A well-researched, if somewhat dry, deep dive into Pittsburgh’s economic recovery.
A sweeping look at the work the Regional Industrial Development Corporation has done to revitalize Pittsburgh’s economy.
Fraser here explores both the economic devastation that southwestern Pennsylvania experienced in the 1980s (which stemmed from a mass collapse of the steel and “other durable goods” industries that saw 150,000 manufacturing jobs disappear) and the region’s extraordinary recovery. Said recovery was largely made possible by the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit founded in 1955 with the goal of “diversify[ing] the economic base, attract[ing] new companies, encourag[ing] existing ones to expand, create jobs, and improve the quality of life of residents.” The author walks readers through the initial collapse of the area’s economy and the early days of RIDC’s initial investments (such as buying nearly 1,000 acres of the former Thorn Hill school property from the state’s Department of Public Welfare to build an industrial park), concluding with a look at the thriving state of Pittsburgh today. Fraser attributes much of the project’s success to RIDC’s commitment to economic diversity (which helped to usher in more industries like healthcare and technology), including the National Robotics Engineering Center, which opened in 1996. The author has compiled a vast and incredibly detailed history of RIDC’s impressive work in southwestern Pennsylvania—these details occasionally grow monotonous (granular accounts of financial transactions between the many businesses moving into and out of the various business parks may not be everyone’s cup of tea), but readers interested in the region’s history and civil planning will likely appreciate Fraser’s straightforward style. It’s not all facts and figures—color photos lend some personality to the data, while the human stories (like Pittsburgh residents’ initial denials that the steel industry would not bounce back) add an empathetic dimension to the text. This is an impressively thorough look at a unique and storied city and the little-known organization that helped save it.
A well-researched, if somewhat dry, deep dive into Pittsburgh’s economic recovery.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781493091423
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Globe Pequot
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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