Joseph Mitchell's work has proven crucial to the development of literary journalism in the twentieth century. His use of characterization, dialogue, and symbolism created a model for literary journalists, and he was widely respected as one of the best reporters and interviewers of his age. Yet he published nothing between his last original work in 1964 and his final best-selling book in 1992. Even during that absence he continued to influence the work of succeeding generations of nonfiction writers.

In 1992 contemporary readers were introduced to the New Yorker prose of Joseph Mitchell with the publication of Up in the Old Hotel. This collection of four earlier books, plus seven previously uncollected stories and articles, appeared almost twenty-eight years after Mitchell's last published book; it made The New York Times best-seller list and the "Books of the Year" list in Time. Reviewers were effusive in their praise, declaring that Mitchell was...