My Ears Are Bent

My Ears Are Bent collects Joseph Mitchell's early newspaper writing from the 1930s, featuring profiles and stories from his time at The Herald Tribune and The World-Telegram. The book presents Mitchell's encounters with characters from New York City's streets, bars, and marketplaces. Mitchell's subjects range from Bowery bums and street preachers to gypsies and bearded ladies. His reporting captures their speech patterns, habits, and life philosophies through extended conversations and keen observation. Mitchell writes in a straightforward style that emphasizes facts and quotations while allowing his subjects' personalities to emerge naturally. The pieces avoid judgment or moralizing, instead focusing on precise details and authentic voices. The collection serves as a document of Depression-era New York City life and demonstrates Mitchell's development of literary journalism techniques that influenced generations of writers. The stories reveal the dignity and humanity present in overlooked or marginalized people and places.

Readers appreciate Mitchell's keen observations and portraits of 1930s New York characters, from gangsters to bearded ladies. The journalistic pieces maintain a reportorial distance while capturing intimate details and memorable dialogue. Many note his ability to find compelling stories in ordinary places and people. Several readers found the collection uneven, with some pieces feeling dated or less engaging than others. A few mentioned the book lacks the depth and polish of Mitchell's later work like "Up in the Old Hotel." Specific reader comments highlight Mitchell's "sharp eye for human nature" and "ability to make everyday people fascinating." Others note his "understated humor" and "matter-of-fact treatment of eccentric subjects." Ratings: Goodreads: 4.1/5 (186 ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (24 reviews) LibraryThing: 4.0/5 (31 ratings) Most common criticism: "Some pieces feel like rough drafts compared to his later writing" and "The organization feels random."

Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell Chronicles New York City's forgotten characters and neighborhoods through vivid journalistic portraits from the 1930s to 1960s.

The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling Captures the world of boxing and its characters in mid-century New York through first-hand reportage and profiles.

About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made by Ben Yagoda Documents the history, writers, and cultural impact of The New Yorker magazine during its golden age of literary journalism.

Mitchell & Roth by Richard Cook Studies the parallel careers of Joseph Mitchell and Henry Roth as they chronicled immigrant life in Depression-era New York.

On the Town: One Hundred Years of Spectacle in Times Square by Marshall Berman Examines Times Square's transformation through profiles of the personalities who shaped New York's cultural landscape.

🗞️ Joseph Mitchell was one of the first journalists to pioneer the literary non-fiction style that would later become known as New Journalism, influencing writers like Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese. 📝 The book's title "My Ears Are Bent" refers to the act of listening intently to people's stories - a skill Mitchell was famous for as he chronicled the lives of New York City's eccentric characters and forgotten citizens. 🏙️ Mitchell wrote most of these pieces while working at The New York World-Telegram and The Herald Tribune in the 1930s, capturing a vivid portrait of Depression-era New York City. 🤐 After publishing "Joe Gould's Secret" in 1964, Mitchell continued going to his office at The New Yorker every day for the next 32 years but never published another word, though he constantly wrote and revised. 🗺️ Many of Mitchell's stories focused on the Fulton Fish Market, McSorley's Old Ale House, and other downtown Manhattan locations that served as gathering places for the colorful characters he documented - several of which still exist today.