Literature of Philadelphia

Although Philadelphia is a very gritty city with a rich history that has shaped the United States, embarrassingly, I have little knowledge of literature about Philadelphia. I have read bits and pieces of one book set in Philadelphia. I know that there are books about Philadelphia’s history, but I am familiar with only two, Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman and Poor Richard’s Almanac by Benjamin Franklin. And we read both.

PHILADELPHIA FIREBy John Edgar Wideman

There are plenty of literary works in the universe about Philadelphia. However, when I am posed with the question “What books, if any, have you read about the city,” Philadelphia Fire is the only one that I’ve read and not even in its entirety. Even though Philadelphia Fire is a fictional work, it is based on the 1985 bombing of the MOVE House in West Philadelphia. I was five years old when that happened. The fire destroyed 65 houses and killed eleven people, including the leader of MOVE, John Africa and five children.

The MOVE Organization was an African-American “back to nature” liberation group founded by John Africa. They were a communal group, all living in a home on 62nd and Osage Avenue, in the Cobbs Creek area of Philadelphia. Neighbors had complained about the loud and obnoxious bullhorn announcements all hours of the day, horrible smells coming from the house and their intimidation of neighbors.

Philadelphia Fire is told from the point of view of a writer in search of his son, believed to be the only survivor of the fire. Parts of the book left me a bit confused. However, even though I did not complete the reading of the book, I did enjoy Wideman’s interpretation of the events that occurred. According to my grandmother, when the bombing occurred, we were on 60th Street eating a pizza—a stop on our way home, waiting for the bus. I found it interesting because I do not remember it, but she remembers every second, including being scared, not knowing what was going on.

I found Philadelphia Fire at my grandmother’s house when I had come home to visit from Iraq in 2006. She asked me if I remembered and I really didn’t. She gave me the book and told me to read it. Even though the historic events of the book are tragic, I liked the fusion of real events with fiction. I liked that the story centered on the main character and the search for his son rather than the actual fire while still telling the reader what had happened. You do know the book…and it’s a very important one as you indicate. I didn’t live in Philadelphia then, but I remember the event and it was about as bad as it gets.

Poor Richard's AlmanacBy Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, was an avid writer, composing man works such as “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” and contributed quite often to “The Pennsylvania Gazette”. Throughout middle and high school, I remember being assigned to read excerpts from “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” but never read it in its entirety. I knew that he had written more than “Poor Richard’s Almanac” but was never introduced to those writings nor encouraged to discover more of his writings. No need to read it all the way through…it’s a sense of it that is worthwhile. Old Ben is as relevant today as he was centuries ago!

Being from Philadelphia, having attended elementary and middle school in Philadelphia, I am a bit disappointed, now, that I was not introduced to more literature about Philadelphia, aside from the writings of Benjamin Franklin.

Before taking my Literature of Philadelphia course at Drexel University, I had extremely limited knowledge of the literature about or set in Philadelphia. Aside from historical documents and writings, I do not know of any other books about Philadelphia. I searched Google for books set in Philadelphia and what I found was a bit disappointing. Most of the books that came up in the search portrayed Philadelphia as a scary, dark, and negative place and I believe Philadelphia is so much more.

I remember the light and the beauty of Philadelphia as well as the scary and gritty. And I would love to read more about my home.