Customer Reviews

Public Sculpture in New Jersey: Monuments to Collective Identity

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Meredith Bzdak's Public Sculpture in New Jersey is a meticulously researched and engagingly written
overview of New Jersey's outdoor monuments. Bzdak weaves social, economic, and political history into her text so that the reader gains great knowledge about the multi-layered significance of each art work. This book is a wonderful model for how to unite true scholarship and clear insights with lively presentation.

This is a book that came out of a state-wide project to catalog the public sculpture of New Jersey. The introduction provides a useful brief overview of the topic, then there are a listing of the sculptures, from 1827 to 1995. I found it interesting to see the overlap in subjects at particular times. My favorite sculpture here is the War of the Worlds Memorial in Grovers Mill Park, West Windsor Township.

My only complaint is that some of the photographs are from such a distance as to make it difficult to see the details, while others are backlit. However, this is the case in only a few of the photos and most are admirably clear.

The book is an easy and fun way to learn about New Jersey and American history via the sculptures. The descriptions of the sculptures themselves seem well researched and are fully documented.