The Job, Steve Osborne
The Job, Steve Osborne
4 Rating(s)
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

The Job
True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop

Author: Steve Osborne

Narrator: Steve Osborne

Unabridged: 9 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/21/2015


Synopsis

"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.

About The Author

STEVE OSBORNE was a New York City police officer for twenty years, retiring in 2003 as a lieutenant and commanding officer of the Manhattan Gang Squad, with numerous citations for his police work. He has told his stories before packed audiences at The Moth storytelling venues across the United States. He has written for The New York Times and USA Today. Now a consultant for television and film productions, Osborne lives in upstate New York with his wife and their two dogs, Jingles and Duke.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David on April 22, 2020

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I was a cop for thirty-one years so I might be coming at this book differently than most readers, though this book has been well received and deservedly so. The book is comprised of vignettes, short stories of events that occurred in the author's career as a cop in......more

Goodreads review by Paul on November 16, 2015

Actual rating: 2.5 stars. I read an enthusiastic review of this book in the New Yorker and decided to buy a copy. Note to self: be more skeptical of New Yorker reviews. This is a collection of cop stories, told by a cop. I gather that many were originally oral presentations, and perhaps they worked be......more

Goodreads review by Doubleday on March 11, 2015

When I first heard we'd be publishing this book, I had no idea it would be so timely. With NYC cops in the news so frequently now, Steve Osborne is the perfect voice to welcome us, hilariously, heartily, and sometimes harshly into the reality of the street beat. His life is not one of mayoral disput......more

Goodreads review by Tina on November 08, 2019

Anyone who is a cop, married to a cop or has a family memeber whose a police officer should read this book! I am married to a cop so this book interested me. Osborne does a great job detailing his time spent with the NYPD. His stories made me laugh and cry. He does such a good job describing his exp......more

Goodreads review by Amy on May 05, 2015

This guy really wants us to know a few things: - he's not a "librul" - he's not a sensitive kind of of guy (but he really is) - cops are all really good guys - he gets a tingling in his "ball bag" whenever he's onto a good case - he loves the term "ball bag" The repetitiveness and simplicity (of his wri......more


Quotes

Praise for The Job:

"Osborne has the macabre sense of humor people in adrenaline-jacked jobs often develop, as well as the yarn spinner's gift for building to the big reveal."
The New York Times Book Review

"Cops are innately good storytellers, and Osborne must be one of the best."
Booklist, starred review

"Tonally, he comes off as an avuncular, world-weary tough guy, embodying the “cops know best” attitude that many find alienating. Yet he elevates his perspective by displaying empathy for the civilians, victims and even criminals he has encountered, drawing complex lines between the “lost souls” and “evil motherfuckers” of the underworld... [T]hese punchy policing tales seem provocatively true to life."
Kirkus Reviews

"Not only was Osborne an excellent policeman (he retired as a lieutenant and the commanding officer of the Manhattan Gang Squad), he's a fabulous storyteller, crafting his memories into well-honed tales filled with drama, humor and heart."
—BookPage

“Steve Osborne is a born storyteller, and anyone expecting a cop book to be filled with action and adventure won’t be disappointed with The Job. But what makes this story so powerful is its compassion and bittersweet comedy, the unexpected moments in which the worst situations bring out the best in people. Anyone who knows a cop—or wants to—should read this book.”   
—Edward Conlon, author of Blue Blood

“Nobody tells a cop story better than a cop, and Osborne tells them as well as I’ve ever heard (and I’ve heard a lot of them). Go buy this book, for the chases, the laughs, and the poignancy. Go buy it now, especially now, because for every bad cop there are twenty heroic ones—and Steve Osborne was one of them.”
—Brian McDonald, author of My Father’s Gun: One Family. Three Badges. One Hundred Years in the NYPD