Mr. Personality : Profiles and Talk Pieces

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Ever since William Shawn hired him, at 24, in 1974, to write Talk of the Town pieces for the New Yorker , Tulsa-born Mark Singer ( Funny Money ) has been a genuine New Yorker, whose delightfully whimsical interviews with fellow townspeople have brought joy to readers everywhere. Among these 31 reprinted pieces are portraits not only of three eminent retireesradio humorist Goodman Ace, TV news producer Gordon Manning and Bill Schifrin, who sold wedding rings for 40 years on W. 47th St.but also of zipper repairman Herbert Stiefel, knife sharpener Lenny Binelli, penal museum curator Joe Baranyi, pigeon mumbler Patrick Sottile and auto wreck renter Larry Cohen. Other pieces profile the five Brennan brothers, who live in and superintend East Side luxury apartment houses; former traveling bow-tie salesman and active theatrical dealmaker Sam Cohen; and sidewalk violin serenader Rubin Levine, who has a repertoire of 30,000 tunes (``if time permits''). There's something, and somebody, here for everyone. (Jan.)

Library Journal

Readers who think The New Yorker too snobby will find new pleasures in this selection from its brief ``Talk-of-the-Town'' sketches and more lengthy ``Profiles.'' His tales piquant as humorous short fiction, his dialogue reminiscent of New Yorker cartoons, Singer follows some marvelous charactersstreet musicians, apartment supers, murder trial fansthrough their daily rounds in New York. He gets close to a few power centers, where moxie finds its ultimate reward. But his favorite subject is a middle-class male whose simple passion for his job or hobby allows him to flourish in a hostile big-city environment. The effect can be inspirational even when the tone is not. A good choice for public libraries, certainly for those in the New York area. Donald Ray, Manhattanville Coll. Lib., Purchase, N.Y.