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<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>In <em>Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps</em>, Paola Corso celebrates public stairways in her native Pittsburgh and around the world. Inspired by her Sicilian grandfather, a stonemason who built concrete steps, and her Calabrian grandfather and father, steelworkers who once climbed them to the mill, Corso is a storyteller. She shares memories of her family, the history behind Pittsburgh having more public staircases than any other city in the country, and curiosities about some of the world's most famous steps. <em>Vertical Bridges</em> includes photos by the author along with archival photos from the University of Pittsburgh Library's Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection. </p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"Under Corso's nimble juggling of words and images, Pittsburgh's staircases become a series of paths leading elsewhere-from China to Norway, from Italy back to the Three Rivers again. Together these narratives construct a fascinating ecology of urban spaces, emphasizing the delicate lives and quotidian strength of those who climb up and down: workers, immigrants, children, lovers. In each direction, these poetic flights offer an all-encompassing view."</p><p>-LAURA E. RUBERTO, author of <em>Gramsci, Migration, and the Representation of Women's Work in Italy and the U.S.</em> and co-editor of <em>New Italian Migrations to the United States, Vol. 1 and 2</em></p><p><br></p><p>"I have expressed Pittsburgh's city steps using maps and photographs. Here Paola Corso has done so with words and style, imagery and feelings. She offers a delightful way to experience the steps, not only in Pittsburgh but around the world."</p><p>-BOB REGAN, author of <em>Pittsburgh Steps</em> and <em>Bridges of Pittsburgh</em></p><p><br></p><p>"Pittsburghers will love Paola Corso's mix of poetry and poetic imagery, from histories of the city's staircases to stories that unfolded along them over time. It's good to see the stairways being celebrated, preserved, and loved-in print and in real life."</p><p>-BRIAN A. BUTKO, author of <em>Greetings from the Lincoln Highway</em> and editor of <em>Western Pennsylvania History</em> magazine</p><p><br></p><p>"In poems contemplative, lyric, hybrid, and explosive, Corso stays true to her working-class roots. Though the altitude is often dizzying, the elevation is well worth it-and the best of poems, like these, always give us a touch of vertigo. This is a remarkably imaginative book, replete with stunning archival photographs and equally stunning photographs by Corso herself. A marvel!"</p><p>-JOSEPH BATHANTI, author of <em>The Life of the World to Come</em> and <em>East Liberty</em></p><p><br></p><br>

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