The Meadowlands

Imagine a grunge nort Jersey version of John McPhee's classicThe Pine Barrensand you'll get some idea of the idiosyncratic, fact-filled, and highly original work that is Robert Sullivan'sThe 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 garbage dumps and corporate headquarters, the remains of the original Penn Station--and maybe, just ,maybe, of the late Jimmy Hoffa. Robert Sullivan proves himself to be this fragile yet amazingly resilient region's perfect expolorer, historian, archaeologist, and comic bard.

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