19 It’s About Time......Page 110
20 Leprosy in the Laundry......Page 113
21 Stephen Crane Gets into Trouble......Page 118
22 The Ghostly Sphynx of Metedeconk......Page 121
23 Annie Oakley Lived in Nutley, New Jersey......Page 125
24 Scandal at the Girls’ Reform School......Page 129
25 Alice Goes for a Drive......Page 133
26 Billy Sunday Came to Trenton on Monday......Page 137
27 Ezra Pound Insults Newark......Page 140
28 Cher Ami......Page 144
29 The Poet, the Athlete, and the War to End All Wars......Page 148
30 The Applejack Campaign......Page 152
31 Swan Song for Shoeless Joe......Page 156
32 The Tragic Fall of the Mexican Lindbergh......Page 159
33 On the Boardwalk with Al Capone......Page 162
34 The Morro Castle Mystery......Page 166
35 The Rise and Fall of a Great Detective......Page 169
36 Mommy Was a Commie......Page 172
37 The Martian Invasion......Page 175
38 When New Jersey Was a Nazi Target......Page 181
39 Teleporting Penguin Lands in New Jersey......Page 184
40 The Serpent in the Garden State: A Brief History of Corruption......Page 188
Postscript: How to Write an Encyclopedia of New Jersey in Nine Easy Years......Page 203
Suggestions for Further Reading......Page 210
Index......Page 218