Pittsburgh’s fearless features reporter Rege Behe talked “Littsburgh” with Tim Federle after his recent interview with him for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — you can read that feature here!
Tim Federle is the award-winning author of the autobiographical novels Better Nate Than Ever and its sequel Five, Six, Seven, Nate! (Lambda Literary Award winner), which were named best books of the year by the New York Times and the American Booksellers Association, respectively. The Great American Whatever (“a Holden Caulfield for a new generation” — Kirkus Reviews) was inspired by an accident near Tim’s high school in Pittsburgh that changed the community forever.
When Tim Federle was 15, he and his best friend had a dream: They would go to New York City, see a show on Broadway and “just go all over town.”
Federle is now living that dream. The author of the new young adult title, The Great American Whatever (Simon & Schuster), he’s also co-writing (with Claudia Shear) the book for Tuck Everlasting, now in previews at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway.
Not bad for a guy who admits to liking Primanti Brother’s and the Galleria Mall, has fond memories of taking dance classes at Point Park University, and calls the Benedum Center, where he performed as a dancer in many shows, his spiritual center.
Going to Pittsburgh when he was a teen “felt like a big journey,” Federle says. “It felt sophisticated and kind of gritty.”
Federele was eager to move to New York after high school and start a life where he didn’t have to worry about being bullied (one of the themes of The Great American Whatever). In retrospect, however, he now appreciates the advantages of living in Pittsburgh.
“Now that I’ve survived 16 years in New York, you see the arguments for living in a city on the scale of Pittsburgh,” Federle says. “There’s an argument for a place that has more of a hometown feel, that’s more commutable, more affordable.”
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