Reading with Style discussion

Eugenides has set some of his works in Detroit, Michigan. It, and 4 other cities have lost more than half of their population since 1950. Read any book - fiction or nonfiction - set at least 51% in Detroit (Michigan), St. Louis (Missouri), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Buffalo (New York), or Cleveland (Ohio).

Please post any questions or comments about task 20.5 in this thread.

Are we aiming for the setting to be in the cities or would the state be OK?

Bea wrote: "Are we aiming for the setting to be in the cities or would the state be OK?"

The book should be set mostly in one of the named cities.

I just wasted spent a bit of time looking at possibles for this task. I googled "books set in _______" and there are wikipedia entries. There are also links to the GR place shelvings on that search. And other surprising results as well.

I happen to have Wonder Boys languishing on my shelves, so it's penciled in.

I read a couple of books that would fit this task:

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was a wonderful book set mostly in Cleveland.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch was a well-written, but very sad, inspirational book. He lived in Pittsburg, and taught at Carnegie-Mellon before his death.

Some (a few) of Elmore Leonard's books are set in Detroit.

Two other authors, besides Chabon, that may have used Pittsburgh as a setting? I have not read their books: Stephen Chbosky, Kathleen George

I discovered today that August Wilson’s plays take place in Pittsburgh :)

Karen Michele wrote: "I discovered that today that August Wilson’s plays take place in Pittsburgh :)"

Nice!

jonathan franzen's first novel, The Twenty-Seventh City, is set in st. louis... in case anyone might be interested in this one.

thirty umigar's If Today Be Sweet is set in cleveland - where she lives and teaches creative writing, and literature at case western reserve university. i've slotted that one in on my own plan as a possibility.

Nice to know about Thrity Umigar. I had read one of hers set in India, and didn't know about this one.

Read a couple of summaries; set in 1860s Pittsburgh:

Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict

I'm reading City of Light right now, set in Buffalo, and it's really interesting!

Owlette wrote: "Two other authors, besides Chabon, that may have used Pittsburgh as a setting? I have not read their books: Stephen Chbosky, Kathleen George"

I loved Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which I think i saw on the list for 20.4 also) and Chabon’s debut, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh will always hold a special place in my heart...

Owlette wrote: "Read a couple of summaries; set in 1860s Pittsburgh:

Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict"

ooh! thanks you for mentioning this one, owlette! excellent reminder that i own it and have not read it yet. :)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nice to know about Thrity Umigar. I had read one of hers set in India, and didn't know about this one."

i was pleased to learn this too! :)

A couple of books that are set in Detroit I'm considering for this task:

Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones

and one that looks very different.... Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Another set in Pittsburgh is Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

For Cleveland: the Milan Jacovich detective series by Les Roberts. Have not read these--a Cleveland native informed me.

There is also "Places" on metadatas for books even if most of the times, they aren't filled in but there are some:

Buffalo (New York)

Cleveland (Ohio)

Detroit (Michigan)

Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)

St. Louis (Missouri)

I'm not sure on % so you'll have to check each as you do...

If you’re into mysteries the website http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ has mysteries that you can look up by location.
There are by states but the link tells which city they are in.

Michigan - http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Loc...

Missouri- http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Loc...

New York - http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Loc...

Ohio - http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Loc...

Pennsylvania - http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/Loc...

Will Detroit by Lisa D'Amour
work for this task?

The play script refers to the setting as “not necessarily Detroit”.

Thanks.

Mary wrote: "Will Detroit by Lisa D'Amour
work for this task?

The play script refers to the setting as “not necessarily Detroit”.

Thanks."

No, sorry. The GR description says In a "first ring" suburb outside a midsize American city... so that the location isn't specific.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Mary wrote: "Will Detroit by Lisa D'Amour
work for this task?

The play script refers to the setting as “not necessarily Detroit”.

Thanks."

No, sorry. The GR des..."

Figured it was iffy! Thanks