Pittsburgh

by Frank Santoro

Originaire de la ville de Pittsburgh (Pennsylvanie) où il habite toujours, Frank Santoro tente avec ce nouveau livre de comprendre comment ses parents, divorcés depuis près de 30 ans, en sont arrivés à ne plus s’adresser la parole alors qu’ils travaillent dans le même endroit. Il retrace l’histoire compliquée de sa famille, irlandaise du côté de sa mère et italo-écossaise du côté de son père en remontant aux prémices de la relation de ses parents, mariés très jeunes en pleine guerre du Vietnam. La vie de cette famille aux relations très conflictuelles tournait autour de la petite boutique du grand-père, dans cette ancienne ville industrielle dont la population est passée de près de 700 000 habitants dans les années 1950 à tout juste 300 000 habitants de nos jours, une ville ruinée par les différentes crises économiques qui ont frappé la Rust belt américaine.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Memoir, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Biography Memoir

215 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read a couple of Frank Santoro's books and liked them, but in comparison to this memoir, they were more about art than anything else. The story here is about his growing up in declining Pittsburgh in the seventies and getting the hell out in the eighties, but the real focus is something he can't quite get beyond, emotionally, that his parents divorced then, almost twenty years ago.

The artwork, done with pencil and colorful markers, mixed-media in that clipped-out pieces of paper featuring figures are taped on to images that are themselves taped to the (larger) pages, feels usefully diy and sketchy and though the story is sad and reflective, has this brightly multi-colorful aura that underlines the sadness with hope. Feels to me raw, emotionally, because we see the process he went through in creating the art. The lettering is done by hand, adding to the intimacy.

I see at a glance a lot of people seem to be underwhelmed by both story and art here. It's not linear in most respects we expect in a memoir. I'm listening to the fourteen-hour long Say Nothing that is just filled with details about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and I like that a lot so far, but Pittsburgh ain't that kinda book. It's more elusive, impressionistic, emotional, as a story. Not to say Say Nothing will not get emotional for me as I keep reading. Just calling attention to its unconventional style to heighten the feelings, which for some reason reminds me of the similarly "unfinished" feel of Belgian comics artist Willy Linthout's sad story of the suicide of his son, Years of the Elephant. A human being is telling this story to you! It's not a digitized Marvel glossy story by committee, okay!?

I lived through this period, though not in Pittsburgh, so could relate to the depressed feeling of the closing of steel mills, that working class life, the suffering Dad went through in Vietnam, the divorce.
I really liked it.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank's book took me back decades. It's never happened for me that I knew every single person mentioned in the book. Grew up in the town. Know his parents well. I've known Frank since birth. His words were a sobering reminder of a troubling time in our country and his personal life. The story is what it is. This gifted, talented young man has much more of his gift to give. I'm proud to say I knew him when and I know him now!

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

maybe as a rust belt child of divorce this got me in my tender areas moreso than it might get you but: fuzzed out, nuanced, literally drawn with magic markers but done with exquisite and tender technique. a guy telling a story about his parents' divorce, his emotional geography, a mini mart. i am all in my feelings because of it. it is sloppy and gorgeous and seemingly effortless but also obviously the product of crazy effort, like you can see the places where the marker were rubbed dry on the page. what a great thing this is.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic memoir is about a man trying to make sense of his parents and his family history in Pittsburgh. I loved the way this book is printed, but the illustration style didn't really work for me - though there were pages that I think I got what he was going for. This is a meditative walk down memory lane, as the author tries to piece it all together, but at the end I was unsure about the why of this memoir. Maybe it's that while we can know facts or non-facts about the people we love, understanding them might be impossible.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a unique graphic novel--it looked more like a sketchbook than the traditional comics format. In addition, there were screenplay-style directions scattered throughout, which I don't think I've seen with this medium before. Themes include coming to the understanding of our parents as (sometimes very) flawed human beings, and the helplessness we may feel at their choices.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the occasional wordless full two page spreads, I loved the art. Mostly however, I didn't. It was a naive, middle school style which did fit the middle school emotions and understanding of Santoro's story of struggling to grasp his parents relationship and his own identity as a result of it. He occasionally speculates that his parents must have loved each other at some point, while he looks for evidence of it. The story is a sad reminiscence of the many elements coalescing to destroy a relationship and the gritty, working class Pittsburgh of the 70s with the overshadowing malaise of the Vietnam war that touched or wrecked so many lives. The art works and is interesting, I just didn't love it. I did love the funny little dachshund named Pretzel hoarsely punctuating his adolescence.

[Romany · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I thought I enjoyed the story more than the images, but by the end... it's just such a beautiful book. The colours and construction of the pictures... There's some nostalgia that can only be conveyed with an almost-dead Texta.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was... pretty good. As a person who loves the city, I was sorry this book is all about the bad old days, and not about how things have changed. It does invoke the vibe of the time, but the emotions seemed shallow. And Santoro doesn't even use the word "nebby" once, although it would have worked wonderfully.

Still, it's all worth it for an absolutely lovely
vignette about a serious childhood injury. If only the rest of the book had resonated with me the way that scene does.

[Zack Quaintance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forlorn and beautiful, this book reads like an honest window into its creators attempts to make sense of a tragedy in his life (his parents who were high school sweethearts becoming divorced and estranged to the point they work in the same building yet never speak). We are invited back into the memories he probes to understand the present, and in doing so, he creates a work of deep and rare sincerity.

[Deb Urbano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because the story is set in Pittsburgh and the pictures were lovely. The illustrator's use of color is warm and inviting. It is a quick read.

The story itself was very disjointed, however. The author was portraying a very personal story of working through his parents' disharmony, but often the sequence of events was unclear. Also, several pieces of the story were repeated - maybe to show emphasis on those parts of the narrative?

[Jolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly original, nonlinear artwork. Slow and luxurious pacing. The relationships needed more depth and definition to pack a solid punch, but maybe that's the point. Do we ever truly know one another, even the people who made us or the people we make? The story fogs and trails like memory. The end is a simple evaporation. Mixed effect but powerful.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting art, but the storytelling itself seemed a bit childish, like the perspective of a kid rather than a grown man. Maybe this was intentional, to go along with the magic-marker illustrations? But somehow it felt a bit flat.

[P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Santoro's color palette and city studies, and the roughness he leaves in the finished product. The actual story of the comic doesn't have much of a trajectory. Some comics are like that.

[Rachel Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never would have guessed I would enjoy a graphic novel made of "markers, pencils, scissors, and tape," but here we are. The simplicity of materials - yet new-to-me (or maybe just new-to-adult-eyes) way of seeing them is beautiful. Such an appropriate way to tell about one's growing up - with the medium children are most prone to use. Characters were a bit confusing, in name and motive. The latter is sorta the point, though.

This was really beautiful and I'm eager to read more of Santoro's work.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful family memoir tinged with a deep yearning nostalgia for a past that was already falling apart back then. A broken family overlaid on top of a city decaying into postindustrial malaise. Santoro beautifully reconstructs these family memories through a colorful, sketchy style, often layering pieces of paper taped over other layers of sketches, so you really get a feeling of this incomplete family narrative pieced together from different people who are no longer speaking to each other.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful, really enjoyed the illustrations and the story was very engaging.

My only gripe was that I struggled to feel sorry for his personal situation (his parents both seem pretty supportive and loving, why should his mum be made to speak to someone who treated her badly?) and found the attempts at stoking sympathy a bit laboured.

On a nerdy note it's a bloody nicely made book, the paper and finish work so well with the illustration style.

[Peter Landau · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a long time to read this. I started and stopped. One, the family story wasn’t grabbing me, but that’s my problem. Two, I kept vacillating between liking and not liking the artwork. The mixed media collage-like construction looked amateurish and then sophisticated. I couldn’t make up my mind whether I liked it or not. I guess I do, the work is fascinating if not my favorite.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the art. Very evocative of Pittsburgh despite the fact that I am not very familiar with Swissvale.

[Eva Gustafsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Elo · Rating 5 out of 5]

je n'ai jamais été aussi épatée par un album
toutes les pages sont dans une vibe de patchwork, avec du scotch, des dessins très 'enfantin'/'brouillon', des couleurs vives, qui ne match pas
ça sort tellement de l'ordinaire que vraiment elle est CAPTIVANTE
c'est une sorte de mémoire sur sa famille & la manière dont l'auteur essaye de comprendre comment ses parents ont tentés d'évolués/grandir
c'est poignant

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oof, ten stars! Required reading for all (former or current) Pittsburghers with divorced parents!

[Emily M · Rating 5 out of 5]

how he colored Pretzel's eyes a cloudy blue when he was old just gutted me so thanks, Frank Santoro, really appreciated that on a Sunday afternoon.

[Olivia Thames · Rating 3 out of 5]

While preparing for my first trip to Pittsburgh, I thought of giving Frank Santoro's graphic novel by the same name a try in order to have a native's POV of the city. Although it is far from a tourist's guide to the city known as "the Steel City" and even "Hell with the Lid Off", it gives readers a glance into how the recession of the area nurtured its residents and sometimes their views of their world and themselves.

Even though the book is well over 200 pages it flies by like a dream. The kaleidoscopic and psychedelic use of color and artistic mediums gives the drabness and troublesome moments of the author's life, and the city those moments occur, a surprising sense of reality. As I was reading the GN, and showing my dad the pages where the author and illustrator depicts the mills, you can see past the sketches and bold use of color to see something of a photograph. Something of a crystal clear memory. In a book about question who and what influences us and our choices (nature vs nurture), these drawings add to those questions and the lack of certainty in their answers.

The entire book could be the topic of discussion in literature and art classes for the thoughts stated above. While the GN itself did not leave a world shattering effect on my life near Cleveland (which is not a swing at the rivalry our cities face), I respect the journey to understanding about love and loss that the author experiences. His openness is welcomed, and "Pittsburgh" is (by his acknowledgment or that of readers) his masterpiece.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read. Because it is not a regular novel, or even a graphic novel, it does not read in such a linear fashion. It is a story of family. The color palette is surprising. The images of his family are lovingly drawn.

[João Teixeira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talvez por o ter lido em Inglês (que não é a minha língua materna), não consegui compreender totalmente este livro... (não c9nsegui perceber por que aparecia escrito tanto "mom" como "mum" para mãe, por exemplo). Mas por acaso até gostei do tipo de ilustração, colorida com canetas de feltro, combinada igualmente com colagem, num estilo muito próprio, como a própria história o exige (por se tratar das memórias de infância do autor, numa tentativa de se encontrar a si próprio, através daquelez que o foram responsáveis por o trazer ao mundo).

[Marta Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful read about the city itself--how it has changed over the years--and a fracturing family. Amazing artwork too.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a pretty mixed reaction to this. I enjoyed seeing a different (for me) type of artwork, particularly with the marker use, which I found fondly reminiscent of childhood works, although it sometimes ended up surprisingly garish (the pink!). However, the sketching with multiple colors almost hurt my eyes, while the occasional, more traditional blank and white sketches still struck me as pretty. I was interested to see how much I responded to this, although again, my response was mixed.

Similarly, I'm usually interested in stories of adults reflecting on their childhoods and revisiting what intrapersonal relationships looked like from the perspective of a child vs their adult selves. This story was a fine example of the genre.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because of Tom Spurgeon. Thanks Tom, we miss you.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a native of western Pennsylvania and in close proximity to Pittsburgh, Frank Santoro's Pittsburgh - the people and places he depicts through markers and mixed media - particularly resonated. As the story unfolds, readers get both the dissolution of his parents marriage alongside a changing/declining city and working class community. I feel like I've known women like his Gram Mary (working class mothers/grandmothers holding families together) and his "Paps;" spaces like the "Legion" where folks go to pass the time with their neighbors - spaces that won't be there the next decade, and marriages that ended much like Santoro's parents.

The story is simple enough: the beginning and decline of his parents' marriage set again the backdrop of 1970's Pittsburgh. The images are rendered in outlines, cut-outs, and a very '70s palette of markers that manage to be both rough and incredibly vivid. A drawing of a barge on the river - done only in shades of purple, black, and yellow - particularly struck me as being so specific to this city.

This was the first of Santoro's books I've read, but I hope to visit more of his works.

[Nellie Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

really gorgeous, simple but effective illustrations. the narrative itself is perhaps slightly lackluster. i found it confusing the way the author names his grandparents. i wasn't always sure which side of the family everyone was on, and this might be due to the fact that he continuously reintroduces them, which somehow made it more confusing.