Asbury Park Lives
9781467172066
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Read about the stories and characters of Asbury Park during its down years and the events and people that led to its resurgence.
By the 1980s, Asbury Park was left for dead. The once vaunted beach town had emptied out. Redevelopment efforts were derailed by economic upheaval, incompetence, or the slow workings of the judicial system. The city seemed destined to be a cautionary tale. But not everyone left, just as not everyone stayed away.
Henry Vaccaro made his best effort, Domenic Santana resurrected the Stone Pony, and even Tillie remains thanks to Debbie DeLisa, Lance Larson and Kevin Feehan bringing back Wonder Bar at the right time. The counterculture that drew bohemians and artists made for the perfect atmosphere that allowed Jenn Hampton to turn a bowling alley into a music venue.
William Clark recounts how Asbury Park came back to life through the stories of the people who helped its resurgence.
The Jersey Shore on Film
9781467158855
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Explore the Shore on the Silver Screen
From the boardwalk to the bay, the Jersey Shore boasts a rich but somewhat overlooked history of filmmaking along its 130 miles of beautiful coastline.
Atlantic City, the Garden State’s most iconic town, has been featured in dozens of critically acclaimed films, including The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), Atlantic City (1980), and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Asbury Park, though largely known for its music scene, has graced the screen in numerous films, music videos, and television shows set and produced within the city’s mere 1.61 square miles of land and water, including The Wrestler (2008), I Saw the TV Glow (2024), and Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025). Cinematic gems like Coyote Ugly (2000), Amityville Horror (1979), A Complete Unknown (2024), and many others were produced on location from South Amboy to Cape May. And of course, there is Kevin Smith, the Red Bank native whose cinematic love letters to his home state helped change the face of independent film.
Marci Mazzarotto profiles more than 140 films, spanning 110 years, along with sundry TV shows and music videos that contribute to the richness of Jersey Shore’s film history.
The American Revolution on the Jersey Shore
9781467170604
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%On the Jersey Shore, the Revolutionary War was more than a contest between the Continental and British Armies. In this neglected region, locals divided into pro- and anti-independence camps that fought a tumultuous six-year war only intermittently tied to the larger conflict. This war brought unprecedented economic opportunity to the Jersey Shore’s formerly poor and secluded villages, as locals risked their savings on speculative salt-making ventures and risked their lives in privateer vessels. British ships bound for New York were hunted by smaller vessels lurking in shore inlets. Local leaders sought to find and punish stealthy “London Traders” smuggling provisions behind British lines, and militia battled so-called Pine Robber gangs that frequently bested them.
Richly documenting and vividly narrating these events and others, award-winning historian Michael Adelberg explores the shore’s roll in America’s war for independence.
