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Essays

The Deep Imagists and the Poetics of Stupidity

Poet Colin Pope on how stupidity might be an artist’s greatest asset.

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Why You Need to Listen to Music that “Sounds Bad”

“The music is dissonant and cacophonous, often atonal and purely textural. It can be disorienting at first, but once you learn its secrets… it is endlessly rewarding, full of sticky riffs and colors.”

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The Midterms Weren’t Even Close

“This election finally demonstrates that the American people aren’t polarized.”

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What We’re Reading the First Week of November 2026

A roundup of the most engaging recent pieces on the web read by the Pittsburgh Review of Books this week.

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Reflections on a Victory

“James Talarico is toasting Gina Hinojosa. Abdul El-Sayed is mocking JD Vance. Troy Jackson is leading a conga line with Adam Hamilton, Josh Turek, Sherrod Brown, Amy Acton, Roy Cooper, Annie Andrews, Jon Ossoff, Peggy Flanagan, Chris Pappas, Deb Haaland, and Keisha Lance Bottoms dancing along.”

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Fuck Nihilism

When We Fight We Win

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Some Thoughts on the Modern Amateur Gumshoe

“Why are amateur sleuth novels proliferating? Simply put, because they appeal to both readers and writers.”

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The Ingredients of Indie Film Inspiration

“There’s something sacred about a room full of strangers in the dark, all caught up in the same fiction, each seeing a slightly different movie.”

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The Lies We Learned to Love

Part Two: The Two Americas We’re Building

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America is Everybody’s Business; or, How I Misplaced my Mother’s Legacy

“In my mind at the time, there was nothing revolutionary or exceptional about her call to action. It seemed quaint, obvious… And then 2016 happened and January 6th and the 2024 election.”

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