A Stone for Danny Fisher

Harold Robbins, as he became more successful, mastered the art of the pulp fiction stereotype and much of his later work was pure trash. But his initial novels demonstrated what talent the man had, and are as different from his later trash as cheese from chalk. A Stone For Danny Fisher is his best book ever in my opinion : had he never written another book, this alone would have made him an author to remember. Set in Depression era New York (Robbins himself was born and raised in Brooklyn, though in vastly better circumstances), this is a coming of age story with a difference. Danny Fisher narrates his own story in the first person, starting with a short, stark depiction of his family meeting at a pre-arranged place and then cutting to flashback mode to explain why. He tells of a Jewish kid growing up in the gritty streets of hard-bitten Brooklyn, battling anti-Semitic abuse, using boxing as a way of escaping the economic fates closing in on his family. No punches are pulled as we experience with Danny the world of organised crime, first as victim, then as onlooker, finally as willing (even enthusiastic) participant. Danny is an anti-hero here, but rarely a villain, so sympathetically and starkly are his story and dilemmas painted. Reading it the first time as a teenager, this book had me outraged and disillusioned repeatedly as Danny takes his knocks and too often faces rejection, even betrayal. At heart, he is still a little boy and remains so till the bitter-sweet ending, where the flashback ends and we rejoin the opening scene. A high quality book, a story that grips the heart, a sparse writing style that wastes no words, a glimpse at the best and worst of human life. Highly recommended.

It is strange when I say this because I read alot. I read classics like war and peace,les miserables, moby dick and such but when friends ask me what is my favorite i tell them A stone for Danny Fisher. First of all harold robbins wrote trash novels. his first 3 were classics.Comprared to what he wrote later on. When he died the new york times said in his obiturary that A stone for Danny Fisher deserves a paragraph in this mans life in literary history. As a kid i related to the charaters and i felt for them i never did that when i read as a kid. i even tear up when i read the epilouge because he hits it dead on . for i am a man of ordinary hopes and ordinary dreams, i too cursed at the umpire for a bad call , im the guy on the boat with george washington, im the guy smoking the ciggarette at the subway platform. no songs will be written about me. That is what life is all about in my view and he harold robbins nailed it. i even buy this book used to send to friends so they could read it. well whoever reads it enjoy.

I read this book when I was 14 and from the moment I started at page one, I couldn't put it down. (The only other book that did that to me was Exodus.) I remember I was sleeping at my Aunt and Uncles house over the weekend. I stayed up all that night and all into the next morning reading. I walked home and I was still reading... It made me a lover of reading and to this day I am still reading. I am now 46. I am trying to find this book to purchase so I can read it again, and hopefully my children will enjoy it too. I can't say why I loved this book so much only that it made me realize how precious life is and that people should live each moment like it's their last... I too am Jewish and could relate to the whole relationship between Danny and his girlfriend; non-Jew. You're probably wondering how a 14 year old could feel that way but if you grew up in a household like mine where you had to "stick to your own kind", believe me, I could relate. But it was so much more than that. Just the life Danny led, what he went through and how he ended up. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to find it so I can enjoy all over again.

I started reading Harold Robbins,while I was a Marine in Vietnam!"A Stone For Danny Fisher" was my first!I could not put the book down! I read it all in one night,while on R & R!It is my all time favorite book,and in my opinion,the best Harold Robbins ever wrote!Reading that book,I was Danny Fisher!I 've never had another book affect me,like "A Stone For Danny Fisher",did!I would highly recommend it to anyone!Reading at it's best!

I read this book when I was a teenager and I still remember the story 15 years later. Its one of those novels that make a lasting impact on you.