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A. J. Liebling Reading
Read through all of the Liebling material and select one piece to critique on our blog. Please upload before class. Do not password protect this post.
Your critique should include what works and what doesn’t work with specific examples, and a discussion of the writer’s literary style.
How does Liebling’s New York compare to NYC in 2013?
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Washington Heights Profile: Mike Final
Subway Game & Phone, a video games/electronics store in upper Washington Heights, was a thriving business until its owner Mike abruptly decided to stop selling video games entirely, for a reason not oftentimes paired with business decisions.
Mike found himself at a pivotal moment in his career due to lifestyle changes he had made, and decided to shift radically the business model of his store. His decision to stop selling video games, as detrimental as it was to his business, was in his opinion, the best decision he could have made for himself, as a Christian man.
The store, which got its namesake from being located directly across the street from the 191st Street 1 train station, had been in business since 2002, with Mike working in it “since around 2003. I became manager about three years into it, and then I officially became the owner in 2011.” Over time, he noticed trends with his customers, mainly that business would be “slower in the summer time, people don’t really want to stay indoors playing video games.”
For this reason, very few games are released in the summer months, with the majority of high profile releases coming out in the fall months of October and November. As a result of the slower business, Mike said it’s “why we have more than just video games; we also sell cell phones and things to make up for the slow times.”
The decision to cut video games out of his business came from a personal obligation to his faith as a Christian. “A few months after becoming a Christian,” Mike said, ” I started feeling guilty selling violent and demonic video games to the community, to young people. So, even though it was a bad business decision, sometimes you have to make sacrifices for what’s truly important.” After he made his decision, “the store started doing poorly sales-wise… I felt overwhelmed and was going to start selling the video games again and do the rated E (kid friendly) games, but on the day that I was going to do it, coincidentally, or, providentially, someone – another Christian –was in the store, sharing his testimony with my brother who was working here that day. I was overhearing their conversation and I had an inner feeling that the lord was telling me, ‘if you come back to selling video games, what happened to that man is going to happen to you.’” This not only changed Mike’s mind on the decision, but further cemented his view on the new vision for his business.
As a result of the drastic shift in the business model, the range of customers visiting the store has shifted. “Fewer kids are coming; it’s an older crowd now.” The interview itself was interrupted several times due to customers coming in to ask questions about their phones or purchase new components for them.
Business has actually slowed down to the point where Mike is looking to sell the business, as early as the first week of October. The price of rent has “increased by a certain percentage every month since we got here” and it is difficult to pay my bills without the video game sales. The business “would’ve survived even if the rent increased, if we would’ve stayed selling video games, but it’s one of those major life decisions that affect the rest of your life.”
The experience of running a business in Washington Heights negatively impacted Mike, as he explained that running a store is “too much work… in the hours it’s closed, you’re consumed with it. You’re still thinking about it.” He prefers the idea of working for someone else now, because “when you’re the boss, you’re always thinking about how to make it better, responsibilities you have to do, and all these different things.” Ultimately, on running one’s own business, he said “unless you’re doing something that you really love” he wouldn’t recommend doing it.
Joe Gould–
Joseph Mitchell’s writing style is not outdated or old fashioned. His writing style doesn’t seem to have aged because his writing style is very descriptive and informative. He allows his readers to get a detailed sense of images and how the world operated back then. Still today the different environments mentioned in Mitchell’s book exist in many communities. Stories like Gould’s are still shared through Mitchell’s novel but aren’t heard from everyone experiencing the same situation.
It is true that Gould is lost throughout the novel trying to find him-self and his book he writes is of his own adventure, a diary that he can relate to and symbolizes meaning to him. Mitchell clearly admires Joseph Gould because of his bravery and attitude of not caring of what others thought of him. He wasn’t stopped or didn’t stop his Joe Gould’s fund because of his fear of what people would think of him. Although he has come from a wealthy family, he chooses to live by the streets and let his own faith lead him.
Some may think of this as foolish and reckless behavior but this didn’t stop Gould from what he’d tell people about his Oral history book that didn’t exist to begin with. He was careless about actions and didn’t want responsibility. I feel that Mitchell admired that so he wanted to make his feature story on Joe Gould as interesting as it was because of this appreciation of coming across such an interesting character.
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Cristabelle Tumola, Queens Writer–
Whether it’s reading, traveling, or seeking a new adventure, Manhattan resident, Cristabelle Tumola, 30 not only enjoys herself during her spare time but she is passionate about writing stories to help inform people about the news and everyday events.
Cristabelle Tumola who is the web editor of the Queens Courier gets the privilege to cover news stories not only in her neighborhood but in other surrounding boroughs. She says “everything gets boring.” Tumola has an interest in reporting on a wide range of stories, “I love crime, cultural stories [chuckles], political stories, ‘cause everything gets boring [when] covering one topic. My passion is covering New York City news.” Says Tumola.
During her days at work she contributes to the Queens Courier website. This consists of deciding what articles to put up, what gets put in the top five for the newspaper, choosing short pieces. “I also do social media– Facebook and Twitter page, online related stuff, magazines as well, daily email blasts of stories we put together during the day. Sometimes I write a story or two for the paper.”
She has always had an interest in Journalism since her junior year in High school. Tumola attended Sarah Lawrence College and then Columbia University- Graduate school of Journalism located in Manhattan, New York. In college, she was fortunate to pursue her interests in magazines, arts and culture by taking part in an internship. During her graduate school days in 2005, Facebook, the social network was becoming more involved with social networking. Having to decide what direction to get into with a change in internet and the way the news was being delivered; Tumola figured out that she would need to learn new skills. Being torn between newspapers and online media Tumola started to crave a different path to a more interesting career in Online Journalism. As for now, she focuses on local news.
The biggest difference between with writing for a newspaper rather than a website is clearly the way the news gets delivered. According to Tumola, “for a community newspaper you can cover a lot of small issues, everything that’s going on and how it relates to the people”.
Tumola has been writing since attending Graduate School at Columbia University, Tumola took part in writing local stories for Gravesend, a Brooklyn neighborhood. There she took part in the Jewish Voice. She started out doing features articles for weekly news stories. There she contributed gathering of research, editing and writing articles for a biweekly community newspaper on diverse topics regarding local news, politics, fashion and travel.
Her editor at the time, Jen Berkley, 39 who is now a special assistant to New York City council member Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn District 41 says, from the time she knew Cristabelle Tumola, “she had always been interested in learning new things and doing new things.” She has had the pleasure of working with Cristabelle since 2005. Although they both are leading in different paths of Journalism, they are still in contact with one another. According to Jen Berkley, Tumola “enjoys spending time with her friends, she’s a very bubbly charismatic, intelligent person, she always knows what is going on. She learns very quickly, and she is a good person.”
Berkley isn’t surprised by Tumolas’ change of writing interests “she has always been a strong writer, what’s different is the way she approaches the subject matter and the kinds of stories she’s writing” Says Berkley.
Other than sharing an interest in Journalism news both Berkley and Tumola share similar life changing events. They are both the aunts of nephews, both have brothers who have kids, and have lost their mothers’ quite young. This bond has allowed them to go from work partners to friends. They still attend events together and share stories from time to time.
Making just a year in her current position at the Queens Courier, Cristabelle Tumola wants to continue in the path of online content. “There has been an increase in the wider issues. The community wants to know about both,” Says Tumola. “I’m open to whatever.”
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Protected: Small Business Query – Our Town Grille
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Joseph Mitchell “Joe Gould’s Secret” Questions
I asked you to upload a post on the Joseph Mitchell reading, Joe Gould’s Secret.
Try to answer the following questions:
How would your describe Mitchell’s writing style? Give a few examples to illustrate his techniques. Is his writing style, old-fashioned or dated? Would you call this feature writing? Mitchell wrote two profiles of Joe Gould. The first was written in 1942 and it was called, “Professor Sea Gull.” The second was published in 1964 and it was called, “Joe Gould’s Secret.” Why do you think he wrote TWO pieces on Gould? How are these profiles different? Does Mitchell reveal his own point-0f-view on Gould in the stories? Were you surprised to learn the TRUTH about The Oral History?
Have fun writing this post! If you would like to do so, try writing it in Mitchell’s style!
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Protected: Small Business Query: Doraly Variety
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Tagged Margarita Lappost
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Protected: Small business Query Spanish Harlem
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