Five-Finger Discount

A Crooked Family History

Nonfiction, Travel, United States, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Five-Finger Discount by Helene Stapinski, Random House Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Helene Stapinski ISBN: 9780375506901
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group Publication: May 1, 2001
Imprint: Random House Language: English
Author: Helene Stapinski
ISBN: 9780375506901
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication: May 1, 2001
Imprint: Random House
Language: English

Now a PBS documentary, this astonishing memoir of growing up in rough-and-tumble Jersey City “will steal your heart” (People)

With deadpan humor and obvious affection, Five-Finger Discount recounts the story of an unforgettable New Jersey family of swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes. In the memoir Mary Karr calls “a page-turner,” Helene Stapinski ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown of Jersey City—a place known for its political corruption and industrial blight—with the tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale at once heartbreaking and hysterically funny.

Praise for Five-Finger Discount

“By turns hilarious and alarming, [Helene Stapinski’s] book reads on the surface like something by Damon Runyon and Elmore Leonard, with a dark undertow of real-life pain and disillusion.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“It’s a brilliant book, a darling book. It is the blessedly modest chronicle of a magical consciousness that seems to have been born pulling diamonds out of the muck, hearing angels’ voices in the fiercest thunder. . . . I adored every word of this wondrous book. Get it. Read it.”—Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

“In the tradition of . . . Rita Mae Brown and Amy Tan, Ms. Stapinski is an exciting writer, unabashedly candid, and at the same time unashamedly self-contained. Five-Finger Discount is a must-read.”—Victoria Gotti, The New York Observer

“What [Frank] McCourt did for Limerick, Ireland, Helene Stapinski does for Jersey City.”The Star-Ledger

“Hugely entertaining.”The Sunday Times (London)

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Now a PBS documentary, this astonishing memoir of growing up in rough-and-tumble Jersey City “will steal your heart” (People)

With deadpan humor and obvious affection, Five-Finger Discount recounts the story of an unforgettable New Jersey family of swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes. In the memoir Mary Karr calls “a page-turner,” Helene Stapinski ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown of Jersey City—a place known for its political corruption and industrial blight—with the tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale at once heartbreaking and hysterically funny.

Praise for Five-Finger Discount

“By turns hilarious and alarming, [Helene Stapinski’s] book reads on the surface like something by Damon Runyon and Elmore Leonard, with a dark undertow of real-life pain and disillusion.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“It’s a brilliant book, a darling book. It is the blessedly modest chronicle of a magical consciousness that seems to have been born pulling diamonds out of the muck, hearing angels’ voices in the fiercest thunder. . . . I adored every word of this wondrous book. Get it. Read it.”—Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun

“In the tradition of . . . Rita Mae Brown and Amy Tan, Ms. Stapinski is an exciting writer, unabashedly candid, and at the same time unashamedly self-contained. Five-Finger Discount is a must-read.”—Victoria Gotti, The New York Observer

“What [Frank] McCourt did for Limerick, Ireland, Helene Stapinski does for Jersey City.”The Star-Ledger

“Hugely entertaining.”The Sunday Times (London)

More books from Random House Publishing Group

Cover of the book Results May Vary by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Odd Partners by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Journey of a Thousand Miles by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book The Satanic Verses by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Faberge's Eggs by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Sackett by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book The Deer Park by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Meant to Be by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Hunger of Memory by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Four Classic Alex Delaware Thrillers 4-Book Bundle by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Bad Luck and Trouble by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book Murder, She Meowed by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book A Man for All Markets by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book The Hacker Ethic by Helene Stapinski
Cover of the book How High the Moon by Helene Stapinski
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy