Re: What are people reading?


Subject: Re: What are people reading?
From: Ed Fenning (ed361@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Feb 03 2000 - 21:09:14 EST


--- Tim O'Connor <tim@roughdraft.org> wrote:
> At 2:08 PM -0800 on 2/3/2000, Ed wrote:
>
> > The last book I finished was Joe Gould's Secret.
>
> What did you think of this book?

     It is interesting to contrast the two pieces.
The first was a short Profile written during the 40's.
It is a sympathetic description of the then "current"
Joe Gould who was still alive and kicking (and
drinking). It was "of the moment" neither going into
great detail, nor ruffling any feathers (the
publishers, Mitchell's audience, nor Joe's seagulls).
 
     The second, written about 20 years later,
willingly gave true color and a more complete
background to the lengthy relationship between Gould
and Mitchell.

I liked both essays. Mitchell was a caring man, and
it shows in that he continued to see Gould and assist
in looking after him; one writer helping another, who
possibly was afflicted with some sort of mental
illness. Mitchell showed great empathy with Gould,
who was written off by his father at an early age but
continued to lovingly write and rewrite essays about
him.

> I've often wondered if he and Salinger might have
bumped into each other and that Mitchell would have
been able to write a devastatingly insightful profile
of Salinger.

- Go check out those New Yorker archives in Archives
and Manuscripts Jim! Or find out where Mitchell's
personal papers are.

Up in the Old Hotel.

Thanks so much for the tip about that! I'll have to
seek it out. That era is my parents' New York,
Berenice Abbott's photos, something (along with the
old Penn station) that I was lucky to get glimpses of
being born in '50 and aware of the city between '55
and '57 when we would go in from Queens. I DO NOT,
unfortnately, have ANY memories of the Third Ave. El
(check out a book call "By The El" though - a
collection of color photos (from the original
Kodachrome slides!) of the El and it's east side
neighborhoods between '51 and '55)

 
> BTW, the Minetta Tavern is still there, where Gould
> held court so
> long ago, but much of the rest is gone, especially
> the "cafeterias."

Walked by it many times but never stopped in. I'll
have to do it - maybe Bananafishers can do that at the
next meeting.

- Ed

(That would be my all time favorite period to time
travel to - New York City; 1940-49 Charlie Parker and
everything! Let others time travel to the Gettysberg
Address, the Crusades, or the old Testament era)
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