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
A guide to Alain Mabanckou, the “African Beckett," by Anderson Tepper, curator of world literature at City of Asylum @cityofasylum.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/a-guide-to-r...
pghrev.com/a-guide-to-r...
A Guide to Reading Alain Mabanckou - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Right from the start, Congolese author Alain Mabanckou has been impossible to pigeonhole, dazzling critics and readers alike with the audacity of his work.
pghrev.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
A guide to Alain Mabanckou, the “African Beckett," by Anderson Tepper, curator of world literature at City of Asylum @cityofasylum.bsky.social.
pghrev.com/a-guide-to-r...
pghrev.com/a-guide-to-r...
“Arresting, pricky, and resilient, they help us to see how his mind works with clues that may ultimately provide new ways of looking at his many puzzling talents.”
Alan Wald @awald.bsky.social on the wartime letters of Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/what-makes-f...
Alan Wald @awald.bsky.social on the wartime letters of Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/what-makes-f...
What Makes Fiedler Run? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I.
pghrev.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:28 PM
“Arresting, pricky, and resilient, they help us to see how his mind works with clues that may ultimately provide new ways of looking at his many puzzling talents.”
Alan Wald @awald.bsky.social on the wartime letters of Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/what-makes-f...
Alan Wald @awald.bsky.social on the wartime letters of Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/what-makes-f...
"Afterwards I went to the University Library to read magazines and poke about idly in its shadowy world."
PRoB is honored to present an unpublished World War II letter by the seminal critic Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/an-unpublish...
PRoB is honored to present an unpublished World War II letter by the seminal critic Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/an-unpublish...
An Unpublished War-Time Letter of Leslie Fiedler - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Editor's Note - The letter published here belongs to the same archive from which I selected the 143 letters included in Writing Home. Selected WWII Letters of
pghrev.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:24 PM
"Afterwards I went to the University Library to read magazines and poke about idly in its shadowy world."
PRoB is honored to present an unpublished World War II letter by the seminal critic Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/an-unpublish...
PRoB is honored to present an unpublished World War II letter by the seminal critic Leslie Fiedler. pghrev.com/an-unpublish...
“But if the Rabbit novels are obviously realist in most of their aspects, their representation of the social may be less apparent.”
David Shumway @nearleft.bsky.social on the work of John Updike. pghrev.com/updikes-real...
David Shumway @nearleft.bsky.social on the work of John Updike. pghrev.com/updikes-real...
Updike's Realism - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I have chosen to focus on Updike’s Rabbit novels because they demonstrate that print fiction continues to represent society in the complexity that we find in
pghrev.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
“But if the Rabbit novels are obviously realist in most of their aspects, their representation of the social may be less apparent.”
David Shumway @nearleft.bsky.social on the work of John Updike. pghrev.com/updikes-real...
David Shumway @nearleft.bsky.social on the work of John Updike. pghrev.com/updikes-real...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Good work, @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social, now I gotta get @nearleft.bsky.social’s book.
Updike's Realism - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I have chosen to focus on Updike’s Rabbit novels because they demonstrate that print fiction continues to represent society in the complexity that we find in
pghrev.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Good work, @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social, now I gotta get @nearleft.bsky.social’s book.
Amazon’s Upload treats digital dystopia like a rom-com, and that might make it the most honest show about our AI future.
Sophia Richardson on TV's treatment of our next decade. pghrev.com/why-were-all...
Sophia Richardson on TV's treatment of our next decade. pghrev.com/why-were-all...
Why We’re All Laughing Our Way into the AI Apocalypse - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Ever thought about having hot sex with your dead boyfriend? Don’t worry, it’s easy—at least in the world of Amazon Prime’s Upload, where physical intimacy
pghrev.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Amazon’s Upload treats digital dystopia like a rom-com, and that might make it the most honest show about our AI future.
Sophia Richardson on TV's treatment of our next decade. pghrev.com/why-were-all...
Sophia Richardson on TV's treatment of our next decade. pghrev.com/why-were-all...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Coming soon to you, Steel City! Loved this conversation with the great Neema Avashia.
Read all about it: Neema Avashia '01 interviews author and journalist Beth Macy in advance of her appearance at @pghartslectures.bsky.social next week. ⬇️
"What has happened to home? What has happened to us? And where do we go from here?"
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
December 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Coming soon to you, Steel City! Loved this conversation with the great Neema Avashia.
Three new books about the future that never was: Jonathan White’s IN THE LONG RUN, Dorian Lynskey’s EVERYTHING MUST GO, and Glenn Adamson’s A CENTURY OF TOMORROW. By Christopher Cappello and Madhav TR.
pghrev.com/back-to-the-...
pghrev.com/back-to-the-...
Back to the Future? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
“From whatever angle you approach it, the present offers no way out. This is not the least of its virtues” -- The Coming Insurrection (2009)
pghrev.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Three new books about the future that never was: Jonathan White’s IN THE LONG RUN, Dorian Lynskey’s EVERYTHING MUST GO, and Glenn Adamson’s A CENTURY OF TOMORROW. By Christopher Cappello and Madhav TR.
pghrev.com/back-to-the-...
pghrev.com/back-to-the-...
Thanks to those who have donated so far! Only two more donations until we reach our #GivingTuesday goal! Can we count on your support?
We've had a very strong start in our first months, but being well-funded - especially so early in our existence - is crucial to make sure that we can continue publishing. Any support you can share on this #GivingTuesday will help us keep up the momentum! givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Pittsburgh Review of Books
Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025
givenow.cmu.edu
December 2, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Thanks to those who have donated so far! Only two more donations until we reach our #GivingTuesday goal! Can we count on your support?
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Giving directly to the Pittsburgh Review of Books is another way to support our department! The journal gives our students critical experience in editing and publishing that leaves them well-prepared for the world beyond campus. #GivingCMUDay
We've had a very strong start in our first months, but being well-funded - especially so early in our existence - is crucial to make sure that we can continue publishing. Any support you can share on this #GivingTuesday will help us keep up the momentum! givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Pittsburgh Review of Books
Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025
givenow.cmu.edu
December 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Giving directly to the Pittsburgh Review of Books is another way to support our department! The journal gives our students critical experience in editing and publishing that leaves them well-prepared for the world beyond campus. #GivingCMUDay
“I can’t quite remember when the thought first appeared — to write a children’s book about Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), the first woman to open her own studio.”
Emanuele Lugli, asst professor of art history at Stanford, on art history literature for children.
pghrev.com/catch-them-e...
Emanuele Lugli, asst professor of art history at Stanford, on art history literature for children.
pghrev.com/catch-them-e...
Catch Them Early: Bringing Art History to Children - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I can’t quite remember when the thought first appeared — to write a children’s book about Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), the first woman to open her own studio,
pghrev.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
“I can’t quite remember when the thought first appeared — to write a children’s book about Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), the first woman to open her own studio.”
Emanuele Lugli, asst professor of art history at Stanford, on art history literature for children.
pghrev.com/catch-them-e...
Emanuele Lugli, asst professor of art history at Stanford, on art history literature for children.
pghrev.com/catch-them-e...
We've had a very strong start in our first months, but being well-funded - especially so early in our existence - is crucial to make sure that we can continue publishing. Any support you can share on this #GivingTuesday will help us keep up the momentum! givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Pittsburgh Review of Books
Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025
givenow.cmu.edu
December 2, 2025 at 1:25 PM
We've had a very strong start in our first months, but being well-funded - especially so early in our existence - is crucial to make sure that we can continue publishing. Any support you can share on this #GivingTuesday will help us keep up the momentum! givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Object Lessons Impressions on Letters. By Karen McCall. pghrev.com/letters/
Letters - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I loved occasionally riffling through my mum’s letters from when she was young and living in Edinburgh, Scotland. That guilty pleasure started after she died
pghrev.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Object Lessons Impressions on Letters. By Karen McCall. pghrev.com/letters/
"What has happened to home? What has happened to us? And where do we go from here?"
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Talking about Empathy with Beth Macy - Pittsburgh Review of Books
I’ve known about Beth Macy for a very long time. A number of her books take place in the geography of my childhood. She is friends with some of my dearest
pghrev.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"What has happened to home? What has happened to us? And where do we go from here?"
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
Neema Avashia interviews Beth Macy on her latest release, “Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in Fractured America.” @avashianeema.bsky.social @bethmacy.bsky.social pghrev.com/talking-abou...
“I looked at her, shining with the pride of the housewife who controls the galaxies.” An excerpt from THE LORD, Soraya Antonius’s novel about Palestinian life before 1948. pghrev.com/the-lord/
The Lord - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Jaffa at the turn of the century. Nothing really, not even the simple, cheap and good life that grew to seem so full of essence, of sweetness like
pghrev.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
“I looked at her, shining with the pride of the housewife who controls the galaxies.” An excerpt from THE LORD, Soraya Antonius’s novel about Palestinian life before 1948. pghrev.com/the-lord/
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Since launch, we've published 100 pieces, including essays, interviews, reviews, and excerpts, and authors including Pulitzer Prize nominees, Guggenheim fellows, NYT editors, + first-timers, while compensating staff for their work. Can you support our mission?
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Pittsburgh Review of Books
Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025
givenow.cmu.edu
November 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Since launch, we've published 100 pieces, including essays, interviews, reviews, and excerpts, and authors including Pulitzer Prize nominees, Guggenheim fellows, NYT editors, + first-timers, while compensating staff for their work. Can you support our mission?
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Since launch, we've published 100 pieces, including essays, interviews, reviews, and excerpts, and authors including Pulitzer Prize nominees, Guggenheim fellows, NYT editors, + first-timers, while compensating staff for their work. Can you support our mission?
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Pittsburgh Review of Books
Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025
givenow.cmu.edu
November 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Since launch, we've published 100 pieces, including essays, interviews, reviews, and excerpts, and authors including Pulitzer Prize nominees, Guggenheim fellows, NYT editors, + first-timers, while compensating staff for their work. Can you support our mission?
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
givenow.cmu.edu/schools/Carn...
Reposted by Pittsburgh Review of Books
Thanks @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social ! Loved these books so much. @sashabonet.bsky.social @camilleuadams.bsky.social
“I was once told that if you put more than one woman in a room together, they will reach a discussion about their mothers within five minutes. In my experience, this is true.”
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
Mothers and Daughters: When Memoirs Talk to Each Other - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Discovering one author whose work you’re eager to share is the great pleasure of book reviewing. Discovering two authors, even more so. How to be Unmothered:
pghrev.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Thanks @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social ! Loved these books so much. @sashabonet.bsky.social @camilleuadams.bsky.social
“I was once told that if you put more than one woman in a room together, they will reach a discussion about their mothers within five minutes. In my experience, this is true.”
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
Mothers and Daughters: When Memoirs Talk to Each Other - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Discovering one author whose work you’re eager to share is the great pleasure of book reviewing. Discovering two authors, even more so. How to be Unmothered:
pghrev.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:35 PM
“I was once told that if you put more than one woman in a room together, they will reach a discussion about their mothers within five minutes. In my experience, this is true.”
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
@marthaannetoll.bsky.social reviews recent memoirs by Camille U. Adams and Sasha Bonét.
pghrev.com/mothers-and-...
“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