OK, we’re probably never going to see a title like the one in the headline for this story. But still, there are a surprising number of books with “Hoboken” in the title.
Lina Podles, director of the Hoboken Public Library, has some ideas on why this might be. “Very creative people live here,” she says. “They come here because we have a very creative community. Writers and editors know about us. We’re close to New York, and people who live in New York come to visit. There are also several instances where Hoboken is mentioned in the movies.”
Hoboken’s history could also be a factor. She cites its connection to baseball, World War I, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few.
Not to mention, she says, “It’s the flavor of the town.”
Here’s a partial list we put together, with the help of our friends at the library:
The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Pinkwater
An American Werewolf in Hoboken by Dakota Cassidy
Blame it on Hoboken by Sharon Glassman
Underworld: From Hoboken to Hollywood by Kazimieras G. Prapuolenis
Chicago Days/Hoboken Nights by Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Hoboken Hellmouth by Armand Rosamilia, Jack Wallen, Jay Wilburn, and Brent Abell
Spondulix: A Romance of Hoboken by Paul DiFilippo
Heaven, Hell, and Hoboken by M.E. Clifton James
From Hoboken to Noboken by MR Allan J. Albrecht
The Listerine Lunatic Hits Hoboken and Other Strange Tales by Patricia E. Flinn
It Happened in Hoboken: Comic Tales from the Waterfront City by Eugene C. Flinn
One More for the Road: 40 Tales from Ireland, Hoboken, and other Far-Away Places by Eugene C. Flinn
The Burning Bush of Hoboken by D.F. Kaplan
Madeline: A Novel of Love, Buddhism, and Hoboken by Florence Wetzel
Home Sweet Hoboken by Nancy L. Zylstra
Hi Ho Hi Hoboken by Nancy L. Zylstra
Hotter in Hoboken by Nancy L. Zylstra
Back to Yesterday: A Memoir: Snippets of Hoboken ‘Then’ … Summer at the Jersey Shore, a Kid Named Frank by Bunny Amatucci, Vincent Amatucci, Jr.
Hoboken by Christian Bauman
Jolly Roger: a Dog of Hoboken by Daniel Pinkwater
Hoboken Fish & Chicago Whistle by Daniel Pinkwater
A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest by Mari Mancusi (a second edition is now available with the title Mojitos with Merry Men, and the author is now credited as Marianne Mancusi)
Books with Hoboken Locales
Yuppies Invade my House at Dinnertime edited by Joseph Barry and John Derevlany
Out of Hormones Way (the entire Bel Barrett series is set in Hoboken) by Jane Isenberg
150 Pounds by Kate Rockland
Zombie Scout: The Diary of Jack Sullivan by R. Diskin Black
Curious Solitude of Anise by Thea Swanson
Call Waiting by Michelle Cunnah
Blood Music by Jessie Prichard Hunter
The Stylist by Cai Eammons—07030