RavePittsburgh Jewish ChronicleIf you are wondering if an outsider could hope to capture the mood—maybe even the soul—of a neighborhood to which he does not belong following an unthinkably horrific event, I tender this take: Perhaps an outsider, as it turns out, is best suited to do so. Oppenheimer’s being far enough removed from Squirrel Hill allows him to observe meaningful details that could be too close in the line of vision for natives to see as clearly. Oppenheimer reports with candor and clarity in 18 chapters ... To be sure, he doesn’t cover everything that occurred in the year after the shooting, but he covers a lot and he does it well ... For the most part, the author’s depictions of people and events throughout Squirrel Hill are accurate and honest—sometimes to a fault: He exposes the good, as well as the not-so-good, in several community members. While those warts are surely there, I wondered if it was really necessary to reveal them ... In focusing his lens on the individuals who are Squirrel Hill, Oppenheimer has created an inspiring portrait of a resilient and, yes, loving community.
