Books Archives - Pittsburgh Quarterly

A Man Named Branch: A Great-Grandniece Remembers Branch Rickey

by Marjorie Maddox

In 1947, filled with courage, skill and determination, Jackie Robinson changed history by becoming the first African American player in the major leagues. But how did this happen? Who thought of this idea for great social change? The answer comes from a man named Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers — and …

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Coming of Age in Sewickley: Girls — Anna Bruno Captures the Search for Truth in Fine Young People

If there were a writing recipe for Anna Bruno’s successful coming-of-age novel, Fine Young People (Algonquin Books, $29), it might go something like this: Start with Sewickley, that quaint, upper-class enclave 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, as a backdrop. Next, combine a plucky young protagonist with the keys to finding the answers she’s looking for …

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Coming of Age in Sewickley: Boys — Former Point Park Professor Looks at How to be a Man

In his debut novel, City of Clans, University of Pittsburgh master of fine arts grad and former Point Park professor Geoff Peck uses Pittsburgh’s 2009 G-20 summit as a tonal backdrop for a millennial coming-of-age tale. We get the first-person scoop from Jeremy “Big Jerm” Starcevic, a recent Sewickley Academy graduate who moves in with …

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Glasco’s Biography Examines August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Origins and Voice

In 1918–19 in Zurich, Switzerland, English painter Frank Budgen found himself often drinking wine while enjoying long talks about writing with James Joyce, author of the controversial novel Ulysses. It was during one of those discussions that the self-exiled Irish writer shared his vision on getting the detailed setting of that masterpiece right: “I want …

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Miller Pens Excellent Biography of Baseball’s Diminutive Giant: Manager Earl Weaver

Though he couldn’t keep his job after the Pittsburgh Pirates spun their wheels to begin the 2025 season, former skipper Derek Shelton could recognize the baseball man who best embodied the qualities needed for success: the legendary Earl Weaver. In his best-selling biography of the Baltimore Orioles’ Hall of Famer, The Last Manager: How Earl …

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Nostalgic and Piercing, Bardenwerper Examines the Charm and Decline of Small Town Baseball

At first glance, Sewickley resident Will Bardenwerper’s Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America sounds like the kind of book that promises more than it can deliver. Instead, it’s a thorough examination of the state of minor league baseball through the lens of 21st century America (and often vice versa). …

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Daniels Explores Rustbelt Childhood in An Ignorance of Trees

In his first nonfiction book, An Ignorance of Trees, touted as a “memoir in essays,” author Jim Daniels seeks to upend that old saw — “You can’t go home again” — by returning to his Rust Belt roots in Warren, Michigan. It’s an act borne of the nostalgia and reflection that comes with age and …

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Refreshing Candor Imbues the Senator’s ‘Unfettered’

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said, “The only journey is the one within.” For people experiencing tough times (and the accompanying feeling of doom that might follow), it’s an important consideration. John Fetterman also regards those moments as important turning points in his life, and there are more than a few bumps to balance …

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Character Studies Drive Drue Heinz Winner

There’s a delicious sense of duality that runs through the lead characters in Bill Gaythwaite’s debut story collection, A Place in the World, winner of the 2025 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. It’s a trait wielded prominently by Katie, the protagonist of short story “Off the Grid,” who recalls her former bouncer boyfriend Nick returning a …

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Rebuilding Pittsburgh — the Story of RIDC

by Steven Alschuler

The first time I visited Pittsburgh for more than a couple of days was Christmas week about 20 years ago. I stayed at the Omni William Penn and the only vivid memory I have is walking around Downtown on a cold Saturday afternoon, not being able to find anyplace good to have lunch. It seems …

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Flick’s Rough and Tough Feminism Fits Pittsburgh

Though the dictionary definition of feminism — “the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes,” — remains elusive, Sherrie Flick, author of the autobiographical essay collection Homing: Instincts of a Rustbelt Feminist, offers a more regional take in her essay “Instincts.” “Yet Western Pennsylvania is where my own particular feminism took root, …

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Welcome to Wildcat

When asked in an interview with writer Deborah Kalb about the significance of the title to his recent novel, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance, Jeffrey Dunn points to the village of Braeburn, Pennsylvania, where “there is a road called ‘Wildcat Hollow Road.’ It’s a good Appalachian name: free but threatened, just like the wildcats whose coughs, …

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Myron Cope: The Man Behind the Terrible Towel

For a Steelers fan, watching 60 minutes of football at Acrisure Stadium without a sea of Terrible Towels is hard to imagine. In the mythology surrounding Pittsburgh’s most popular sports franchise, a playoff game against the Baltimore Colts at Three Rivers Stadium on December 27, 1975, marked the first appearance of the “gimmick” that would …

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‘Slime Line’ Hooks the Alaska Salmon Industry

Revealing might be the best way to describe Jake Maynard’s debut novel, Slime Line, as the Mt. Jewett native leans on the highs and lows of his big-hearted narrator, Garrett “Beaver” Deaver, to provide inside dope on what it takes to bring a harvest of salmon from sea to table. Maynard doesn’t paint a pretty …

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Drue Heinz Winner Explores the Difficulties of Family

Maya Angelou once wrote, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.” Indeed, the relationships between mother and daughter found in literature make for a complicated spectrum, sometimes veering toward melodrama or bursting with profound insight — Amy Tan’s brilliant …

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Changing the American Dream

by Chris Allison

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic, “The Godfather,” begins with the line, “I believe in America.” The film chronicles the tragic story of the Corleone family and their twisted version of the American Dream. It characterizes our national ethos by believing anyone can attain their version of societal success, regardless of where or into which class they …

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Kennywood Crime Scene

According to the website novel Suspects, the police procedural grew out of the growing interest in true crime that began in the 1940s and ’50s, with Lawrence Treat’s V is for Victim being acknowledged as the first to “bring realism to the mystery genre.” With Dick Wolf’s Law & Order TV empire offering an easy …

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Books Culture History Profiles

Pittsburgh’s Mal Goode: Television’s First Black Broadcaster

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

On Oct. 28, 1962, the three major television networks interrupted their scheduled programs to broadcast a special report on what would become known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. This was a critical moment not only in American history, but also in the integration of American broadcasting. Just a few months earlier, ABC, at the urging …

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Dilworth Explores Coming-of-Age Themes in To Be Marquette

Set mainly in the 1970s, Sharon Dilworth’s recent book, To Be Marquette, sometimes makes small moments feel symbolic by utilizing music from the era — think Bob Dylan and Peter Frampton — to help establish tone. However, it’s a song not included that might best summarize the origins of conflict in this well-paced book: Led …

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Walter Turns to AI Fiction with Doppelganger

Noted sci-fi novelist and pioneering computer scientist Vernor Vinge wrote in a 1993 paper for NASA that “Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.” If so, this tipping point, which he called a “technological singularity,” is upon mankind, one in which …

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Demystifying Creative Nonfiction

For some, Pittsburgh is french fries on salads, rabid Steelers fans and Iron City beer. For others, it’s Andy Warhol, steel mills and pierogies. For Lee Gutkind, it’s the city where creative nonfiction, that nebulous, energetic literary genre he continues to champion, grew into prominence. In his latest book, aptly titled The Fine Art of …

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All Things Random, Edible and Odd: Essays on Grief, Love and Food

Until the closing of Carmody’s Restaurant in Franklin Park after 62 years, turtle soup remained a fixture on its menu. Once a staple of fine dining, turtle soup typically came paired with a shot of sherry to both sweeten and thin the stew-y broth. For local writer Sheila Squillante, a first bowl of this dated …

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