Joanne G. Sujansky

Pittsburgh Will Steel Your Heart is a delightful collection of 250 reasons to get to know this city better. Each is a quick bullet item of a sentence or two. I promise you will smile at most of them and break out into laughter at some, especially if you live here. Read the book, then come visit the city. Pittsburgh is no longer the Smokey Old Town Pete Seeger sang about. In fact, there's more silicon than carbon in Pittsburgh these days.

It is difficult to rate something like this. It is not a work of fiction nor is it poetry. The quotes are enjoyable and enlightening making for a real quick read. There are one or two inaccuracies, but they do not detract from the charm of the book. It did, however, cause me to rate this as less than perfect.

If you find yourself wanting to visit Pittsburgh after reading this book, have your dragon or firelizard look me up. I'll be glad to show you around. That's another thing Pittsburghers, even adopted Pittsburghers, are noted for: hospitality.

Addendum: I contacted the author about the inaccuracies and found that these have been corrected in the Second Edition. I'm still keeping the four star rating because while the book is informative and enjoyable, it hardly falls into the category of World Rocking . . . even though in 2006, Esquire magazine rated Pittsburgh tops in US “Cities that Rock” ! !… (más)