Writing about the economic collapse and social unrest of her 1970s childhood in Buffalo, New York, Laura Pedersen was struck by how things were finally improving in her beloved hometown. As 2008 began, Buffalo was poised to become the thriving metropolis it had been a hundred years earlier—only instead of grain and steel, the booming industries now included healthcare and banking, education and technology. Folks who'd moved away due to lack of opportunity in the 1980s talked excitedly about returning home. They mised the small-town friendliness and it wasn't nostalgia for a past that no longer existed—Buffalo has long held the well-deserved nickname the City of Good Neighbors.
The diaspora has ended. Preservationists are winning out over demolition crews. The lights are back on in a city that's usually associated with blizzards and blight rather than its treasure trove of art, architecture, and culture.
Review By: Terry Shannon, Book Reporter.com - November 25, 2010
Laura Pedersen obviously adores Buffalo, the city she grew up in, and she's not one bit shy about singing its praises. At the same time, she ably skewers its idiosyncrasies, colorful characters and general oddity in a hilariously understated comic patter... Although rife with in-jokes for Buffalo locals, making it a must-read for East Coasters, BUFFALO UNBOUND abounds with entertainment (along with many riveting facts) for those who have never experienced the area firsthand. Pedersen's essays are love letters to her favorite city - seemingly penned by a cross between anthropologist Margaret Mead and the likes of Dave Barry.
Review By: Sarah Hodon, The Compulsive Reader (blog) - April 11, 2011
Through her nostalgic but realistic lens, readers may find themselves looking at their own hometowns in a new way—one that is not the idyllic memory l£.
![Buffalo Unbound: A Celebration [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/5/7/1/2_427135.jpg "Buffalo Unbound: A Celebration [Paperback]")