Shore Stories: An Anthology of the Jersey Shore

New Jersey's 127-mile stretch of coastline, running from Sandy Hook to Cape May Point, provides the inspiration for this solid collection of short stories, photographs, essays and poems. Writer and editor Youmans (Down the Jersey Shore) rallies such well-known Garden State lovers as John McPhee, Robert Kotlowitz, Robert Pinsky, Stephen Dunn and Gay Talese, as well as less celebrated regional writers like John Mahoney and Sandy Gingrass. Satisfying entries include John Bailey Lloyd's turn-of-the-century ghost story, ""A Strange Incident At Bond's Hotel""; Christopher Cook Gilmore's ""Atlantic City Proof,"" a romantic tale of Prohibition-era rum running; an excerpt from Kotlowitz's novel The Boardwalk; Barry Targan's WWII stories; and McPhee's ironic tour of the Atlantic City streets that inspired the Monopoly board. Although much of this material has been published elsewhere, vacationers and Jerseyites alike may be pleased to see these 40 written pieces and 47 photographs together in one place. (July)