Pittsburgh Review of Books
@pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social
Intelligent cultural criticism and literary analysis intended for the reading public.
Pittsburgh, PA.
http://www.pghrev.com
Pittsburgh, PA.
http://www.pghrev.com
“So, with all that said, what can the presence of astronomy in The Magic Flute change how we see the opera, and science in art in general?”
Ursula Sturgeon on the science in The Magic Flute.
pghrev.com/mozarts-sola...
Ursula Sturgeon on the science in The Magic Flute.
pghrev.com/mozarts-sola...
Mozart's Solar Eclipse - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Is there any other opera on earth quite like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder’s The Magic Flute?It’s a fairytale that’s also an Enlightenment
pghrev.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
“So, with all that said, what can the presence of astronomy in The Magic Flute change how we see the opera, and science in art in general?”
Ursula Sturgeon on the science in The Magic Flute.
pghrev.com/mozarts-sola...
Ursula Sturgeon on the science in The Magic Flute.
pghrev.com/mozarts-sola...
"What’s not to love? Four hearts: red, yellow, orange, red again. Bold black letters, yellow background. A smaller red heart in lieu of an apostrophe." Fernando Sanjenís Gutiérrez on Love's Travel Stops.
pghrev.com/loves-travel...
pghrev.com/loves-travel...
Love’s Travel Stops - Pittsburgh Review of Books
What’s not to love? Four hearts: red, yellow, orange, red again. Bold black letters, yellow background. A smaller red heart in lieu of an apostrophe.
pghrev.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
"What’s not to love? Four hearts: red, yellow, orange, red again. Bold black letters, yellow background. A smaller red heart in lieu of an apostrophe." Fernando Sanjenís Gutiérrez on Love's Travel Stops.
pghrev.com/loves-travel...
pghrev.com/loves-travel...
“Looking for the treasure, my friend. I lost something in this country, and I can’t figure out where, what city.”
An excerpt from FALSE WAR by Carlos Manuel Álvarez, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. pghrev.com/false-war/
An excerpt from FALSE WAR by Carlos Manuel Álvarez, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. pghrev.com/false-war/
False War - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Miami Beach
pghrev.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:27 PM
“Looking for the treasure, my friend. I lost something in this country, and I can’t figure out where, what city.”
An excerpt from FALSE WAR by Carlos Manuel Álvarez, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. pghrev.com/false-war/
An excerpt from FALSE WAR by Carlos Manuel Álvarez, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social. pghrev.com/false-war/
“This preoccupation with mysteries and the occult explains, in part, the strangeness of Della Porta’s ciphers. But this strangeness had a methodological edge.”
Read "Cracking the Code with Renaissance Ciphers," the latest installment of @samlemley.bsky.social's Studiolo.
pghrev.com/cracking-the...
Read "Cracking the Code with Renaissance Ciphers," the latest installment of @samlemley.bsky.social's Studiolo.
pghrev.com/cracking-the...
Cracking the Code with Renaissance Ciphers - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Cipher discs are paper-and-string encrypting machines made up of two or more rotating dials called volvelles (from the Latin, volvere, “to turn”). Embellished
pghrev.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:48 PM
“This preoccupation with mysteries and the occult explains, in part, the strangeness of Della Porta’s ciphers. But this strangeness had a methodological edge.”
Read "Cracking the Code with Renaissance Ciphers," the latest installment of @samlemley.bsky.social's Studiolo.
pghrev.com/cracking-the...
Read "Cracking the Code with Renaissance Ciphers," the latest installment of @samlemley.bsky.social's Studiolo.
pghrev.com/cracking-the...
“We’re allowed to see the present through the lens of memory, to understand the here and now both from the perspective of an inevitably diminished future and through the scholar’s nostalgia.”
A review of Ian McEwan's new novel by Nathan Pensky. @nathanpensky.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
A review of Ian McEwan's new novel by Nathan Pensky. @nathanpensky.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
The Beautiful Mess of Ian McEwan's New Novel - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Ian McEwan’s new novel What We Can Know is a brilliant narrative that often seems to defy its own rules – a formal exercise that transcends considerations of
pghrev.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
“We’re allowed to see the present through the lens of memory, to understand the here and now both from the perspective of an inevitably diminished future and through the scholar’s nostalgia.”
A review of Ian McEwan's new novel by Nathan Pensky. @nathanpensky.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
A review of Ian McEwan's new novel by Nathan Pensky. @nathanpensky.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Professor Kathy M. Newman recently talked with Daniel H. Wilson about his work, including new book HOLE IN THE SKY, at the Pittsburgh Review of Books. @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social
Daniel H. Wilson talks about the future, robotics, and Native First Contact in his latest novel HOLE IN THE SKY, in a new interview with Kathleen Newman. @danielhwilsonpdx.bsky.social pghrev.com/native-first...
November 19, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Professor Kathy M. Newman recently talked with Daniel H. Wilson about his work, including new book HOLE IN THE SKY, at the Pittsburgh Review of Books. @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
So I really loved the chance to write this essay for the new @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social on how I want to define Katrina Culture, some vital examples of the emerging genre, & why we all need to engage with this form & its lessons.
pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I’ve been thinking quite a lot recently—even more than my baseline, which is high as it’s my favorite TV show and one of my couple favorite American cultural
pghrev.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 PM
So I really loved the chance to write this essay for the new @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social on how I want to define Katrina Culture, some vital examples of the emerging genre, & why we all need to engage with this form & its lessons.
pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Third Person Limited will now be hosted both on our website, and on the Pittsburgh Review of Books (@pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social). PRoB will be posting our podcasts every Tuesday! pghrev.com/third-person...
Third Person Limited Presents: Episode 01 – Is Reading Good? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Third Person Limited is a literary podcast about books and culture with hosts Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill, two writers living in Pittsburgh and Los
pghrev.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Third Person Limited will now be hosted both on our website, and on the Pittsburgh Review of Books (@pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social). PRoB will be posting our podcasts every Tuesday! pghrev.com/third-person...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Here is the latest Third Person Limited column on the Pittsburgh Review of Books (@pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social), a review of Ian McEwan's excellent new novel, 'What We Can Know'. pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
The Beautiful Mess of Ian McEwan's New Novel - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Ian McEwan’s new novel What We Can Know is a brilliant narrative that often seems to defy its own rules – a formal exercise that transcends considerations of
pghrev.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Here is the latest Third Person Limited column on the Pittsburgh Review of Books (@pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social), a review of Ian McEwan's excellent new novel, 'What We Can Know'. pghrev.com/the-beautifu...
Two decades after the storm, a vital artistic movement continues to shape how we understand tragedy, resilience, and the American experience.
Read "Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre" by Ben Railton. @americanstudier.bsky.social pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Read "Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre" by Ben Railton. @americanstudier.bsky.social pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I’ve been thinking quite a lot recently—even more than my baseline, which is high as it’s my favorite TV show and one of my couple favorite American cultural
pghrev.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Two decades after the storm, a vital artistic movement continues to shape how we understand tragedy, resilience, and the American experience.
Read "Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre" by Ben Railton. @americanstudier.bsky.social pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Read "Katrina Culture: How a Hurricane Forged a New American Genre" by Ben Railton. @americanstudier.bsky.social pghrev.com/katrina-cult...
Third Person Limited is a literary podcast about books and culture with hosts Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill. As a recurring feature on our site, an episode of their podcast will be released every Tuesday. Check out Episode 1! @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social pghrev.com/third-person...
Third Person Limited Presents: Episode 01 – Is Reading Good? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Third Person Limited is a literary podcast about books and culture with hosts Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill, two writers living in Pittsburgh and Los
pghrev.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Third Person Limited is a literary podcast about books and culture with hosts Nathan Pensky and Mason Stockstill. As a recurring feature on our site, an episode of their podcast will be released every Tuesday. Check out Episode 1! @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social pghrev.com/third-person...
Daniel H. Wilson talks about the future, robotics, and Native First Contact in his latest novel HOLE IN THE SKY, in a new interview with Kathleen Newman. @danielhwilsonpdx.bsky.social pghrev.com/native-first...
November 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Daniel H. Wilson talks about the future, robotics, and Native First Contact in his latest novel HOLE IN THE SKY, in a new interview with Kathleen Newman. @danielhwilsonpdx.bsky.social pghrev.com/native-first...
“Every city is about change—even Pittsburgh, which for so long we thought of as stuck or static.”
Read "Inside Stewart O’Nan’s Eclectic Imagination" by Sharon Dilworth. pghrev.com/inside-stewa...
Read "Inside Stewart O’Nan’s Eclectic Imagination" by Sharon Dilworth. pghrev.com/inside-stewa...
Inside Stewart O'Nan's Eclectic Imagination - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Stewart O’Nan is the kind of writer who can get his readers to care about the closing of a chain seafood restaurant in a run-down mall in the middle of
pghrev.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:58 PM
“Every city is about change—even Pittsburgh, which for so long we thought of as stuck or static.”
Read "Inside Stewart O’Nan’s Eclectic Imagination" by Sharon Dilworth. pghrev.com/inside-stewa...
Read "Inside Stewart O’Nan’s Eclectic Imagination" by Sharon Dilworth. pghrev.com/inside-stewa...
"Don’t get me wrong, a food stamp still represents the empty cupboards and humiliation of poverty. But it also symbolizes our ongoing attempt toward, and capability for, collective care."
Object Lessons Impressions on food stamps. By Sonja Livingston. pghrev.com/food-stamp/
Object Lessons Impressions on food stamps. By Sonja Livingston. pghrev.com/food-stamp/
Food Stamp - Pittsburgh Review of Books
A few months ago, I bought a food stamp on eBay.
pghrev.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM
"Don’t get me wrong, a food stamp still represents the empty cupboards and humiliation of poverty. But it also symbolizes our ongoing attempt toward, and capability for, collective care."
Object Lessons Impressions on food stamps. By Sonja Livingston. pghrev.com/food-stamp/
Object Lessons Impressions on food stamps. By Sonja Livingston. pghrev.com/food-stamp/
“'Noises Off' is a delicate and complicated machine of a play, and director Margot Bordelon has assembled its many moving parts with finesse.”
Wendy Arons reviews Pittsburgh Public Theater's "Noises Off." pghrev.com/noises-off-a...
Wendy Arons reviews Pittsburgh Public Theater's "Noises Off." pghrev.com/noises-off-a...
“Noises Off” at the Pittsburgh Public Theater - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Noises Off (written in 1982 by playwright Michael Frayn, now playing in its 2000 revised version at the Pittsburgh Public Theater) might best be
pghrev.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
“'Noises Off' is a delicate and complicated machine of a play, and director Margot Bordelon has assembled its many moving parts with finesse.”
Wendy Arons reviews Pittsburgh Public Theater's "Noises Off." pghrev.com/noises-off-a...
Wendy Arons reviews Pittsburgh Public Theater's "Noises Off." pghrev.com/noises-off-a...
“Millennial optimism, it should be said, was always a cope more than a worldview.”
Read "What Was the Millennial?" by our Editor-in-Chief Ed Simon. pghrev.com/what-was-the...
Read "What Was the Millennial?" by our Editor-in-Chief Ed Simon. pghrev.com/what-was-the...
What Was the Millennial? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Despite risking mock, derision, and scorn, I must admit something: I enjoy stomp-clap-hey music – here I stand (and stomp, clap, and hey), because I can do no
pghrev.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“Millennial optimism, it should be said, was always a cope more than a worldview.”
Read "What Was the Millennial?" by our Editor-in-Chief Ed Simon. pghrev.com/what-was-the...
Read "What Was the Millennial?" by our Editor-in-Chief Ed Simon. pghrev.com/what-was-the...
Walking through Gertude Stein’s biographical and literary legacy with devotion in Francesca Wade’s “Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife.” By Adrianna Michell.
pghrev.com/the-afterlif...
pghrev.com/the-afterlif...
The Afterlife of Gertrude Stein - Pittsburgh Review of Books
In Janet Malcolm’s Two Lives, a literary biography of Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice Toklas, there emerges a third character: that of the biographer.
pghrev.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Walking through Gertude Stein’s biographical and literary legacy with devotion in Francesca Wade’s “Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife.” By Adrianna Michell.
pghrev.com/the-afterlif...
pghrev.com/the-afterlif...
This week, our staff and columnists share some of what they've been reading and enjoying lately. What would you add to this list as a recent must-read?
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
Some of Our Favorite Things - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Ed Simon, Editor-in-Chief:
pghrev.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This week, our staff and columnists share some of what they've been reading and enjoying lately. What would you add to this list as a recent must-read?
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
pghrev.com/some-of-our-...
Wearing the Movement: Reflections on radical collaboration from the organizers of Chatham University’s exhibition about legendary activist Kipp Dawson. By Catherine A. Evans, Jessie B. Ramey, and Margaret Urban.
pghrev.com/wearing-the-...
pghrev.com/wearing-the-...
Wearing the Movement - Pittsburgh Review of Books
What does it mean to wear your politics on your sleeve? Pittsburgh activist, retired coal miner, and public school teacher Kipp Dawson has an extensive
pghrev.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Wearing the Movement: Reflections on radical collaboration from the organizers of Chatham University’s exhibition about legendary activist Kipp Dawson. By Catherine A. Evans, Jessie B. Ramey, and Margaret Urban.
pghrev.com/wearing-the-...
pghrev.com/wearing-the-...
“I asked Packer, no stranger to critique from both sides of the political aisle, about anticipating criticism for the novel’s suggestive polarities.”
Courtney Novosat interviews journalist and author George Packer, appearing on 11/17 at @cityofasylum.bsky.social. pghrev.com/parsing-the-...
Courtney Novosat interviews journalist and author George Packer, appearing on 11/17 at @cityofasylum.bsky.social. pghrev.com/parsing-the-...
Parsing the Emergency with George Packer - Pittsburgh Review of Books
In a familiar-yet-distinct world cleaved into factions of city-dwelling Burghers, rural-living-Yeoman, and im/migrant Strangers who are each distrusting of
pghrev.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:27 PM
“I asked Packer, no stranger to critique from both sides of the political aisle, about anticipating criticism for the novel’s suggestive polarities.”
Courtney Novosat interviews journalist and author George Packer, appearing on 11/17 at @cityofasylum.bsky.social. pghrev.com/parsing-the-...
Courtney Novosat interviews journalist and author George Packer, appearing on 11/17 at @cityofasylum.bsky.social. pghrev.com/parsing-the-...
“Why should she call you? Because you failed the LSAT 15 years ago? Mama, I’m calling 911.”
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Group Chat - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Mama (thAt lADy) texts the group chat she shares with her daughters, Ayana (yAnA bAnA) and monique.
pghrev.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:14 PM
“Why should she call you? Because you failed the LSAT 15 years ago? Mama, I’m calling 911.”
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
Read "Group Chat" by @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, an excerpt from the anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU: An Unruly Anthology of Black Humor, ed. Damon Young (Penguin Random House). pghrev.com/group-chat/
“That this is bloody and Black-as-fuck honesty is where the best comedy is born. It’s lowbrow. It’s midbrow, it’s highbrow. It’s every brow.”
Damon Young discusses the truth in Black humor, and the new anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU, in an interview with Asia Thompson. pghrev.com/unruly-humor...
Damon Young discusses the truth in Black humor, and the new anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU, in an interview with Asia Thompson. pghrev.com/unruly-humor...
Unruly Humor: Damon Young on the Truth in Black Humor - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Humor is served in many different forms, sometimes wrapped in satire or unruliness. Perhaps Black humor is the richest and most revealing form of American
pghrev.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
“That this is bloody and Black-as-fuck honesty is where the best comedy is born. It’s lowbrow. It’s midbrow, it’s highbrow. It’s every brow.”
Damon Young discusses the truth in Black humor, and the new anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU, in an interview with Asia Thompson. pghrev.com/unruly-humor...
Damon Young discusses the truth in Black humor, and the new anthology THAT'S HOW THEY GET YOU, in an interview with Asia Thompson. pghrev.com/unruly-humor...
Object Lessons Impressions parks in the garage. By Matthew Moore. pghrev.com/garage/
Garage - Pittsburgh Review of Books
The average nine-to-fiver finds solace in a day off. My father, he filled the paltry time of his leisure in the garage.
pghrev.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Object Lessons Impressions parks in the garage. By Matthew Moore. pghrev.com/garage/
“Every time he saw another building in Pittsburgh being spray washed to remove the decades of soot… he would think of their legacies being slowly erased.” -- Geoff Peck on the protest novel.
pghrev.com/art-is-still...
pghrev.com/art-is-still...
“Art is [still] a Weapon”: A Brief History of the Protest Novel - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I wrote about Pittsburgh before I’d ever been there.
pghrev.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“Every time he saw another building in Pittsburgh being spray washed to remove the decades of soot… he would think of their legacies being slowly erased.” -- Geoff Peck on the protest novel.
pghrev.com/art-is-still...
pghrev.com/art-is-still...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Delighted by this review in @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for @marthaannetoll.bsky.social 's DUET FOR ONE! “Toll, a classically trained violist and professional writer, brings a union of knowledge and skill. The result is a novel that captures the experience of music.” pghrev.com/when-music-b...
When Music Becomes Memory - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Martha Anne Toll’s second novel, Duet for One, starts graveside with Victor and adult son Adam, mourning the loss of wife, mother and formidable pianist Adele
pghrev.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Delighted by this review in @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for @marthaannetoll.bsky.social 's DUET FOR ONE! “Toll, a classically trained violist and professional writer, brings a union of knowledge and skill. The result is a novel that captures the experience of music.” pghrev.com/when-music-b...