Dawn of the Dead

Set in Philadelphia, filmed in Pittsburgh, George Romero’s 1978 film locates the zombie apocalypse in  the deindustrialized landscape and highlights class conflict.

Everyday People and Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O’Nan

O’Nan has set several of his novels in his hometown of Pittsburgh, including Everyday People, told through the perspectives of 11 women and men, all but one African-American, in the East Liberty neighborhood in the late 1990s. Through their eyes, O’Nan considers how economic decline and racism intertwine, with a focus on variations of black working-class masculinity.

Last Night at the Lobster takes us to a suburban Red Lobster on its closing night, a snowy Christmas Eve. Here, O’Nan turns our attention to contemporary working-class jobs.