Description
Author Joseph Mitchell
Publisher Pantheon Books
Format hardcover with dustjacket
Condition like new
Summary
First Edition includes clipping of author's obit
Joseph Mitchell’s Up in the Old Hotel is a timeless collection of essays and profiles that capture the eccentric, forgotten, and resilient souls of New York City. First published by Pantheon Books, this volume compiles Mitchell’s legendary New Yorker pieces, chronicling the city’s waterfront characters, street preachers, eccentric hermits, and working-class dreamers with unparalleled empathy and lyrical precision.
Mitchell, a master of literary journalism, brings to life figures like Joe Gould, an enigmatic bohemian claiming to write an endless oral history of America, and Mazie Gordon, the indomitable ticket-seller of a Bowery theater known for her care of the homeless. With prose that is both poetic and precise, Up in the Old Hotel transforms everyday lives into literary treasures, illuminating the grit and humanity of those who lived on the city’s fringes.
This particular copy includes a newspaper clipping of Joseph Mitchell’s passing, making it a rare and poignant collector’s piece. A must-read for lovers of New York history, narrative nonfiction, and classic journalism, this book is a profound testament to Mitchell’s gift for storytelling and his ability to find wonder in the overlooked.