# Event Details - **Event Name**: An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner - **Event Start and End Date**: Tue, 28 Jul, 2026 at 07:00 pm – Tue, 28 Jul, 2026 at 08:30 pm - **Event Description**: Local author Ed Simon joins us to talk about his latest book, American Elegy.About this EventWe hope you will join us to hear from local author Ed Simon about his newest book, American Elegy. We will have time for Q&A with the audience after the talk followed by a time for book signing.Want to reserve your copy of the book? You can do so .About the author:Ed Simon is Special Faculty for Public Humanities in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and editor of Belt Magazine. A widely published author, his most recent books include Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain and The Soul of Pittsburgh: Essays on Life, Community and History.About the book:Before there was the United States, there was America. The former is a country, a nation, a geographic reality, but the latter is an idea. Invented more than discovered, “America” signified a revolutionary ideal of freedom, liberty, equality, and justice, what Tom Paine in Common Sense meant when he wrote that “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”Among the greatest expressions of that faith was the Declaration of Independence with its promise to forge a nation dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. American society and culture have always existed within the gulf of our stated aspirations and the actual reality, which has necessitated the forging of prophetic voices from Walt Whitman to Toni Morrison, Herman Melville to James Baldwin. Now, just as we prepare for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States is succumbing to authoritarianism and the noxious blood-and-soil nationalism which curses the faith in the universal and indispensable America.In response to this moment, noted cultural critic Ed Simon offers a rejoinder in American Elegy: Reflections on 250 Years of the Dis-United States of America. Compiling an assemblage that’s less a canon than a cultural mixtape, Simon presents fifty short chapters that are asynchronously organized works of flash criticism, meant to draw connections across time periods, which each celebrate an aspect of the “America” that’s larger, deeper, and broader than the mere United States. Here the Great American Novel meets the Great American Songbook; sign language converses with the blues; method acting shares the stage with Afrofuturism, and Superman plays baseball. Defining “literature” as broadly as possible, each of the works profiled critiques the status quo and imagines a better world.As cynical politicians deny the diversity, complexity, and actual beauty of American culture in favor of myths about the nation being made great again, Simon provides not just an elegy, but a challenge and celebration, as well as a repository, an archive, and a call to start over. In the tradition of Gary Wills and Greil Marcus, American Elegy charts a course to a land still undiscovered.About the conversation partner:Frank Lehner is a writer, educator, and award-winning book designer, and executive coach whose work explores storytelling’s power to shape experience and community. He has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, and for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. His community focus is on guiding youth and young adults to develop and apply their stories that serve to create believable lives rich with meaning, passion, and purpose.Deeply rooted in the urban pastoral of Pittsburgh, Lehner’s work finds grace, grit, and humor in the characters—human and otherwise—and wonder within. His poetry appears in diverse periodicals, and his plays have been staged in Pittsburgh and New York City. He holds a master’s in psychology from Duquesne University. His poetry collection, Mrs. Nussbaum’s Monkey, is from Bottom Dog Press (2025). Lehner and Jamie Lee Curtis, oddly enough, share the same SAT score. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/pittsburgh/an-evening-with-author-ed-simon-in-conversation-with-frank-lehner/100001991287950865 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, workshops, theatre, dog, storytelling, contests - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 - **Event Highlights**: - Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes - Location: Riverstone Books - Languages: English ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Pittsburgh - **state**: PA - **country**: United States - **location**: Riverstone Books - **lat**: 40.4381743 - **long**: -79.9212852 - **full address**: Riverstone Books, 5841 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events3/banners/bcf97c9cbba226ff4a8cfa413c3a08729d40597bb68bb875c1d678942c1d6c6f-rimg-w1200-h600-dc4c456e-gmir.jpg?v=1780955309 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner being held? - **A:** An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner takes place on Tue, 28 Jul, 2026 at 07:00 pm to Tue, 28 Jul, 2026 at 08:30 pm at Riverstone Books, 5841 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, United States. - **Q**: Who is organizing An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner? - **A:** An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner is organized by Riverstone Books. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** An Evening with Author Ed Simon in conversation with Frank Lehner is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Pittsburgh, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. 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Our experienced booksellers are voracious readers who love to match people to books they will love." } ] } ] ```