Joseph Mitchell's Up In The Old Hotel

Joseph Mitchell’s Up in the Old Hotel published in 1992 contain a collection of the best of his writings for The New Yorker dating back to the 1940s. The four books include McSorely’s Wonderful Saloon, Old Mr. Flood, The Bottom of the Harbor, and Joe Gould’s Secret. The books are still renowned to this day for their precise and respectful observations and portraits of eccentrics on the outskirt of New York’s social scene. One of these characters was Joe Gould, a penniless and unemployable man who came to the city in 1916, and barely got by for thirty-five years. Gould is portrayed as a homeless character that spends most of his time in Minetta Tavern, a restaurant located at the heart of the Greenwich Village on 113 Macdougal Street. Joe Gould depicts an aspiring writer who is alienated from every social circle possible due to his status as a beggar. Connecting this conception to a concept discussed in class is the portrayal and perspective on philosophers as similar to that of Joe Gould: an ugly beggar seen as an outsider to the city. This idea will be further examined with the discussion of the Minetta Tavern as the location of focus, past and present, and Gould’s connection to the tavern in relation to the philosopher’s connection to the city according to Socrates and Plato. Joe Gould’s Secret is the final piece of Joseph Mitchell’s Up In …show more content…
The restaurant was named after the Minetta Brook which ran southwest from 23rd Street to the Hudson River. Throughout history, the tavern was frequently visited by various well-known people such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Eugene O’Neill, E. E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas, and of course, Joe Gould. It was a hub for writers and poets. Today, the restaurant has been described as as Parisian steakhouse meeting a classic New York City tavern, and has even been awarded a Michelin Star. Having examined the menu, the