by Mayara Guimaraes
The introduction to Joseph Mitchell’s “Joe Gould’s Secret” tells the readers that the book contains two different perspectives of the same person. Therefore, it should have been no surprise for me that I had two different opinions of the same person. However, I was more than surprised by it. I was shocked.
The first part of the book makes you love Joe Gould. You see him as a piece of art, as part of New York’s Village and as a citizen of the world. You learn to appreciate his strange personality, and even to admire his choices in life. Joe wanted to live free. He wanted to escape his memories, and at the same time, that was all he wanted to talk about (and write about). You keep wishing you could go talk to him.
The second part gives you more to think about. Is Joe lazy? Is he a parasite? Does he have the most annoying personality in the world? Does he deserve the life he has? Is he a big liar?
But as Mitchell, the reader goes deep into the secret of Joe Gould, and a better understanding takes place the introduction makes more sense.
Joe Gould is definitely an interesting figure, and as the book ended I still felt that I would love to chat with him and give a contribution to the Joe Gould club. But the real character of the book to me is Joseph Mitchell. While writing about Gould, the journalist revels so much about himself that it becomes impossible not to fall for him. He reveals himself as such a beautiful human being and great journalist that for a student like me, he becomes the real hero.
Joseph Mitchell’s “Joe Gould’s Secret” is one of the best books I ever read because it speaks about human nature, and the monsters we face, revealing on top of it all, that we are our own worst enemy.