List of fiction set in Pittsburgh

This is a list of fiction set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

Books

• Afterimage (Richard Christie Mystery #3) by Kathleen George
• All in Good Time by Carolyn Astfalk ^[1]
• An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
• American Rust by Philipp Meyer
• Another Kind of Monday by William Coles
• The Autobiography of My Body by David Guy
• Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
• The Bend of the World by Jacob Bacharach
• Blood on the Forge by William Attaway
• The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau
• The Bridge to Nowhere by Megan McDonald
• Burning Valley by Phillip Bonosky
• Captains and Kings by Taylor Caldwell
• Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict
• Christine by Stephen King
• Dear Zoe by Philip Beard
• Disquiet Heart by Randall Silvis
• Duffy's Rocks by Edward Fenton
• East Pittsburgh Downlow by Dave Newman
• The Einstein Pursuit (Payne & Jones #8) by Chris Kuzneski
• Elfhome (series) by Wen Spencer
• Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
• Everyday People by Stewart O'Nan
• Fallen (Richard Christie Mystery #2) by Kathleen George
• Fleabrain Loves Franny by Joanne Rocklin
• From a Buick 8 by Stephen King
• The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
• The Great Smith House Hustle by Jane Louise Curry
• Greenhorn on the Frontier by Ann Finlayson
• Ghosts of the Golden Triangle by Mord McGhee
• The Homewood Books by John Edgar Wideman
• Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
• Imposter (The Protectors #1) by Karen Fenech
• Iron City by Lloyd L. Brown
• Ironblood by Mord McGhee
• The King's Orchard by Agnes Sligh Turnbull
• The Last Chicken in America by Ellen Litman
• The Leap Year Boy by Marc Simon (2013) ^[2]
• Lethal Legacy by Gerald Myers
• A Little Girl in Old Pittsburg by Amanda Minnie Douglas
• Looking For The General by Warren Miller
• Macaroni Boy by Katherine Ayres
• The Man Who Liked Slow Tomatoes by K.C. Constantine
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
• A Model World and Other Stories by Michael Chabon
• Monongahela Dusk by John Hoerr
• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
• Only Ever You by Rebecca Drake
• Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland
• Ornamental Graces ^[3] by Carolyn Astfalk
• Our Lady of Immaculate Deception (Roxy Abruzzo Mystery #1) by Nancy Martin
• Out of This Furnace by Thomas Bell
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• The Plantation (Payne & Jones #1) by Chris Kuzneski
• Pickles to Pittsburgh by Judi Barrett
• Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott
• Remember the End by Agnes Sligh Turnbull (1938)
• Riot by William Trautmann
• Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready (2008)
• Sent for You Yesterday by John Edgar Wideman
• Settling Accounts: Drive to the East by Harry Turtledove
• She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
• Snake Skin (Lucy Guardino FBI Thriller #1) by C.J. Lyons
• Sword of God (Payne & Jones #3) by Chris Kuzneski
• Taken (Richard Christie Mystery #1 by Kathleen George
• The Tempering by Gloria Skurzynski
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Tom Sweterlitsch
• Three Golden Rivers by Olive Price
• The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss
• Under the Same Blue Sky by Pamela Schoenewaldt
• U.S.A. by John dos Passos
• Ukiah Oregon (series) by Wen Spencer
• The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport
• Watch Your Mouth by Daniel Handler
• Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
• Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

Comic books

• Firestorm the Nuclear Man
• The Pitt
• Star Brand

Film

Main articles: List of films shot in Pittsburgh and List of television shows shot in Pittsburgh

Plays

• The Pittsburgh Cycle - In 2005, August Wilson completed a ten-play cycle, nine of which are set in Pittsburgh, chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th century. These are:
• 1900s - Gem of the Ocean (2003)
• 1910s - Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984)
• 1920s - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1982) - set in Chicago
• 1930s - The Piano Lesson (1986) - Pulitzer Prize
• 1940s - Seven Guitars (1995)
• 1950s - Fences (1985) - Pulitzer Prize
• 1960s - Two Trains Running (1990)
• 1970s - Jitney (1982)
• 1980s - King Hedley II (2001)
• 1990s - Radio Golf (2005)

Television series

Main article: List of television shows shot in Pittsburgh

Films

Main article: List of films shot in Pittsburgh

Music

• "America", written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel, includes the line "Kathy", I said, / As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh, / Michigan seems like a dream to me now." ^[4]
• "Duquesne Whistle," which appears on the Bob Dylan album Tempest , was co-written by Dylan and Robert Hunter. ^[5] The song describes a train ride through Pittsburgh. NPR's Ann Powers speculates that this may be the same train described in Dylan's "Lo and Behold". ^[5]
• "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Bruce Springsteen describes "It's cloudy out in Pittsburgh / It's raining in Saigon / Snow's falling across the Michigan line." ^[4]
• "I'm Not Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)", which appears on the Frank Black album Fast Man Raider Man , was co-written by Black and Pittsburgher Reid Paley. ^[4] It draws upon Pittsburgh's historical connection with the zombie genre. ^[4]

"I finally found a place to call my own / a place where all good sinners can get stoned / I'll keep my holy vision, you keep your stupid pride / You said I couldn't make it on my own / But I'm not dead (I'm in Pittsburgh) / And now I can't get out of town / But I'm not dead (I'm in Pittsburgh) / They've got me all strung, come cut me down."

• "Life During Wartime," which appears on Talking Heads' Fear of Music and Stop Making Sense , asks the listener in a post-apocalyptic landscape, "Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit? Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?" ^[4] Long-time Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz grew up in Pittsburgh. ^[4]
• "Lo and Behold," which appears on The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan and the Band, tells the story of the narrator recounting a train ride with "I come into Pittsburgh / At six-thirty flat / I found myself a vacant seat / An' I put down my hat." ^[4]
• "Sweet Little Sixteen", by Chuck Berry, rhymes "Pittsburgh, P.A." with "Frisco Bay." ^[4]
• "Six Days on the Road", written by Earl Green and Carl Montgomery, describes a trucker who says "Well, I pulled out of Pittsburgh", in describing life on the road. ^[4]
• Pittsburgher Wiz Khalifa often mentions the city in his music.
• Pittsburgher Mac Miller often mentions his hometown in his music

Video games

• Fallout 3
• Fallout 76
• The Last of Us ^[6]

References

1. All in Good Time
2. "LEAP YEAR BOY BY MARC SIMON: BOOK REVIEW – Book Reviews | Open Book Society". February 12, 2013.
3. Ornamental Graces
4. Norman, Tony (June 27, 2006). "Pittsburgh never sounded so right". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved January 3, 2015.
5. Powers, Ann (August 27, 2012). "Song Premiere: Bob Dylan, 'Duquesne Whistle'". NPR . Retrieved January 3, 2015.
6. "The Last of Us and Pittsburgh: Real Game Worlds". Paste Magazine. Retrieved March 28, 2025.