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Title: Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories by Joseph Mitchell ISBN: 0-679-74631-5 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 July, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (22 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Mythical New York
Comment: Joseph Mitchell may be the best writer ever to have worked on the 'New Yorker' staff (the other contenders would include Edmund Wilson and A. J. Liebling). Every story in this long book is worth reading, and re-reading; the later pieces, from 'The Bottom of the Harbour' and especially 'Joe Gould's Secret' are tours-de-force of reporting. Mitchell invests his characters with so much life that they take on almost mythical proportions, without ever sacrificing their humanity. Although Mitchell often chose to write about people on the margins of society -- a homeless beggar like Joe Gould, a bearded lady, the hard-drinking Hugh Flood -- he never did so in a patronising manner. He admires these people not because of their struggles or hard lives, but despite them: he sees them, and makes us see them, as fellow human beings, not social welfare cases. Mitchell freely admits that listening to Joe Gould was a strain, and that Gould could be, like people who own houses and property and know where their next meal is coming from, selfish and mean-spirited; far from making Gould unattractive, this serves to make him come alive - homeless people don't become plaster saints, and it's silly to pretend otherwise. A key component in these stories is Mitchell's own persona, which is much like his prose style: quiet, unassertive, but immensely attractive. It is a great pity that, for whatever reason, Mitchell fell silent for the last thirty years of his life; but any sadness can be assuaged by dipping back into 'Up in the Old Hotel', where Mitchell's brilliant handling of detail and character -- and his shapely way with the structure of a profile, always dovetailing to a perfect close -- can be sampled time and again.
Rating: 5
Summary: Truly enlightening and entrancing
Comment: I was so engrossed in this book that everything else stopped for me for about a week. Joseph Mitchell's language is easy and clever, always informational and so entertaining that you read every word instead of skipping. The sentences themselves are so beautifully crafted that you find yourself anticipating their rhythms in your head as if following along with a beautiful melody. Not only does he tell you more than you'll ever want to know on any subject he writes about, but he does it in such a respectful, compassionate way to the subject of his attention that you can't help but love him. My favorite story was "Up in the Old Hotel." Throughout this entire tale, I was entirely riveted waiting for the disclosure, excited in a way that only the very best movies elicit. When I'd read it, I laid the book down and thought about it for a long time. It was such a cliffhanger, and deeply interesting. Joseph Mitchell has definitely had his influence on other writers -- for instance, I seem to sense that Susan Orlean ("The Orchid Thief" -- another excellent book crammed full of interesting information and human insights) who also works for "The New Yorker" is a disciple of his. I will definitely be revisiting this book to experience his magical world, and I have it in my library of "don't lends".
Rating: 5
Summary: Engrossing
Comment: I was first introduced to this author through his obituary (odd, I know). He appeared in an anthology of obituaries (Last Word - Obituaries from the NY Times) and I was intrigued enough to buy this collection of stories and profiles that appeared mostly in the New Yorker in the 30' and 40's. What a talent! His work is evocative and caring. The most ordinary citizen (or not so ordinary) has a story that he hears and probably no one else listens to. He conveys to his reader a gentle sense of life and
struggle and humor.
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Title: My Ears Are Bent by Joseph Mitchell ISBN: 0375421033 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: McSorley's Wonderful Saloon by Joseph Mitchell, Calvin Trillin ISBN: 0375421025 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Joe Gould's Secret by Joseph Mitchell ISBN: 0375708049 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Tummy Trilogy by Calvin Trillin ISBN: 0374524173 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 30 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: On the Town in New York: The Landmark History of Eating, Drinking, and Entertainments from the American Revolution to the Food Revolution by Michael Batterberry, Ariane Batterberry ISBN: 0415920205 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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