In 1940s Greenwich Village, Joe Mitchell, a writer for The New Yorker, becomes fascinated by Joe Gould, a bohemian drifter and Harvard graduate who claims to be compiling an epic "Oral History of the World" from thousands of overheard conversations. As their friendship develops, Mitchell struggles with Gould's unpredictable behavior and gradually questions whether Gould's project is real. © 2000 Focus Features LLC. All Rights Reserved.