{"product_id":"man-in-profile-joseph-mitchell-of-the-new-yorker-9780375508905","title":"Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of the New Yorker","description":"\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE SPERBER PRIZE - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eSAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE\u003c\/i\u003e AND \u003ci\u003ePUBLISHERS WEEKLY\u003c\/i\u003e -\u003c\/b\u003e This fascinating biography reveals the untold story of the legendary\u003ci\u003e New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e profile writer--author of \u003ci\u003eJoe Gould's Secret\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eUp in the Old Hotel\u003c\/i\u003e--and unravels the mystery behind one of literary history's greatest disappearing acts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn and raised in North Carolina, Joseph Mitchell was Southern to the core. But from the 1930s to the 1960s, he was \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e voice of New York City. Readers of \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker \u003c\/i\u003echerished his intimate sketches of the people who made the city tick--from Mohawk steelworkers to Staten Island oystermen, from homeless intellectual Joe Gould to Old John McSorley, founder of the city's most famous saloon. Mitchell's literary sensibility combined with a journalistic eye for detail produced a writing style that would inspire New Journalism luminaries such as Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, and Joan Didion. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Then, all of a sudden, his stories stopped appearing. For thirty years, Mitchell showed up for work at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, \u003c\/i\u003e but he produced . . . nothing. Did he have something new and exciting in store? Was he working on a major project? Or was he bedeviled by an epic case of writer's block? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The first full-length biography of Joseph Mitchell, based on the thousands of archival pages he left behind and dozens of interviews, \u003ci\u003eMan in Profile\u003c\/i\u003e pieces together the life of this beloved and enigmatic literary legend and answers the question that has plagued readers and critics for decades: What was Joe Mitchell \u003ci\u003edoing\u003c\/i\u003e all those years? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e By the time of his death in 1996, Mitchell was less well known for his elegant writing than for his J. D. Salinger-like retreat from the public eye. For thirty years, Mitchell had wandered the streets of New York, chronicling the lives of everyday people and publishing them in the most prestigious publication in town. But by the 1970s, crime, homelessness, and a crumbling infrastructure had transformed the city Mitchell understood so well and spoke for so articulately. He could barely recognize it. As he said to a friend late in life, \"I'm living in a state of confusion.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Fifty years after his last story appeared, and almost two decades after his death, Joseph Mitchell still has legions of fans, and his story--especially the mystery of his \"disappearance\"--continues to fascinate. With a colorful cast of characters that includes Harold Ross, A. J. Liebling, Tina Brown, James Thurber, and William Shawn, \u003ci\u003eMan in Profile\u003c\/i\u003e goes a long way to solving that mystery--and bringing this lion of American journalism out of the shadows that once threatened to swallow him. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eMan in Profile\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\" An] authoritative new biography  about] our greatest literary journalist . . . Kunkel is the ideal biographer of Joseph Mitchell: As . . . a writer and craftsman worthy of his subject.\"\u003cb\u003e--Blake Bailey, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e(Editor's Choice)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A richly persuasive portrait of a man who cared about everybody and everything.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Mitchell's life and achievements are brought vividly alive in  this] splendid book.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A thoughtful and sympathetic new biography.\"\u003cb\u003e--Ruth Franklin, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Excellent . . . A first-rate Mitchell biography was very much in order.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/28\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780375508905\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.40h x 6.50w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2014 pg. 57\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2015 pg. 10\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/09\/2015 pg. 57\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2015 pg. 114\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/23\/2015 pg. 60\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker (The)\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/27\/2015 pg. 78\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/31\/2015 pg. 50\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/24\/2015 pg. 18\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/02\/2015 pg. 43\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Thomas Kunkel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45017814696117,"sku":"9780375508905","price":25.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_6d5903d1-a990-41ad-984d-b42fb01ff924.jpg?v=1736832989","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/man-in-profile-joseph-mitchell-of-the-new-yorker-9780375508905","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}