Traction Park

In Vernon, New Jersey, there was a theme park with no rules. At Action Park, the wave pool was nicknamed "The Grave Pool," the Alpine Slide tore skin off bone, and the loop-de-loop water slide was tested by employees for $100 (many lost teeth). It was a libertarian paradise of insurance fraud, teenage drunkenness, and engineering negligence. This book is a hilarious and horrifying oral history of "Class Action Park." It explores how Gene Mulvihill built an empire on the philosophy that people should control their own thrills, even if that meant risking death. It captures the chaotic spirit of the 1980s, where safety regulations were merely suggestions and survival was part of the ticket price.