Joe Gould
@professorseagull.bsky.social
I’m Joe Gould, the poet; I’m Joe Gould, the historian; I’m Joe Gould, the wild Chippewa Indian dancer; and I’m Joe Gould, the greatest authority in the world on the language of the sea gull.
NY Sun, Dec, 23, 1943: "In Greenwich Village the Club Caravan comes forth with a Bearded Bard's Night... Poets and writers including Maxwell Bodenheim, Joe Gould, Anton Romatka, Dante Pavoni, John Rose Gildea and Frank McCruder will be present to participate in this literary jam session..."
September 14, 2026 at 2:05 PM
NY Sun, Dec, 23, 1943: "In Greenwich Village the Club Caravan comes forth with a Bearded Bard's Night... Poets and writers including Maxwell Bodenheim, Joe Gould, Anton Romatka, Dante Pavoni, John Rose Gildea and Frank McCruder will be present to participate in this literary jam session..."
GLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
Comrades and tovariski,
We demand a five-cent whiskey!
(Quoted in NY Sun, 6/30/39)
Comrades and tovariski,
We demand a five-cent whiskey!
(Quoted in NY Sun, 6/30/39)
September 13, 2026 at 5:30 PM
GLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
Comrades and tovariski,
We demand a five-cent whiskey!
(Quoted in NY Sun, 6/30/39)
Comrades and tovariski,
We demand a five-cent whiskey!
(Quoted in NY Sun, 6/30/39)
CASH CONSCIOUSNESS
I would give a month’s salary
to sleep with you, my dear,
If I worked for the government
at a dollar a year.
(from "VI," a chapbook containing six short poems by Joe Gould, privately printed for John S. Mayfield in 1943)
I would give a month’s salary
to sleep with you, my dear,
If I worked for the government
at a dollar a year.
(from "VI," a chapbook containing six short poems by Joe Gould, privately printed for John S. Mayfield in 1943)
September 13, 2026 at 5:30 PM
CASH CONSCIOUSNESS
I would give a month’s salary
to sleep with you, my dear,
If I worked for the government
at a dollar a year.
(from "VI," a chapbook containing six short poems by Joe Gould, privately printed for John S. Mayfield in 1943)
I would give a month’s salary
to sleep with you, my dear,
If I worked for the government
at a dollar a year.
(from "VI," a chapbook containing six short poems by Joe Gould, privately printed for John S. Mayfield in 1943)
History illustrates human nature. I use only material I have myself observed or heard at first hand. The radio is beginning to cramp my style. If I hear a speech, I have to put it down -- well, anyway, what I remember of it.
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
September 11, 2026 at 2:20 PM
History illustrates human nature. I use only material I have myself observed or heard at first hand. The radio is beginning to cramp my style. If I hear a speech, I have to put it down -- well, anyway, what I remember of it.
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
This is the passage from W.B. Yeats' introduction to STORIES FROM CARLETON (1889) which Gould said had inspired him to create his Oral History.
Read it here: archive.org/details/stor...
Read it here: archive.org/details/stor...
September 11, 2026 at 1:23 AM
This is the passage from W.B. Yeats' introduction to STORIES FROM CARLETON (1889) which Gould said had inspired him to create his Oral History.
Read it here: archive.org/details/stor...
Read it here: archive.org/details/stor...
I write book reviews for my black coffee and cigarettes. I am conscientious in this because it would hurt my magnum opus if I were otherwise. I have created a new literary form. I have written some things that will last as long as the English language.
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
September 10, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I write book reviews for my black coffee and cigarettes. I am conscientious in this because it would hurt my magnum opus if I were otherwise. I have created a new literary form. I have written some things that will last as long as the English language.
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
"The Village Vanguard... is a thriving night club. Gould and the proprietor, a man named Max Gordon, have known each other for many years... He goes down the stairs and says, 'Hello, Max, you dirty capitalist. I want a bite to eat and a beer.'” -- Joseph Mitchell, "Professor Sea Gull"
September 9, 2026 at 1:41 PM
"The Village Vanguard... is a thriving night club. Gould and the proprietor, a man named Max Gordon, have known each other for many years... He goes down the stairs and says, 'Hello, Max, you dirty capitalist. I want a bite to eat and a beer.'” -- Joseph Mitchell, "Professor Sea Gull"
"...We could say 'anxiety,'
'terror,' 'loneliness,' 'despair,'
and still not get anywhere
closer than he did with his
9,250,000
words that vanished into blue
hospital air before he
turned to the wall and welcomed
the last act."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
'terror,' 'loneliness,' 'despair,'
and still not get anywhere
closer than he did with his
9,250,000
words that vanished into blue
hospital air before he
turned to the wall and welcomed
the last act."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
September 8, 2026 at 12:55 PM
"...We could say 'anxiety,'
'terror,' 'loneliness,' 'despair,'
and still not get anywhere
closer than he did with his
9,250,000
words that vanished into blue
hospital air before he
turned to the wall and welcomed
the last act."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
'terror,' 'loneliness,' 'despair,'
and still not get anywhere
closer than he did with his
9,250,000
words that vanished into blue
hospital air before he
turned to the wall and welcomed
the last act."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
I’m writing everybody’s biography, including God’s. I’m writing primarily for my own amusement, as I happen to be the only Joe Gould in this solar system. By this I don’t mean to exclude the possibility that there probably are other systems full of Joe Goulds.
(Quoted in PM Daily, 12/30/45)
(Quoted in PM Daily, 12/30/45)
September 7, 2026 at 11:45 AM
I’m writing everybody’s biography, including God’s. I’m writing primarily for my own amusement, as I happen to be the only Joe Gould in this solar system. By this I don’t mean to exclude the possibility that there probably are other systems full of Joe Goulds.
(Quoted in PM Daily, 12/30/45)
(Quoted in PM Daily, 12/30/45)
These two Joe Gould portraits by Village artist Leonard De Grange once hung in the Kettle of Fish (left) and the Minetta Tavern (right). The current whereabouts of both paintings is unknown. [Left image from the Village Voice 8/28/57, right image is a film still from Joe Gould's Secret (2000)]
September 6, 2026 at 10:04 PM
These two Joe Gould portraits by Village artist Leonard De Grange once hung in the Kettle of Fish (left) and the Minetta Tavern (right). The current whereabouts of both paintings is unknown. [Left image from the Village Voice 8/28/57, right image is a film still from Joe Gould's Secret (2000)]
This sketch by Don Freeman originally appeared in Don Freeman's Newsstand, circa 1944.
September 6, 2026 at 5:06 PM
This sketch by Don Freeman originally appeared in Don Freeman's Newsstand, circa 1944.
I'm a one-man project.
(Quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, 4/10/37)
(Quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, 4/10/37)
September 4, 2026 at 1:29 AM
I'm a one-man project.
(Quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, 4/10/37)
(Quoted in the New York Herald Tribune, 4/10/37)
"Joe Gould's pen wrote those ten lines
hoping to capture his sense
of the ridiculousness
of the life he was born to..."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
hoping to capture his sense
of the ridiculousness
of the life he was born to..."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
September 3, 2026 at 1:40 PM
"Joe Gould's pen wrote those ten lines
hoping to capture his sense
of the ridiculousness
of the life he was born to..."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
hoping to capture his sense
of the ridiculousness
of the life he was born to..."
- Philip Levine, "Joe Gould's Pen"
archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
My love for you is uv the cleanus.
Holy and sweet is my emotion.
There should be suthin deep between us.
And I suggest the Atlantic Ocean.
(from "Two Poems by Joe Gould," The Ravens Anthology)
Holy and sweet is my emotion.
There should be suthin deep between us.
And I suggest the Atlantic Ocean.
(from "Two Poems by Joe Gould," The Ravens Anthology)
September 2, 2026 at 1:46 PM
My love for you is uv the cleanus.
Holy and sweet is my emotion.
There should be suthin deep between us.
And I suggest the Atlantic Ocean.
(from "Two Poems by Joe Gould," The Ravens Anthology)
Holy and sweet is my emotion.
There should be suthin deep between us.
And I suggest the Atlantic Ocean.
(from "Two Poems by Joe Gould," The Ravens Anthology)
I have slept with Lady Poverty, but I am a conventional person and don't consider that an introduction.
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
September 1, 2026 at 1:39 PM
I have slept with Lady Poverty, but I am a conventional person and don't consider that an introduction.
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
(Quoted in PM Weekly, 8/24/41)
"Joe Gould" by Willem de Kooning
MoMA (not on view)
Ink on paper
23 3/4 x 18 3/4" (60.3 x 47.5 cm)
www.moma.org/collection/w...
MoMA (not on view)
Ink on paper
23 3/4 x 18 3/4" (60.3 x 47.5 cm)
www.moma.org/collection/w...
September 1, 2026 at 1:52 AM
"Joe Gould" by Willem de Kooning
MoMA (not on view)
Ink on paper
23 3/4 x 18 3/4" (60.3 x 47.5 cm)
www.moma.org/collection/w...
MoMA (not on view)
Ink on paper
23 3/4 x 18 3/4" (60.3 x 47.5 cm)
www.moma.org/collection/w...
"I saw Gould’s sombre, bearded face. He was standing by himself, holding a beer... he had on a ragged suit... and he was all hunched up, and he looked separate from everybody else... like the ghost of Joe Gould come back to haunt the bar in Chumley’s. He looked like a zombie." - Joseph Mitchell
August 29, 2026 at 9:49 PM
"I saw Gould’s sombre, bearded face. He was standing by himself, holding a beer... he had on a ragged suit... and he was all hunched up, and he looked separate from everybody else... like the ghost of Joe Gould come back to haunt the bar in Chumley’s. He looked like a zombie." - Joseph Mitchell
Most of the oral history is intended for posthumous publication, as I have preserved some details of daily life which will increase in value as time goes on, and I do not wish to publish any details which will hurt those now living.
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
August 28, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Most of the oral history is intended for posthumous publication, as I have preserved some details of daily life which will increase in value as time goes on, and I do not wish to publish any details which will hurt those now living.
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
(from "Why I Write," unpublished essay, 1934)
"Washington Square," Paul Cornoyer, 1900. Oil on canvas.
August 27, 2026 at 3:51 PM
"Washington Square," Paul Cornoyer, 1900. Oil on canvas.
JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD, HOT SHOT POET FROM POETVILLE, A REFUGEE FROM THE RAVENS. POETS OF THE WORLD, IGNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR BRAINS!
August 27, 2026 at 2:17 PM
JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD, HOT SHOT POET FROM POETVILLE, A REFUGEE FROM THE RAVENS. POETS OF THE WORLD, IGNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR BRAINS!
I didn’t much care for the Maison Gerard at first, or the Maison G., as the inmates call it — it’s too out-of-the-way, the food is too starchy, and the stairs are a damned nuisance — but I’ve gotten used to it. In fact, I’m quite happy there.
(Gould quoted by Mitchell in "Joe Gould's Secret")
(Gould quoted by Mitchell in "Joe Gould's Secret")
August 26, 2026 at 1:32 PM
I didn’t much care for the Maison Gerard at first, or the Maison G., as the inmates call it — it’s too out-of-the-way, the food is too starchy, and the stairs are a damned nuisance — but I’ve gotten used to it. In fact, I’m quite happy there.
(Gould quoted by Mitchell in "Joe Gould's Secret")
(Gould quoted by Mitchell in "Joe Gould's Secret")
"JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD, historian and poet, lived for some little time on an Indian reservation, where he carried on anthropological investigations. At present he is at work on a history of the contemporary world." -- The New Republic, August 20, 1930
August 25, 2026 at 7:56 PM
"JOSEPH FERDINAND GOULD, historian and poet, lived for some little time on an Indian reservation, where he carried on anthropological investigations. At present he is at work on a history of the contemporary world." -- The New Republic, August 20, 1930
Earl Wilson, NY Post, 12/24/43: "A Literary jam session at Club Caravan in Greenwich Village... presented Maxwell Bodenheim, long-haired, run-down & slightly wrinkled, standing in the center of the floor, wearing an overcoat, with a bottle of whisky in one pocket, reading some of his sonnets." (1/3)
August 25, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Earl Wilson, NY Post, 12/24/43: "A Literary jam session at Club Caravan in Greenwich Village... presented Maxwell Bodenheim, long-haired, run-down & slightly wrinkled, standing in the center of the floor, wearing an overcoat, with a bottle of whisky in one pocket, reading some of his sonnets." (1/3)
New York Post, Dec. 22, 1943:
BEARDED BARD'S NIGHT
Tonight at CLUB CARAVAN
Literary Jam Session for the poets and writers of Greenwich Village - MAXWELL BODENHEIM - JOE GOULD - JOE SELLERS - ANTON ROMATKA and others will participate.
4th St. & W. Broadway, GR. 5-8930
5th Ave. Bus direct to door
BEARDED BARD'S NIGHT
Tonight at CLUB CARAVAN
Literary Jam Session for the poets and writers of Greenwich Village - MAXWELL BODENHEIM - JOE GOULD - JOE SELLERS - ANTON ROMATKA and others will participate.
4th St. & W. Broadway, GR. 5-8930
5th Ave. Bus direct to door
August 25, 2026 at 2:00 PM
New York Post, Dec. 22, 1943:
BEARDED BARD'S NIGHT
Tonight at CLUB CARAVAN
Literary Jam Session for the poets and writers of Greenwich Village - MAXWELL BODENHEIM - JOE GOULD - JOE SELLERS - ANTON ROMATKA and others will participate.
4th St. & W. Broadway, GR. 5-8930
5th Ave. Bus direct to door
BEARDED BARD'S NIGHT
Tonight at CLUB CARAVAN
Literary Jam Session for the poets and writers of Greenwich Village - MAXWELL BODENHEIM - JOE GOULD - JOE SELLERS - ANTON ROMATKA and others will participate.
4th St. & W. Broadway, GR. 5-8930
5th Ave. Bus direct to door
"Joe Gould, the Village Diogenes," Ivan Opfer, 1944
August 25, 2026 at 4:20 AM
"Joe Gould, the Village Diogenes," Ivan Opfer, 1944