“How ya doin?”
With these four syllables, delivered in an unmistakably authentic New York accent, Steve Osborne has riveted thousands of people through the legendary storytelling outfit The Moth (and over a million times on their website) with his hilarious, profane, and touching tales from his twenty years served as an NYPD street cop. Steve Osborne is the real deal, people, the tough streetwise New York cop of your dreams, one with a big big heart. Kojak? NYPD Blue? Law & Order? Fuggedaboutem! The Job blows them out of the water with this unputdownable book.
Steve Osborne has seen a thing or two in his twenty years in the NYPD—some harmless things, some definitely not. In “Stakeout,” Steve and his partner mistake a Manhattan dentist for an armed robbery suspect and reduce the man down to a puddle of snot and tears when questioning him. In “Mug Shot,” the mother of a suspected criminal makes a strange request and provides a sobering reminder of the humanity at stake in his profession. And in “Home,” the image of his family provides the adrenaline he needs to fight for his life when assaulted by two armed and violent crackheads. From his days as a rookie cop to the time spent patrolling in the Anti-Crime Unit—and his visceral, harrowing recollections of working during 9/11—Steve Osborne’s stories capture both the absurdity of police work and the bravery of those who do it. His stories will speak to those nostalgic for the New York City of the 1980s and ’90s, a bygone era of when the city was a crazier, more dangerous (and possibly more interesting) place.
Includes two live stories from The Moth—Hot Dogs and Dentist
Stories from The Moth courtesy of The Moth.
“The city may sleep but crime never does.” I’m a long-time Law & Order junkie, so The Job was right up my alley. A collection of short pieces depicting life on the job from the perspective of a New York City police officer, The Job is by turns funny, touching, weird, and scary. We all think we know what cops go through in the course of their days, but this book really makes you think hard about what it’s really like to deal with death and crime on a regular basis. I particularly enjoyed the stories “Mug Shot”, “Growing…
Enjoyable from beginning to end I have always been fascinated with the world of cops, the ones who operate in a city like New York, Los Angeles, etc., and also must admit right here and now, I have always appreciated their presence among us. Now a days it seems that a growing feeling of resentment against the police has escalated to very dangerous levels, but when one really thinks about it, the lives of these public servants that patrolled certain areas, have always been in some kind of hazard, maybe not each moment of their…
Great Collection of Stories I’ve been lucky enough to know some cops and firemen over the years, and always loved hanging out with them. They are each a treasure trove of tales, and you never know where the story is going to go, from heartbreaking to laugh out loud funny. These guys see the worst, and best in their fellow man on a daily basis, and it seems that the human race is capable of anything and everything, and whatever they do, a cop is usually around to witness it.Â