Product Description

There is nothing more "Jersey" than a diner. Adorning the highways and byways of fully half of the state’s 567 municipalities, no one in New Jersey lives far from one. There are more diners here than in any other state, and on top of that, two of the three remaining diner manufacturers are located in the Garden State.

In a year of roadside research, Peter Genovese talked to owners, employees, and customers, and ate more bacon and egg sandwiches than he cares to remember. The result is a funny, revealing book about a beloved American institution. Whether you want to know where and how diners started, who invented eggs served in a skillet, why these twenty-four-hours-a-day eateries are so popular, or, most important, which one has the best French toast, Jersey Diners has the answers.

Packed with facts, trivia, and stories about the owners, employees, and clientele, the book is also complemented with over three hundred evocative, beautiful photos of the buildings, their distinctive décor, the food, and the people who love it from Sussex to Salem counties. In addition, this newly revised edition includes a fully updated directory that details where you can find every diner throughout the state.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #730287 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 242 pages

Amazon.com
All that's missing is the smell of the burgers and sound of Bruce Springsteen pouring from the jukebox. This book seems to offer everything anyone would want to know about that great institution, the roadside diner. Peter Genovese, a writer for a New Jersey newspaper, concentrates on diners in his home state. The many illustrations--photos of diners, patrons, and all sorts of diner memorabilia--reflect the loving attitude and sense of humor that pervade this book.

From Publishers Weekly
"A diner is not only a place to eat, it is a hangout, a community center, often more of a town hall than Town Hall is," says journalist Peter Genovese. "Wealth, possessions, background count for little; inside, everyone is equal." And nowhere are there more of these bastions of democracy than New Jersey. In Jersey Diners, Genovese salutes the state's 550 "colorful and kitschy" purveyors of food. Photos and illustrations provide a wonderful tour of the Garden State's not-so-secret treasures.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Peter Genovese, a feature writer for the New Jersey Star-Ledger, eats, lives—even dreams—New Jersey. The author of The Jersey Shore Uncovered, Roadside New Jersey, and The Great American Roadtrip (all Rutgers University Press), he has driven 500,000 miles around the state in the past twenty years.

Customer Reviews

An excellent book
This book is great. It is very well researched. I live in New Jersey and have eaten at some of these diners, and they are described so vividly it makes me feel like I just walked into one. It is also full of Information. How many diner owners are greeks? You will have to read the book to find out. Whether you live in New Jersey or not, this a great read for any one who loves Retro-american history

It Brings back old memories!
This book was a sheer joy to find on the book shelf when I bought it for a friend for Christmas. I couldn't help but spend time reading it myself since I'm such a diner fanatic, and being in New Jersey, how couldn't you be? I read the book through and through, loving the photographs such as Rosie's and the Felix #9 diner in Bridgewater. I remember squealing with joy realizing that the good old Bound Brook Diner appeared on the front cover. Lunch there for 10 years is the best thing. I enjoyed reading the small accounts of "diner life" by other New Jersey citizens and I plesantly smiled to myself. I never would think anyone could ever capture the essence of the New Jersey Diner, but Genovese did. Can I have a Felix #9 sandwich please with pork roll now?

Genovese book is a MUST for diner fans, and fun for all!
Peter Genovese has written an informative and enjoyable account of the life of that great American institution, the diner. Concentrating on his native New Jersey, one of the leading diner states, Genovese takes the reader on a mouth watering tour. In addition, this book helped me to discover the diner subculture that is alive and well in the U.S. today. I would love to see Genovese turn his descriptive talents loose on the rest of the Northeast - perhaps a companion book for each great diner state