The Bottom of the Harbor
by Joseph Mitchell
Published by Pantheon Book
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Reviewed by Gene Hayworth
When Joseph Mitchell died in 1996 at the age of 87, the obituary that appeared in the New York Times, May 25, 1996, called him the “chronicler of the unsung and the unconventional.” Mitchell began his career as a writer for The New York Herald Tribune in 1929. His career spanned the 1930s to the 1960s. He joined The New Yorker in 1938, and the pieces he contributed to that magazine have continued to gather momentum, taking on a life of their own. The six essays offered in this collection, a revised edition of The Bottom of the Harbor, were first published between 1944 and 1959.
Mitchell came to New York from rural North Carolina, and quickly found a fascination with life in the city. His essays, a combination of oral history, natural history, and psychological observation, reflect his love for the people and the surroundings of New York, with a special emphasis on fishermen and others involved in life around the harbor.
The first essay in the collection, “Up in the Old Hotel,” is a kind of mystery—from a restaurant on the ground floor of a building near the Fulton Fish Market, Mitchell leads the reader to wonder along with him what the abandoned floors above may hold. It is this idea of mystery, things hidden from view, which permeate his stories. Whether he is describing the rat infestations on board ships in the harbor or the wild flowers growing in graveyards, his eye for detail is captivating. The narrative in each essay unfolds slowly, following a kind of wandering trajectory like the paths Mitchell takes to visit the individuals whose stories he relates with charm.
The Bottom of the Harbor is a book to be enjoyed slowly. The characters and settings are vividly drawn. The historical detail will delight those readers with an interest in New York’s past, and the oral histories will captivate those readers who have a penchant for dialogue and psychology.
Armchair Interviews says: First-class essays all will enjoy.