Aw, Cleveland. ( )

RUST BELT CHIC: The Cleveland Anthology, is a collection of thirty four essays, seven photographs, two poems, and a comic book segment conceptualized, compiled and published within three months in the summer of 2012. The e-book has about a dozen additional chapters. At the end are brief biographies of the contributors.
After hearing a lot of talk about the revitalization of Cleveland, the editors, Richey Piiparinen and Anne Trubek, decided to let people who live or lived in Cleveland (or, in a few cases, other rust belt cities) tell the story rather than having it told by outsiders.
In many ways, the book is a love story about the relationship between people and the city where they were born and/or live. One chapter talks about some of the ethnic groups (Iraq, Italian, Black) who live in Cleveland. Another explains how the shape of the land influenced the way the city developed and how politicians helped or hindered the city. There is a chapter about growing up in Cleveland or in a nearby town and what Cleveland meant to the writer. Nostalgia plays a big role here; people cherish their memories. There are essays by some writers who talk about discrimination and feeling like an outsider. There are others by people who left and came back because they felt they were missing something very important that wasn't available anywhere else. People who moved here from other parts of the countries write about why they came and why they stayed. There are chapters about music, food, and art. While Rock and Roll is mentioned a lot, the Cleveland Orchestra is not.
Among the contributors are politicians, journalists, and professors. Jane Scott, the well-known rock and roll reporter and Harvey Pekar are subjects of essays.
This book can relate to similar cities. One essay is actually about Pittsburgh.
As someone who was born in Cleveland and has lived in the city or suburbs for most of my life, I remembered and identified with a lot of the information. But I also learned a lot that I didn't know.
I received this book as a First Reads from Goodreads. ( )