The hidden corners of the city and the people who lived there are his subject. H
e captured the waterfront rooming-houses, nickel-a-drink saloons, all-night rest
aurants, the "visionaries, obsessives, imposters, fanatics, lost souls, the end-
is-near street preachers, old Gypsy Kings and old Gypsy Queens, and out-and-out
freak-show freaks". Mitchell's trademark curiosity, respect and graveyard humour
fuel these magical essays.
Written between 1943 and 1965, "Up in the Old Hot
el" is the complete collection of Joseph Mitchell's "New Yorker" journalism and
includes "McSorley's Wonderful Saloon", "Old Mr Flood", "The Bottom of the Harbo
ur" and "Joe Gould's Secret". "Joseph Mitchell is buried treasure"
