Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by Helene Stapinski and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2002-03-12 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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)
Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by Helene Stapinski and published by Random House. This book was released on 2001-05-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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)
Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by Huck Pilgrim and published by Huck Pilgrim Presents. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A teenage straight boy gets blackmailed into gay sex with the security personnel at a local mall. An adult work, Five Finger Discount is a single story from the Carnal Series. In "Five Finger Discount," Jimmy Manley is caught shoplifting by Emil Bogdon, an immigrant security guard who doesn’t speak English terribly well. Jimmy has enjoyed hustling gay men in the past but is quite concerned with maintaining the appearance of an heterosexual all American boy. He thinks he has agreed to let Bogdon take him on a "little trip to heaven" in exchange for his freedom, but Bogdon is not as concerned as Jimmy with the appearance of heterosexuality in American boys. Bogdon cares about only one thing, which thing he makes abundantly clear to Jimmy when he unbuckles his belt, opens his pants, and lowers his fly. Before the afternoon is over, Jimmy will have to make a tough choice: Will he choose to earn his freedom with Bogdon the only way he can (the "hard" way, of course!), or will he continue on as he has in the past, a slave to appearances?
Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by Keegan Kennedy and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Homer s Odyssey written by Four Finger Discount and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-11-02 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remember when The Simpsons was the funniest show on television? The Simpsons is the longest running comedy in history. Gracing our screens since 1989, with over 600 episodes, the show is a cultural phenomenon. Whilst it is still drawing huge ratings numbers, there is no argument that during the 90s the show was at its zenith. No other comedy has had as big an impact on society. The Simpsons has influenced the way we communicate with each other. Niche quotes and references have become the secret handshake of millions around the world. In the course of this book, we remember the iconic characters – Hank Scorpio and Lionel Hutz, Rex Banner and Frank Grimes - and we dissect seminal episodes such as Cape Feare, Marge Vs the Monorail and Who Shot Mr. Burns. From celebrity cameos to musical moments, from hidden jokes to insane trivia, this is the essential companion to golden age of The Simpsons. Homer’s Odyssey is a hilarious, intelligent and in-depth analysis of the greatest show on earth. So grab yourself a Flaming Moe, settle in to your groove on the couch, and enjoy our guide to your favourite yellow family.
Download or read book Five finger Discount written by Barthe Declements and published by . This book was released on 2000-09-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by Barthe DeClements and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten-year-old Jerry's attempts to adjust to his new school and make new friends are complicated by his determination to keep secret the fact that his father is serving time in the local prison for being a thief.
Download or read book Murder In Matera written by Helene Stapinski and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A murder mystery, a model of investigative reporting, a celebration of the fierce bonds that hold families together through tragedies…Murder in Matera is a gem.”— San Francisco Chronicle "Tantalizing" — NPR “A thrilling detective story… Stapinski pursues the study of her family’s criminal genealogy with unexpected emotional results.” — Library Journal A writer goes deep into the heart of Italy to unravel a century-old family mystery in this spellbinding memoir that blends the suspenseful twists of Making a Murderer and the emotional insight of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels. Since childhood, Helene Stapinski heard lurid tales about her great-great-grandmother, Vita. In Southern Italy, she was a loose woman who had murdered someone. Immigrating to America with three children, she lost one along the way. Helene’s youthful obsession with Vita deepened as she grew up, eventually propelling the journalist to Italy, where, with her own children in tow, she pursued the story, determined to set the record straight. Finding answers would take Helene ten years and numerous trips to Basilicata, the rural "instep" of Italy’s boot—a mountainous land rife with criminals, superstitions, old-world customs, and desperate poverty. Though false leads sent her down blind alleys, Helene’s dogged search, aided by a few lucky—even miraculous—breaks and a group of colorful local characters, led her to the truth. Yes, the family tales she’d heard were true: There had been a murder in Helene’s family, a killing that roiled 1870s Italy. But the identities of the killer and victim weren’t who she thought they were. In revisiting events that happened more than a century before, Helene came to another stunning realization—she wasn’t who she thought she was, either. Weaving Helene’s own story of discovery with the tragic tale of Vita’s life, Murder in Matera is a literary whodunit and a moving tale of self-discovery that brings into focus a long ago tragedy in a little-known region remarkable for its stunning sunny beauty and dark buried secrets.
Download or read book Three Fingers written by Rich Koslowski and published by Top Shelf Productions. This book was released on 2002 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER of the 2003 Ignatz Award for Best Graphic Novel! ". . . a single-minded obsession with animation history informs this work even as its creator twists and tears that history into a new, hideous, and hilarious form. There's a little bit of Roger Rabbit and a whole lot of Spinal Tap at work here. Twisted and dark, funny and frightening, this is a deliciously evil toon history that demands attention." -- Alan David Doane Top Shelf is proud to present a very unique comics project. Through a series of never-before-seen interviews and rare photos, documentary-maker Rich Koslowski reveals the horrifying true story behind the Cartoon industry and our most celebrated cartoon actors -- the story that Hollywood doesn't want you to see. Told in the same style as a Ken Burns documentary, with interviews of 'toon stars today as well as historical "file footage"of the "early years,"this work of fiction will forever change the way you think of those beloved characters in the white gloves. ... Rich Koslowski has worked in the Animation and Comic Book industry for the past 12 years. Best known for his three-time, Eisner-nominated work on his self-published parody title "The 3 Geeks,"this ground-breaking graphic novel is sure to appeal to everyone.
Download or read book The Steal written by Rachel Shteir and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-06-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of shoplifting, revealing the roots of our modern dilemma. Rachel Shteir's The Steal is the first serious study of shoplifting, tracking the fascinating history of this ancient crime. Dismissed by academia and the mainstream media and largely misunderstood, shoplifting has become the territory of moralists, mischievous teenagers, tabloid television, and self-help gurus. But shoplifting incurs remarkable real-life costs for retailers and consumers. The "crime tax"-the amount every American family loses to shoplifting-related price inflation-is more than $400 a year. Shoplifting cost American retailers $11.7 billion in 2009. The theft of one $5.00 item from Whole Foods can require sales of hundreds of dollars to break even. The Steal begins when shoplifting entered the modern record as urbanization and consumerism made London into Europe's busiest mercantile capital. Crossing the channel to nineteenth-century Paris, Shteir tracks the rise of the department store and the pathologizing of shoplifting as kleptomania. In 1960s America, shoplifting becomes a symbol of resistance when the publication of Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book popularizes shoplifting as an antiestablishment act. Some contemporary analysts see our current epidemic as a response to a culture of hyper-consumerism; others question whether its upticks can be tied to economic downturns at all. Few provide convincing theories about why it goes up or down. Just as experts can't agree on why people shoplift, they can't agree on how to stop it. Shoplifting has been punished by death, discouraged by shame tactics, and protected against by high-tech surveillance. Shoplifters have been treated by psychoanalysis, medicated with pharmaceuticals, and enforced by law to attend rehabilitation groups. While a few individuals have abandoned their sticky-fingered habits, shoplifting shows no signs of slowing. In The Steal, Shteir guides us through a remarkable tour of all things shoplifting-we visit the Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall, where boosters run rampant, watch the surveillance footage from Winona Ryder's famed shopping trip, and learn the history of antitheft technology. A groundbreaking study, The Steal shows us that shoplifting in its many guises-crime, disease, protest-is best understood as a reflection of our society, ourselves.
Download or read book Five Finger Discount written by David Dial and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Son of the Mob 2 Hollywood Hustle written by Gordon Korman and published by Scholastic Canada. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fast-paced, funny sequel to the best-selling Son of the Mob. Vince Luca is in heaven . . . he's off to Los Angeles, to attend the University of Santa Monica's film school. College should be fantastic, and he is more thrilled about being 3,000 miles away from his mob family. As it turns out, college brings its own problems: from other film students moving in on his girl, to a kleptomaniac roommate, to having to get a job on campus to help pay tuition. It's a fair amount to handle, though nothing Vince couldn't easily manage — if he didn't keep finding himself with unexpected guests from the East Coast. It seems Vince's dad may just be ready to expand operations to L.A. With the popularity of shows such as "The Sopranos," the mafia is a topic of intrigue for young adults. The fast-paced plot, hilarious dialogue and Korman's keen understanding of teen issues, made this a bestseller and a critical success.
Download or read book The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang written by John Ayto and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dictionary of modern slang draws on the resources of the "Oxford English Dictionary" to cover over five thousand slang words and phrases from throughout the English-speaking world.
Download or read book I Never Asked You to Understand Me written by Barthe DeClements and published by Putnam Juvenile. This book was released on 1998 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two teenage girls attending an alternative high school for problem students find that their disintegrating family lives have pushed them to the edge.
Download or read book Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas written by Jonathan W. Stokes and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-08-01 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This funny, action-filled series is perfect for adventure-loving fans of Indiana Jones and James Patterson's Treasure Hunters! Twelve-year-old Addison Cooke just wishes something exciting would happen to him. His aunt and uncle, both world-famous researchers, travel to the ends of the earth searching for hidden treasure, dodging dangerous robbers along the way, while Addison is stuck in school all day. Luckily for Addison, adventure has a way of finding the Cookes. After his uncle unearths the first ancient Incan clue needed to find a vast trove of lost treasure, he is kidnapped by members of a shadowy organization intent on stealing the riches. Addison’s uncle is the bandits’ key to deciphering the ancient clues and looting the treasure . . . unless Addison and his friends can outsmart the kidnappers and crack the code first! Full of laugh-out-loud moments, danger, excitement, and nonstop action, Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas is sure to strike gold with kid readers. "What to give the kid who's read all the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books? Try Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas." —Parents Magazine "An exciting Indiana Jones-style tale of a seventh-grade boy trying to save his kidnapped aunt and uncle—museum curators who are linked to an ancient key that unlocks riches.” —Good Housekeeping "An exciting, adventurous new read…the first book in a new series that promises laugh-out-loud moments and nonstop action." —Boys’ Life
Download or read book Baby Plays Around written by Helene Stapinski and published by Villard Books. This book was released on 2005-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the author of the bestselling "Five-Finger Discount," a hip, funny, and absorbing memoir of a journalist realizing a lifelong dream-- playing drums in a rock band-- as her marriage hits the rocks Helene Stapinski took guitar lessons when she was a girl, but it was her brother's drums that really held her interest. She used to sneak in and play them when he was away; when he realized what she was doing, he dismantled them each time he finished playing. But Helene figured out how to put them back together. She learned the classic drum solos and followed the careers of famous drummers. As an adult, Helene put the drums aside and became a journalist. When she was thirty she interviewed Julie, the leader of a rock band, for a story. The band needed a drummer, and Helene's long-forgotten ambitions came flooding back. She joined, and then she brought her husband aboard on bass. Just as they started playing out at clubs, though, Helene's husband quit the group. And as Helene's involvement with her bandmates deepened, her relationship with her husband became distant and strained-- and very nearly shattered. "Baby Plays Around" reads like a novel but will ring true to anyone who has ever been in a band or just dreamed of it. Set amid the bars, clubs, and rehearsal studios of Manhattan's Lower East Side, it's an incisive exploration of the romance of rock and roll, and of the realization and relinquishing of youthful dreams-- about ambition, freedom, and infidelity, about love lost and found again. Written with the same wit and insight that distinguished Stapinski's uproarious memoir "Five-Finger Discount"-- and asense of humor as sharp as the crack of a snare drum-- "Baby Plays Around" is a unique and deeply personal story of music and passion. "From the Hardcover edition."
Download or read book The Evening Star written by Larry McMurtry and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earthy humor and the powerful emotional impact that set McMurtry's Terms of Endearment apart from other novels now rise to brilliant new heights with The Evening Star. McMurtry takes us deep into the heart of Texas, and deep into the heart of one of the most memorable characters of our time, Aurora Greenway—along with her family, friends, and lovers—in a tale of affectionate wit, bittersweet tenderness, and the unexpected turns that life can take. This is Larry McMurtry at his very best: warm, compassionate, full of comic invention, an author so attuned to the feelings, needs, and desires of his characters that they possess a reality unique in American fiction.
