What to Read Before You Head to Pittsburgh
Of the 10 plays August Wilson wrote — two of which won him the Pulitzer Prize — nine were based in and around the Hill District in Pittsburgh; he chronicled the city’s changing landscape over decades. He is not the only writer to have chosen the Steel City as a backdrop. Below, one book explores the places that influenced Mr. Wilson’s plays, and two others reimagine Pittsburgh’s people and culture. Photo AUGUST WILSON Pittsburgh Places in His Life and Plays By Laurence A. Glasco, Christopher Rawson 146 pp. Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (2015; second edition). For a visual tour of the historical sites that figure in Mr. Wilson’s work, turn to this book. It includes photographs of places like the apartment where he lived on Bedford Avenue, and locations name-dropped in his plays like West Funeral Home and what used to be Lutz’s Market. The guide also features essays that contextualize his work, as well as personal introductions written by his niece Kimberly C. Ellis a...