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two sides, three rivers
In Sharon Dilworth’s new collection, Two Sides, Three Rivers, the award-winning writer explores the way that a city shapes the lives of those who live there. Set in and around contemporary Pittsburgh, Dilworth’s stories are populated by characters who are attempting to escape their circumstances in a city already constrained by its physical borders and industrial legacy. The power of place helps define them. Displaced Russians use a Gilded Age cemetery in Squirrel Hill as a makeshift stand-in for Moscow. An aspiring private eye discovers that his talents are useless in a town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. A young boy tries to reinvent himself only to find that he cannot willfully discard his working-class roots. Robbing the elderly poor, a deceitful musician deprives them of their memories, music, and their worn-out keepsakes. Again and again, the city exerts its own hypnotic power, and its streets, shops, and neighborhoods help shape motives, actions, and character.
As skillfully as Sherwood Anderson chronicled small town life in Winesburg, Ohio or F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the divisions between East and West Egg, Sharon Dilworth has mapped the contradictions and ambiguities of Rust Belt America by exploring a city caught between its rapidly fading past and the uncertain promises of its future. With Two Sides, Three Rivers, she has turned Pittsburgh into another landmark in American fiction.
SHARON DILWORTH is the author of two collections of short stories, The Long White and Women Drinking Benedictine, and two novels, Year of the Ginkgo and My Riviera. She has received an Iowa Award in Short Fiction, a Pushcart Prize in Fiction, and a Hopwood Award as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, where she is the Director of the Creative Writing program at Carnegie Mellon University.
As skillfully as Sherwood Anderson chronicled small town life in Winesburg, Ohio or F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the divisions between East and West Egg, Sharon Dilworth has mapped the contradictions and ambiguities of Rust Belt America by exploring a city caught between its rapidly fading past and the uncertain promises of its future. With Two Sides, Three Rivers, she has turned Pittsburgh into another landmark in American fiction.
SHARON DILWORTH is the author of two collections of short stories, The Long White and Women Drinking Benedictine, and two novels, Year of the Ginkgo and My Riviera. She has received an Iowa Award in Short Fiction, a Pushcart Prize in Fiction, and a Hopwood Award as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, where she is the Director of the Creative Writing program at Carnegie Mellon University.
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 23, 2023
If you live or have ever lived in Pittsburgh, you may find at least one of these nine short stories enjoyable. Some were better than others, of course. Personally I would not have led with "A Little Learning" as I found it be one of the weaker stories. I found "There is No Bob", "Accordions of the Mon Valley", and "The Private Eye" to be the best of the bunch. Two of the stories, "Lily Dale Assembly" and "Son of Burning Man", had tenuous relationships to Pittsburgh. Honestly, I don't know why "Lily Dale Assembly" was included at all. Having said that, though, "Lily Dale Assembly" DID prompt me to do a little research. It's a real place, located in southwest New York, sort of halfway between Erie and Buffalo. It sounded familiar to me and I verified with a friend that she had visited there for the spiritual experience.
The author Sharon Dilworth is not a Pittsburgh native; however, she is (or was at time of publication) the Director of the Creative Writing program at CMU. Perhaps that is why most of the stories are set in the Shadyside/Squirrel Hill section of the City. She seems to have a very low opinion of Greenfield.
Overall, this is an uneven collection of stories that needed much better editing. It was teeming with word omissions. A missing "a" or "the" can really disrupt the flow of a good sentence. I read it because I love all things Pittsburgh, but this did not quite hit the mark for me.
The author Sharon Dilworth is not a Pittsburgh native; however, she is (or was at time of publication) the Director of the Creative Writing program at CMU. Perhaps that is why most of the stories are set in the Shadyside/Squirrel Hill section of the City. She seems to have a very low opinion of Greenfield.
Overall, this is an uneven collection of stories that needed much better editing. It was teeming with word omissions. A missing "a" or "the" can really disrupt the flow of a good sentence. I read it because I love all things Pittsburgh, but this did not quite hit the mark for me.
July 29, 2019
Two Sides, Three Rivers compiles many heartfelt (and often fun) stories that clearly illustrate Sharon Dilworth’s pride and passion in her hometown and the range of personalities among the population that defines it.
As a fan of noir and classic pulp, her tribute to the genre—“The Private Eye”—was a particularly entertaining entry that took her modern-day Sam Spade all over Pittsburgh from Penn Brewery even out to the Bedford Springs resort. “The Chubby Boy” was another standout from this collection, a fine and heartbreaking study in dual perspectives against the backdrop of two close but wildly different Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
As a fan of noir and classic pulp, her tribute to the genre—“The Private Eye”—was a particularly entertaining entry that took her modern-day Sam Spade all over Pittsburgh from Penn Brewery even out to the Bedford Springs resort. “The Chubby Boy” was another standout from this collection, a fine and heartbreaking study in dual perspectives against the backdrop of two close but wildly different Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
March 11, 2019
Sharon Dilworth’s collection of nine stories takes place largely in and around Pittsburgh. It’s always fun to recognize the places and times in the stories you’re reading. As a Mon Valley guy, the characters ring true and the broken dreams and harebrained schemes are familiar. With a few exceptions - where Dilworth tinkers with narrative devices - the stories flow easily. They are finely crafted in a way that doesn’t show the labor.
October 2, 2018
Strong short-story collection by the Pittsburgh-based author, with all the stories basically set in contemporary Pittsburgh. Sharp, funny dialogue, and interesting, contrary characters. Really showcases the city's distinctive neighborhoods. Favorite story is probably "The Chubby Boy," a fascinating study of prejudice and social class that's also very entertaining.
April 21, 2018
Nice fictional short stories. Mentions neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and around. Good way to pass time.
April 26, 2018
Read the full review here: http://pageandplate.com/two-sides-thr...
I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the settings, and I loved how weird some of the stories got.
I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the settings, and I loved how weird some of the stories got.
April 28, 2018
Excellent collection of short stories. Stop in the store on May 6 (2 - 4) and meet Sharon. She'll sign your copy.
October 26, 2024
I enjoyed first two stories. The rest were not as strong.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews