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The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption | 
 enlarge | Authors: Bob Ingle, Sandy Mcclure
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $14.48
You Save: $10.47 (42%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 34272
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 0312368941
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.132309749
EAN: 9780312368944
ASIN: 0312368941
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080904214033T
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Product Description
The Soprano State details the you-couldn't-make-this-up true story of the corruption that has pervaded New Jersey politics, government, and business for the past thirty years. From Jimmy Hoffa purportedly being buried somewhere beneath the end zone in Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, through allegations of a thoroughly corrupt medical and dental university, through Mafia influence at all levels, to a governor who suddenly declares himself a “gay American” and resigns, the Garden State might indeed be better named after the HBO mobsters.
Where else would:
- A state attorney general show up after police pulled over her boyfriend who was driving without a valid license?
- A state senator and mayor of Newark (the same guy) spend thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money on a junket to Rio days before leaving office?
- A politically connected developer hire a prostitute to tape sex acts with his own brother-in-law and then send the tape to his sister?
Only in the Soprano State.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
Where have all the honest politicians gone? August 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
According to this well written and documented book the elected have not ever been to New Jersey! It is not only amazing but downright disheartening to read all the unbelievable events that have gone on for years by both parties in all parts of the state. No wonder so many people leave this beautiful place. They can't afford it. What really makes you mad is that there is little hope for future change. This book will make your blood really boil!!
 A Fair Read July 24, 2008
If you are interested in and fairly familiar with New Jersey politics and politicians this is a reasonably entertaining and informative book. It's no page-turner, but not bad.
Not Just for Jersey! June 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Even if you live a continent away in Washington state, "The Soprano State" will amuse, educate and yes, horrify you. Authors Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure have put together an appalling catalog of the "worst of the worst" New Jersey politicians and public servants and their most outrageous shenanigans.
As the authors note, "why should such a wealth of lunacy and depravity" be enjoyed only by New Jersey? My personal favorite, in a chapter titled "All Aboard the Gravy Train," is an anecdote about how sometimes "the legislative gravy train delivers real gravy." In that case, New Jersey taxpayers coughed up $124,000 over three years to purchase 300 lunches each day the Legislature was in session to feed 80 members of the assembly, 40 senators _ and lobbyists. The lunches were trucked in from a well-connected restaurant 57 miles away!
It's tempting for us outsiders to feel smug, but there's also a nagging worry: what if our politicians are just less obviously outrageous, and our reporters more lapdog and less pit bull?
Beyond the entertainment value, this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us that citizens anywhere can be fleeced by those we elect.
The Soprano State May 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As a former kid from New Jersey I purchased the book as
somewhat of a lark. After devouring the material it was
no longer a lark. The pathetic corruption is so clearly
detailed and documented it makes your head spin.The New Jersey I left in 1974 had an outstanding public school system which has been decimated by the lads in Trenton,
draining resources from small school districts and pumping
those funds into inner-city enviroments. No measurable
improvement is to be found. the State is bankrupt,under-
funded pensions and corrupt at every level of government.
If you live in NJ you have to read this.Then start packing
Infuriating, but not Surprising May 24, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book should be called, "The Corruption State," which is a better title, since New Jersey is one of three in our country that's known for corruption from the top all the way down to the smallest town. If you can dream up a way to squeeze money out of a taxpayer, then you can be in NJ politics. They are professionals here and have perfected the art of stealing from your wallet.
After this book was published, they came out with two more ways to take money out of our wallets: They want to charge us $.10 for a deposit on every can and bottle that can be recycled IN SPITE OF US ALREADY RECYCLING! So...if you want your dime back, YOU have to take it to a redemption center to get your dime back.
The next new tax (they call it a "user fee") is they want to add $.40 per 1,000 gallons of water onto our water bill. Call it what it really is: a tax.
This book was at times so funny it was infuriating, so maddening it made you furious, so ridiculous it drove you insane, yet us as residents here are powerless to do much about it as long as these jerks run this state. The endless pay-to-play, patronage, favoritism jobs in Trenton (the state capital) and beyond will continue as long as there is a New Jersey. Even if you vote, they will still continue to run this state using the newly elected as their puppets. It's been done before.
We are NOT in debt; not if Atlantic City gave Trenton $468 MILLION dollars in 2007! This is just one example. It's the wasteful spending, it's the three, four and five jobs one person holds PLUS their pensions and benefits that's draining our state's treasury and the cronies who run this state allow all this! Why? Because they're part of it, they receive it as well and they make damn sure that their family members and friends are also on the dole as well so everyone has a piece of the action.
Excellent book. My only regret is that I can't move out of my home state (NJ) sooner than I want to! What a shame...I grew up here, I love the area, but I can't afford to live here anymore, not when the pickpockets control this state and it's never going to change, even with Christopher Christie doing his best to root out the corruption.
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