Customer Reviews

The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not only a great book about Pittsburgh in the early 21st century, it is an important book for anybody who cares about the future of traditional American cities. O'Neill has an unapologetic love for his adopted hometown, but he also understands its problems and the many challenges Pittsburgh and similar cities face in the coming decades. He shares many charming stories about the city and its people, but frankly addresses the obstacles Pittsburgh must overcome: a dwindling tax base, a lack of political leadership at the local and state levels, and the occasional flare of provincialism. In the end, however, O'Neill makes a great case for living in and enjoying the city now while believing the coming years will be better. I loved this book.

My friend from Greentree got this book from a relative in Pittsburgh. She opened it and said, "Geeze, she really likes Pittsburgh" and then threw it down. I picked it up and read the entire book in a couple of hours. Great book and a good read. I love Pittsburgh, I went to Chatham, and although I have lived right outside San Francisco for 35 years, Pittsburgh will always have a piece of my heart.

Having lived in or near Pittsburgh for 3/4 of a century I have seen it transformed from the "smoky city" to the "Renaissance City". This book will bring back memories, both pleasant and thought-provoking to residents of Pittsburgh It will introduce non-residents to one of the most attractive cities in the Mid-Atlantic. The author writes with clarity and humor and brings the city and brings the ethnic mix of people to life. Pittsburgh has become one of the financial centers of the country while developing an art district that compares well with any other larger city. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is world-renowned. The Paris of Apalachia, will entice people to visit this magnisficant city.

Brian O'Neill shares his views of Pittsburgh from his perch on the North Side - seeing Pittsburgh with love and attention and underlying affection.

Being from pittsburgh, I always enjoy reading a book (wonder boys) or watching a movie (three days from now) that is set in our beautiful city, so I really enjoyed reading this book that fully appreciates and embraces all of our quirks.

Brian O'Neill captures the essence of Pittsburgh in this well-written book. Those who love the city will recognize its soul and its follies in these pages, and those who don't yet know the city will find this an authentic and compelling introduction. It's a slim volume, but a deeply satisfying read.

The author respects both the history and culture of Pittsburgh, but isn't so blinded by the city's charm that he can't recognize the ways it needs to change for the sake of its own survival.

Having spend most of my adult life in Pittsburgh, initially intending to stay for a couple of years and then move on, i'm still here for many of the reasons that Brian O'Neill writes about in this wonderful book. Written as a set of short story vignettes O'Neill paints a picture of Pittsburgh that would ring true to yinzers and give insight to newcomers. His descriptions of city life, neighborhood life, and why one might want to live in the city are on the mark. ONeills story telling is indirect at times but his love and hope for his adopted home is never far from the surface. While humor and good storytelling abound, there is a serious core message. Pittsburgh is far better place to live than its external reputation, and could be even better if it can figure out how to embrace change while keeping its tenacity and work ethic. A surprisingly wonderful little book.

brian o'neill i an award winnig writter for the pittsburgh post-gazette. he uses humor to describe people, places and things in pittsburgh neighborhoods. kudos to brian. read and enjoy him.

I'm a fan of O'Neill's columns. Often he does editorial analysis that's completely lacking from the rest of the Post-Gazette. He wrote some excellent, revealing stuff about the Carnegie Library fiasco last year. But O'Neill's short attention span makes this "book" more like a series of long columns, with each chapter totally unlike the one before it. His unabashed love of the North Side is bizarre, all the more so because he calls the media's coverage (lacking the self-awareness that he IS the media) of the deadly gang violence and proliferation of drug cartels "overblown". He's incredibly critical of suburbanites, when frankly, their kids are safer than his. Don't get me wrong, I'm a very proud recent Pitt grad and city-dweller, and I plan to raise my family here, so I understand in part where he's coming from. But there are plenty of other much safer, affordable and more gentrified neighborhoods that O'Neill could talk about that aren't so deadly - Lawrenceville or Greenfield, for instance.

His children are sent to the magnet Allegheny Traditional Academy, a school I became familiar with when I interned at the Children's Museum a few years ago. While a few of the kids are bright, undoubtedly the curriculum and the not-so-bright-students make the school mediocre at best, especially considering the fact O'Neill could afford a private school or to live in a better school neighborhood on his dual income salary, especially considering his wife's earning potential. It's clear he was a rolling stone in his childhood and early life, always feeling eager to find that "special place", offering up comments on the giddiness he experienced when walking to baseball games from his house. Clearly O'Neill has found his niche, but his enthusiasm doesn't ring true for most Pittsburghers who see the North Side for what it really is - the breeding ground for machine politics and crime.

A lot of the book is him sitting in bars talking to people. Don't get me wrong, some people are gifted storytellers, but O'Neill's not one of them. His strength does not lie in recounting bar arguments or in interviewing random Pittsburghers, but rather in thoughtful research and the subsequent columns about city issues.

My apologies for a rambling review, but really, with this book, there's no other way to do it.

So why did I give it 3 stars instead of 1? From pages 101 to 142, the last 5 of 6 chapters of the book, he gives an enlightening assessment of what brought Pittsburgh to its current financial situation and explains the dwindling population numbers. He goes on to analyze where we currently are and what must be done to fix the pension problem (among many others) and also describes our enormous assets and why recovery shouldn't be difficult. He discusses the parking tax (and why suburbanites don't pay their fair share) and city-county consolidation. It's the only part of the book that's research based - instead of obese Pittsburghers' pictures, you have charts and graphs - and it's most like his columns. I slogged through the boring, inane parts of the rest of it so you didn't have to. Definitely pick up the book - here or at the library - and read from pages 101-142. You'll learn a lot, and be terribly glad you did.

This book is boring. Its obsesses over the north side. I live in the city and trust me the north side isnt so iconic as he would like you to think. Also, Oneil offers no real solutions in this book. He reminisces about things that have no real meaning (like a chance meeting with a neighbor) Seriously I LOVE Pittsburgh but this book is terrible.