Pittsburgh has always been-despite its industrial reputation-a great city in which to be a writer. Its active, close-knit writing community has seen the rise of several luminaries with Pittsburgh connections, such as Annie Dillard and Stewart Ou2019Nan, and the caliber of Pittsburghu2019s writing community today is better than ever. Lee Gutkind has assembled a reunion of sorts with writers from across the nation, as well as the up-and-coming stars on the local scene-each of whom has a Pittsburgh connection. Many grew up in the region, others attended college here: all of them have an association with the city. The resulting collection of essays is both gentle and jarring, eclectic and persuasive, covering a range of topics-from a stripperu2019s work ethic to West Virginiau2019s famed Matewan shootout, Atlantic Cityu2019s Boardwalk before Donald Trump, and the uses of poetry to better understand oneu2019s own life. Although Pittsburgh is not the subject of most of the essays, these writers are bound by their affinity for the written word and their collective fondness for Pittsburgh.