Pittsburgh Stuff: A Birthday Treat to Me.

Pittsburgh: Home of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. 

I love Pittsburgh so much that I saved this topic for the week of my birthday (March 7) as a treat. (I will wait while the birthday presents roll in.) I'm officially closer to 40 than 30 now; I need all the damn treats I can get. Preferably of the low-calorie, low-fat variety. Just give me fruit, I guess.

*sigh*

I kid, I kid. Turning 36 is fine. It sure beats being in my 20s, which were an atrocity best forgotten by all.

Pittsburgh Skyline from Mt. Washington

Let me tell you some amazing things about where I live. But promise not to tell anyone because we have enough people here already. We get lots of prestigious awards here in Pittsburgh. I personally think the coolest one was from National Geographic Traveler in 2012. Pittsburgh was listed as one of the best trips in the WORLD. This is a list that includes New Zealand, Croatia, Mongolia and Thailand!

In the same week were voted the 4th Most Literate City in the US (because our public library rocks!) and voted Most Romantic by Amazon. Everyone knows that literate people are good at doing it. We are also regularly voted most affordable (6th), safest, most livable (29th world wide), and we have the NUMBER ONE ballpark (PNC Park) as voted on by Fox Sports. We have internationally known museums, theater venues and a bunch of other great art stuff.

No joke, this happened yesterday: "It's official: Pittsburgh is best place live in U.S." according to to Economist Intelligence Unit.

Senator John Heinz History Center

And I love all of these awards, but they do not capture what Pittsburgh is really like. In Pittsburgh, if you are lost we don't give you directions, we drive there to show you and call you "Hon" while we're doing it. This is not an urban myth. I've done it myself. We have this amazing thing at weddings called a cookie table. We have our own damn dialect. We say things like "Kennywood's open." Pittsburgh is a place where stuff like THIS happens. Enough said.

Pittsburgh Books and Authors

Out of this Furnace, Thomas Bell
Out of this Furnace is one of my favorite books and my favorite Pittsburgh book of all time. Also, while I was working on this post, I discovered Thomas Bell and I share the same birthday! That kind of made my day. Anyways, Out of this Furnace follows three generations of an immigrant Slovak family- the Dobrejaks. Patriarch Djuro Kracha arrives in the mid-1880s and makes his way to Braddock, Pennsylvania. Working in the steel mills, Kracha's bad decisions (money and personal) contribute to his downfall. Part two follows his daughter, Mary and her marriage to political idealist Mike. It is an amazing portrait of the immigrant experience in Pittsburgh, a fascinating look at the inhumane conditions in the steel industry, and documents the rise of unions and the people who fought and died for workers rights. I'll say up front that it's a heavy read, but it's worth it.

Carry Me Across the Water, Ethan Canin
Although not entirely set in Pittsburgh, Carry Me Across the Water offers insight into the lifestyle of the industry barons of Pittsburgh after World War II. August Kleinman escapes Nazi Germany to America and becomes a successful businessman. Now in the last stages of his life, with his beloved wife gone, he relives his childhood in pre-war Germany, particularly in regard to one enemy solider. Canin is also author of America, America, a fascinating look at the inner-workings of a political family and campaign and the wonderful Emperor of the Air, a collection of short stories.

Silent Spring, Rachel Carson

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.

Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, PA. Her book, Silent Spring, is largely responsible for starting the modern environmental movement. Although the lists of dying animals, fish, poisoned workers and water can feel like a tirade, thanks to Silent Spring we are at least not getting poisoned by DDT anymore.

Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon
Any list of Pittsburgh books has to have this one. I may be asked to leave the city, but I don't really care for this book (or any of Chabon's writing, really.) I try. I do! (My husband just told me that just because it has Pittsburgh in the title doesn't mean I have to like it.) The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is about a young, sheltered man, Art Bechstein, and his first summer out of college. Clueless, suffering from sexual confusion, he meets Arthur and Cleveland- who are more than happy to guide him. I read a review that basically said that books written from the point of view of rich, white kids don't appeal. I agree.

The Chief, Rob Zellers, Gene Collier
There are hundreds of sports books on Pittsburgh teams and athletes. After all, we are home to Roberto Clemente, Mario Lemieux, The Steel Curtain, and Myron Cope. The Chief is hands down my favorite. It is a one-man play about legendary Steelers owner Art Rooney. Using journals from Rooney, Jr. and interviews with family, friends, former players and other owners, it is an amazing ride through the history of the Steelers and of the city itself. Interesting facts about the Steelers: they were originally the Pittsburgh Pirates, they have been owned by the same family since their creation in 1933, and when World War II caused player shortages they joined the Philadelphia Eagles (ew) and formed the "Steagles." The Chief has been performed at the O'Reilly Theater numerous times, with the incomparable Tom Atkins as Art Rooney. I saw it. I cried.

Lighthead, Terrance Hayes

All species have a notion of emptiness, and yet the flowers don't quit opening. I am carrying the whimper you can / hear when the mouth is collapsed, the wisdom of monkeys. Ask a glass of water why it pities the rain. Ask the / lunatic yard dog why it tolerates the leash. Brothers and sisters, when you spend your nights out on a limb, there's a / chance you'll fall in your sleep.

Terrance Hayes visited on of my writing classes; not only he is an extraordinary poet, but he's also a genuine, funny, engaged speaker. Although not born in Pittsburgh, Hayes lives and works here and we sure are happy to claim him. His fourth collection of poetry, Lighthead, won the National Book Award for poetry. His poems are imaginative, sometimes funny, sometimes somber, but always compelling. While I'm reading one poem, I find myself looking forward to the next poem. If you ever have a chance to hear him read, DO IT.

Raymond Carver Will Not Raise Our Children, Dave Newman
This is on my book list. I don't want to lie and say I read it when I didn't. It is the story of what it's like to be a father, a working writer and a husband. Many reviews also say it's a book about Pittsburgh. From what I understand, the amount of drinking that happens here is also observed. Should be interesting, says the woman with the wicked hangover.

Everyday People, Stewart O'Nan
Prolific Pittsburgh author O'Nan really captured the essence of the East Liberty neighborhood in Everyday People. As someone who worked in "Sliberty" for five years and watched the recent gentrification, the story of the East Busway construction was fascinating. Embarrassingly, I never realized quite how definitively that construction cut off East Liberty from the surrounding areas. And as someone who worked in a library there, the stories are often painful and heartbreaking to read, but sadly not unfamiliar.

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein
Okay, I know Stein only lived in Pittsburgh until she was three, but I'm claiming her, dammit! Because she's funny as hell, a great writer and art collector, and said things like:

If you can't say anything nice about anyone else, come sit next to me. 

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is a pseudo-autobiography about Stein herself, since Alice was her longtime partner. It has been described as a (self-absorbed) love letter to Alice, a straight up autobiography, or that Stein wrote it because she was tired of waiting for Alice to write it. It's a conversational book, with interesting anecdotes, recounting the many artists and writers Stein and Toklas were involved with, including T.S. Eliot, Picasso, Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Brothers and Keepers, John Edgar Wideman
You ever know two siblings who are so different you wonder if they're really related? This memoir by Wideman, the first person to ever win the Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice, attempts to answer that question. One brother sentenced to life in prison for murder, the other brother a professor at Brown University- both grew up in the same rough community (Homewood) with the same opportunities. Wideman writes to understand why. He is incredibly hard on himself about his success and his imagined failure to his brother. This book isn't Chicken Soup for the Soul inspirational; it is a memoir that truly examines what blood and brotherhood mean and the vagaries of fate.

There are so many other books I could have added, but I feel like these ones capture both the good and the bad of Pittsburgh. And don't forget, Pittsburgh is home to the movies Flashdance, Silence of the Lambs, Warrior and Dark Knight Rises. (I don't understand how Tom Hardy was in my town twice and I missed him. Sad. I'll get him next time.)

Photo Gallery of Pittsburgh!