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-...

“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-...

“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/

“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...

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...

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...

Every millennium or so, you get a review that makes you weep with gratitude because you’ve been read in a way you could only dream about. In that light, I’m so excited to share Tara Van De Mark’s review of DUET FOR ONE in the @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social. pghrev.com/when-music-b... #bookreview

ICYMI, my piece in @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social on what Zohran Mamdani learned from his mother's films. I published a book on Mira Nair's films in 2018.. Here I focus on "Mississippi Masala" (-->immigration/ refugees) and "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (-->Palestine). pghrev.com/what-mamdani...

“The story of the collapse of Enron reminds of the adage ‘plus ça change, plus ç’est la même chose’: it’s a story of arrogant fucks who are convinced that the rules don’t apply to them.” Wendy Arons reviews the Quantum Theatre production of ENRON. pghrev.com/enron-at-qua...

“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.” @taravandemark.bsky.social reviews DUET FOR ONE by @marthaannetoll.bsky.social (@regalhouse.bsky.social). pghrev.com/when-music-b...

A trip to buy knockoff designer goods in Shenzhen became a meditation on desire, authenticity, and what luxury really means. By Amdrew Hui. pghrev.com/shenzhen-dre...

"That’s a key story at the heart of Documerica: a country of people made rich at the expense of the environment, but seeing the richness spoiled by a world they’ve destroyed." Gideon Leek on the continued relevance of the Documerica series. pghrev.com/the-epas-70s...

What Mamdani Learned from His Mother’s Films: How the ethics of the acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair echo in her son’s politics, by Amardeep Singh. @electrostani.bsky.social pghrev.com/what-mamdani...

What Mamdani Learned from His Mother’s Films: How the ethics of the acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair echo in her son’s politics, by Amardeep Singh. @electrostani.bsky.social pghrev.com/what-mamdani...

It's election day in NYC. Rooting for Zohran! Check out my piece in @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social called "What Mamdani Learned From His Mother's Films." It's reading Zohran's ethics & politics through films like "Mississippi Masala" and "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." pghrev.com/what-mamdani...

With Padma’s All American, the writer and Emmy-nominated host reimagines the nation’s palate, honoring the cooks and cultures that have always flavored its soul. Aakanksha Agarwal interviews Padma Lakshmi in advance of her @pghartslectures.bsky.social appearance on 11/10. pghrev.com/talking-abou...

"When my kid bought it for me, he didn’t know what was coming. When I unwrapped it on Christmas morning, I didn’t either. But a little over a week later there was a rupture in our family.Suddenly it was just the twins and me and all of us were shaken, skittish, unsettled." pghrev.com/the-wayy-big...

This is cool - a section from my poltergeist chapter is featured on the Pittsburgh Review of Books! It is, in fact, my Dad's favourite chapter of Ghosted.

“The vampire epidemic began nearly a century after Salem. . . . Were witch-hunting and vampire-hunting divergent responses to the same deep layer in the New England psyche?” Read an excerpt from John Blair’s Killing the Dead in @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social:

“The play is set in a ‘modern banana republic’ in a vaguely defined Mesopotamia, in the midst of a popular uprising against an oppressive authoritarian president.” Wendy Arons of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama on “First Lady” at PICT Classic Theatre. pghrev.com/first-lady-a...

“Poltergeists have been recorded for millennia, and are characterised by loud noises, movement and levitation of objects by unseen hands, and the throwing of stones and other small items.” An excerpt from GHOSTED by Alice Vernon, out from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social. pghrev.com/the-polterge...

VAMPIRES AREN’T REAL, RIGHT? …RIGHT? To celebrate Halloween, we’re thrilled to share a special interview with historian John Blair about his riveting new book, Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World. open.substack.com/pub/histfest...

“While the European origins of the dangerous-dead beliefs are obvious, other influences were probably also at work.” Read an excerpt from KILLING THE DEAD by John Blair, out now from @princetonupress.bsky.social. pghrev.com/vampires-of-...

“For all the public iterations of Oliver’s afterlife, I find my own experience of his to be particular and private.” -- Peter Catapano pghrev.com/the-afterliv...

“A slippery narrative POV reminds us that storytelling — and hence life, the world, and everything in it — is a muddle of competing and conflicting interpretations.” A new piece by @stockstill.bsky.social of @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social. pghrev.com/fluid-narrat...

"To me, Nonna was not a grandma stirring a pot of sauce over a hot stove. My Nonna felt a bit further away. " Read Object Lessons Impressions on the brooch, by Andy DeVita. pghrev.com/brooch/

“Melville’s narrator, lacking the language of modern psychology, has no framework through which to understand his behavior, so he remains puzzled and mystified.” Wendy Arons on a new theatrical adaptation of Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener." pghrev.com/bartleby-at-...

"I was young, full of creative energy, filling black notebooks with pressed ballpoint ink. Time dilated because I was unbothered by the reality of lugging my dirty laundry down to the laundromat every few weeks or eating rice and beans day after day. " -- CE Mackenzie pghrev.com/in-search-of...

“Yet Freeman’s musings on language are more than melancholy; they take the reader on a metaphysical investigation of language itself.” Natalya Sukhonos on the #poetry of Cal Freeman. pghrev.com/meaning-and-...

"The pleasure of the Lake has the power to 'blow up boredom like a balloon.' Lavin’s commitment to the water shows us how, these days, joy is a radical act." @natmija.bsky.social on the #poetry of @maudlavin.bsky.social. pghrev.com/diving-deep-...

My first tree piece out in the wild! (Okay it's actually about emerald ash borer, but also, necessarily, ash trees.) I managed to keep it to exactly 500 words for the Object Lessons Impressions series, a small miracle.

"I have to tell you, I’m surprised that so many writers follow one genre. To me, it would be like eating the same meal every day." Nicky Agate @terrainsvagues.bsky.social interviews Jess Walter @jesswalter.bsky.social in advance of his @pghartslectures.bsky.social talk. pghrev.com/talking-to-j...

“I was the one who, in that epic interview, got Bob to describe the sound he’d been seeking, which he memorably described to me as ‘That thin, that wild mercury sound.’” An excerpt from Ron Rosenbaum's BOB DYLAN: THINGS HAVE CHANGED, from @melvillehouse.bsky.social. pghrev.com/things-have-...

“I thought I would not miss him. I was wrong.” Read "How the Welding Machine Works" by Jey Sushil. pghrev.com/how-the-weld...

"Noticed and named in the U.S. only when they became a problem, emerald ash borer carries the blame." Object Lessons Impressions on the Emerald Ash Borer, by Ellen Rogers @ellenashlea.bsky.social. pghrev.com/emerald-ash-...

The Return of Kiran Desai: Aakanksha Agarwal interviews the Booker Prize–winning author, whose long-awaited novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny marks a triumphant return after two decades. pghrev.com/the-return-o...

The Return of Kiran Desai: Aakanksha Agarwal interviews the Booker Prize–winning author, whose long-awaited novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny marks a triumphant return after two decades. pghrev.com/the-return-o...

A celebration of Ed Ochester’s life and legacy reveals how a poet from Queens transformed Pittsburgh’s literary scene. By @kcollins1974.bsky.social. pghrev.com/king-cool-ed...

A celebration of Ed Ochester’s life and legacy reveals how a poet from Queens transformed Pittsburgh’s literary scene. By @kcollins1974.bsky.social. pghrev.com/king-cool-ed...

"Hands on hips, Dad danced like a hereditary chief at a coastal potlatch, making a slow, stately circle around his artwork, a monumental copper and bronze mask overlooking Minnehaha Falls." Read an excerpt from WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT by Julian Brave NoiseCat, out now. pghrev.com/through-the-...

Thanks to @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for this wonderful review of A Place in the World by Bill Gaythwaite! pghrev.com/the-2025-dru...

Another little excerpt of CAT, out now from Bloomsbury 🐱

“Other American Jews threw punches to fight the Nazi menace at home.” An excerpt from Pamela Nadell's ANTISEMITISM: AN AMERICAN TRADITION, out now from @wwnorton.com. pghrev.com/antisemitism...

"Nobody wants to be seen. So my Zoom classes are packed. But nobody wants to be seen on Zoom, so their cameras are off. Even with their cameras off, they don’t want to speak. Anxiety is the most common reason I get." Object Lessons Impressions on Anxiety by Ross Channing Reed. pghrev.com/anxiety/

From The Bluest Eye, to Howl: for #BannedBooksWeek, our staff shared the titles that have meant the most to them: pghrev.com/reading-bann...

"With its angular framework, pushbutton switches, and Bakelite nameplate, Hinman's collator betrays its origins in postwar academia." Read "Machine Vision: On the Mechanical Origins of the Digital Humanities" by @samlemley.bsky.social of @library.cmu.edu. pghrev.com/machine-visi...

“The feeling of wonder is not just the feeling of awe, the captivation of wild landscapes or the sun falling under the ocean’s rim at twilight. Wonder is a quiet strum in a churchyard with a tender hound bounding after rabbits.” An excerpt from CE Mackenzie's ACHY AFFECTS. pghrev.com/wonder-drug/

"A jay chided, aggressive. The aroma of wild fennel, a lure. A sportscar drove by, an impulse. Lily chased a cat, fun. We stepped off the curb. Our elbows touched, a hinge." An excerpt from Robert Glück's JACK THE MODERNIST, recently re-released by @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social. pghrev.com/excited/

"The next morning, I went to the psychiatrist’s office. I was received by an affable middle-aged man, who heard me out in silence, taking notes. When I spoke of the book, however, his eyes lit up." Read an excerpt from AS IF BY MAGIC by Edgard Telles Ribeiro. pghrev.com/remains-from...