Joe Mitchell’s account of the eccentric man that is Joe Gould is a trip to read. The writer’s writing style is very modern, easygoing and thoroughly detailed. An example of this is evident in his first profile of Joe Gould, Professor Sea Gull:
“Gould is a night wanderer, and he has put down descriptions of dreadful things he has seen on dark New York streets—descriptions, for example, of the herds of big gray rats that come out in the hours before dawn in some neighborhoods of the lower east Side and Harlem and unconcernedly walk the sidewalks”
Mitchell’s long sentence is a journey to Gould’s world, full of details and whimsies that not only describe the man’s environment, but the man’s personality, as well. Despite his long sentences, Mitchell has control. He doesn’t leave the reader astray and lost, but instead, he keeps them interested and immersed.
I wouldn’t refer to Mitchell’s writing as dated, but it is timeless. It is an interesting type of writing that takes both from journalistic and literary style. The journalistic writing comes from his detailed descriptions of Gould’s appearance, history, and the place he resides in. Mitchell’s literary voice comes through the way he lays down these descriptions in a style that almost reads like a novel. Joe Gould almost seems like a character from a fictional story, and a very interesting one at that. The story could be considered as feature writing if it weren’t for the overly specific details that somewhat leads me to question Mitchell’s approach in obtaining them.
Mitchell’s two profiles show Gould in two different lights. In the first profile, Professor Sea Gull, Mitchell describes Gould through the surface, such as his physical appearance, the tone of his voice, his attitude towards others and the details that Mitchell took from Gould as truth. Mitchell is also absent from this first profile. In the second profile, Joe Gould’s Secret, Mitchell digs further down the surface of the eccentric man through his own eyes. For the first time, Mitchell used the word, “I” to refer to his own personal experience of being with Gould. It puts not only Gould’s true personality into perspective, but his relationship to the writer, as well. His second profile, oddly enough, made Joe Gould a real person, as opposed to a legendary character in a fictional story.
The fictional “oral history” that Gould had made up to create his own identity is not a surprise to me. It almost reminds me of Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, with the impressive way he tried to recreate himself through lies. It is heartbreaking on Mitchell’s part to have his trust broken, but it does show clear-cut honesty in his writing.
