{"product_id":"pine-barrens","title":"Pine Barrens","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"It will be a long time before another book appears to equal the literary quality and human compassion of this one.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMost people think of New Jersey as a suburban-industrial corridor that runs between New York and Philadelphia. Yet in the low center of the state is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the \"Pineys,\" are little known and often misunderstood. Here John McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people--and their distinctive folklore--who call it home.","brand":"John McPhee (Author), James Graves (Illustrator)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52053270200600,"sku":"9780374514426","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0935\/3117\/7240\/files\/9780374514426-us.jpg?v=1778601038","url":"https:\/\/northportbooksli.com\/products\/pine-barrens","provider":"Northport Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}