For this month’s reading recommendations, I’ve decided to feature novels/plays/short stories set in Pittsburgh. If you’ve been reading This Awful Awesome Life regularly (like you should) you’ll know I’m a big fan of Michael Chabon’s writing and the works of August Wilson, so I’m especially pleased they have work set in Pittsburgh. Why Michael Chabon? He writes incredibly beautiful sentences and creates complex characters all while making it seem as easy as breathing. Why August Wilson? His plays chronicle the black experience in Pittsburgh. His characters live, love, laugh and build families in the fragile safety of their changing communities while facing many of the same injustices of society. Who else makes the list?
Michael Chabon (b. 1963) Chabon was born in Washington D.C. After his parents divorced, he spent the school year in Maryland with his mom and summers with his dad in Pittsburgh. After one year at Carnegie Mellon University, he transferred to The University of Pittsburgh where he received his undergraduate degree. While at Pitt, he started writing The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh Art Bechstein is a recent college graduate savoring his last summer of freedom in Pittsburgh before returning home to start the career his father has selected for him – a position in a financial firm far removed from his dad’s money laundering business. Experience the Steel City with Art and an eclectic bunch of friends who help him explore his sexuality and come to terms with his future.
The Wonder Boys – Seven years after publishing his successful debut novel, Pittsburgh Professor Grady Tripp can’t seem to stop writing his next work. He’s entering middle age with an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend and a new project – James Leer a talented but deeply disturbed writing student from one of Tripp’s classes.
A Model World – Chabon’s short stories (many set in Pittsburgh) help cement his legacy as a fiction writer and wordsmith.
August Wilson (1945-2005): Wilson was born and grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. He wrote “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” ten plays exploring 100 years of the African American experience. The plays are also known as “The Century Cycle.” Each play is set in a different decade of the twentieth century. The plays were not written in chronological order. Wilson let the time period be decided by a line of dialogue that came to him. He imagined who would say it and as the character came to life in his imagination, Wilson focused on his character and started building the story. He received Pulitzer prizes for drama for “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.” His childhood home at 1727 Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh was declared an historic landmark by the State of Pennsylvania and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. The August Wilson Center for African American Culture is in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Cycle:
“Gem of the Sea” set in 1904 (premiered in 2003)
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” set in 1911 (premiered in 1984)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” set in 1927 in Chicago (premiered in 1984)
“The Piano Lesson” set in 1936 (premiered in 1990)
“Seven Guitars” set in 1948 (premiered in 1995)
“Fences” set in 1957 (premiered in 1987)
“Two Trains Running” set in 1969 (premiered in 1991)
“Jitney” set in 1977 (premiered in 1982)
“King Hedley II” set in 1985 (premiered in 1999)
“Radio Golf” set in 1990 (premiered in 2005)
Annie Dillard (b. 1945) Dillard was born Meta Ann Doak in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
An American Childhood is Dillard memoir about growing up in Pittsburgh.
American Rust by Philipp Meyer – Meyer’s debut novel is set in the 2000’s in the fictional town of Buell in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It focuses on the loss of good paying manufacturing jobs in America which led to economic and social changes resulting in the decline of the American middle class. It is widely considered one of the best novels of 2009 by book critics.
Blood on the Forge by William Attaway – is set in the steel valley of Pittsburgh in 1919 when many Black Americans moved North to escape the inequality of sharecropping in the South and find work in the mills.
Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell – historical novel set in Braddock, PA chronicling three generations of a Rusyn and Slovak immigrant family from 1181 to World War II. The novel focuses on the many steel workers living in poverty and attempts to unionize to improve worker’s safety.
Taken by Kathleen George – In this crime novel set in the 1990’s in Pittsburgh, the baby of a rookie pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates is kidnapped in broad daylight. The protagonist, Marina Benedict and Detective Richard Christie must work together to find the baby and apprehend the kidnappers.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – a young adult coming of age story set in a Pittsburgh suburb about a teen named Charlie and his two best friends who must navigate the pitfalls of high school. Controversial subject matter about sexuality and rape have placed this book on the challenged and banned books list for many years.