Thomas Kunkel

Thomas Kunkel's biography of Norbert of Xanten is written in clear, fast-moving prose which deftly balances the known details of the medieval saint's life with the context needed for most modern readers to understand their importance. The book's accessibility is its strength. However, it is a work of synthesis rather than something based on independent archival research—Kunkel largely draws on a small range of contemporary Premonstratensian scholars—and one which is forthright in its show more Catholic convictions. While Kunkel tries his best to present Norbert as a flawed person rather than a plaster saint, that latter element does hamper the analysis at points. This is better thought of as a work of faith rather than one of history. show less

Inspired by his Catholic upbringing, journalist Thomas Kunkel takes the reader on a personal journey through the priesthood. Through absorbing portraits that enable each Father to speak for himself, a broad painting of a diverse and changing Catholic church, and an even larger mural of contemporary America, emerges. Kunkel purposefully interviews a variety of priests, from those who are part of monastic communities to those who are responsible for parishes in impoverished inner-city show more neighborhoods. Without shying away from the very real problems plaguing the priesthood, Kunkel still manages to provide a humane view of these very moral men who have taken on the yoke of living in a godly fashion. The result is a compelling documentary that brings us deep into the heart of what it means to commit to a Catholic life. show less

Man in Profile is an excellent biography of Joseph Mitchell of The New Yorker. Thomas Kunkel wrote a biography of another New Yorker writer, Harold Ross, as well as other books about journalism. The idea of creative non-fiction and "new journalism" has become almost standard these days, but Mitchell and some others were influential pioneers, and his work still remains some of the best.

One thing I noticed while reading Mitchell is most of the subjects are of a certain age, typically born show more prior to 1880. This generation, born between about 1860 and 1880, were hugely important in creating the modern world, they had one foot in the old world and another in the modern. But even by the 1930s, when he began profiling them, the generation was already beginning to fade, and by the 1960s mostly gone. Is it any wonder his writing also dried up? His muse was no more. It's perhaps no accident his father was also from this same period, and Mitchell, who had one foot in New York and the other in North Carolina, was like a man caught between two worlds. show less

This is a solid, fine, literary biography of the man from down the road from my hometown, who went to NYC as a young man and became the chronicler of Old New York even as it was disappearing in the 50's and 60's.
Kunkel is so intrigued with Mitchell's choices in writing composites of characters and presenting them as real individuals and with the choices that led to his long, long writer's block that he maybe doesn't give us as much of the man's personality as I would have liked. Mitchell show more does emerge, though, as a person I would have adored to know. And Kunkel prints lots and lots of excerpts from Mitchell's pieces; I am happy to have his collection Up in the Old Hotel to read and enjoy at my leisure. show less