[citation needed] Struggle, poverty, discrimination, and other forces beyond the characters' control tell the story of a troubled group of people.

The novel's title refers to the central role of the steel mill in the family's life and in the history of the Pittsburgh region.

Out of This Furnace is regularly used as required reading in universities to introduce students to the history of immigration, industrialization, and the rise of trade unionism, as well as to the genre of the American working class novel.

[citation needed] The novel was adapted into a play by Andy Wolk, and Pittsburgh theatre company Iron Clad Agreement mounted a well-received production of it in 1977.

[1][2] Unseam'd Shakespeare Company mounted successful productions of the play in 2008 (as part of Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary)[3] and 2011.