FiveFinger Discount A Crooked Family History, Helene Stapinski. (Hardcover 0679463062)

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FiveFinger Discount A Crooked Family History
Author: Helene Stapinski

On a summer night when she was five years old, Helene Stapinski watched out her kitchen window as her Grandpa Beansie was carted off to jail for the last time. Beansie (so nicknamed because he had stolen a crate of beans as a child) had spent the better part of that day in the Majestic Tavern, a dive bar on the ground floor of the Stapinskis... more »7; apartment building. As the afternoon wore on, Beansie's usual ranting turned mean. He flashed a loaded gun; a silver .22 glowing in the light from the Yankee game on the tavern TV, and bragged to his drinking buddies that he had a bullet for each of his relatives living above the Majestic. But news traveled fast in the neighborhood, and before Beansie, a convicted murderer and armed robber, could stumble upstairs, the cops had him in handcuffs. The headline in the local newspaper the next day read "Man Seized On Way To Kill 5 Children". As Stapinski writes, Jersey City was a tough place to grow up, except I didn't know any better.

In this unforgettable memoir, Stapinski tells the heartbreaking yet often hilarious story of growing up among swindlers, bookies, and crooks. With deadpan humor and obvious affection, she comes clean with the outrageous tales that have swirled around her relatives for decades, and recounts the epic drama and comedy of living in a household in which petty crime was a way of life. The dinner Helene's mother put on the table (often prime rib, lobster tail, and fancy cakes) was usually swiped from the cold-storage company where Helene's father worked. The soap and toothpaste in the bathroom were lifted from the local Colgate factory. The books on the family's shelves were smuggled out of a book-binding company in Aunt Mary Ann's oversize girdle (or taken by Grandpa Beansie from the Free Public Library). Uncle Henry did a booming business as the neighborhood bookie, cousins did jail time, and Great-Aunt Katie, who liked to take a shot of whiskey each morning to clear her lungs, was a ward leader in the notorious Jersey City political machine.

No backdrop could be more appropriate for the Stapinskis than Jersey City; a place known for its ties to the Mafia, industrial blight, and corrupt local officials, and the author ingeniously weaves the checkered history of her hometown throughout the book. Navigating a childhood of toxic waste and tough love, Stapinski tells an extraordinary tale that, unlike the swag of her childhood, is her very own.

ISBN-13: 9780679463061
ISBN-10: 0679463062
Publication Date: 3/20/2001
Pages: 272
Rating:

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.

3.7 stars, based on 16 ratings

Publisher: Random House
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Jeannette A. (nettap) reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 9/4/2008 + 15 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

So much of this book's writing style will start telling you a story only to launch into a side story with so much detail that it's very easy to get lost. I enjoyed the read, but it's not something I'd necessarily go out of my way to read again. It was interesting to learn about growing up in Jersey City, a topic that I was curious about prior to completing this book.

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Michelle S. (saphyreskyes) reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 10/8/2009 + 34 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Not as much a story of a family as it is a story of Jersey City. Lots of political history and kind of a dry in spots. Not what I was expecting, but still interesting and enjoyable.

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Andrea R. (catsaresmarter) reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 2/25/2007 + 32 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This enjoyable book is a very funny story about the author's extended family and growing up "among swindlers, bookies and crooks" in New Jersey. I loved it!

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Eleanor T. reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 4/9/2011

Interesting story of a city full of corruption. Someting I didn't realize still existed at that time.

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Jacky K. (Jacky) reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 7/16/2007 + 174 more book reviews

We all have stories we remember from our childhood and relatives to go along with them. Ms. Stapinski's stories and relatives are just a little more colorful than most. Entertaining reading.

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Peggy H. reviewed Five-Finger Discount : A Crooked Family History on 7/23/2006 + 23 more book reviews

True account of life in New Jersey for immigrant children. It is filled with laughter and crime. Very interesting to read about how life was for this immigrant family.

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