Five-Finger Discount

A Crooked Family History

By: Helene Stapinski

Narrated by: Helene Stapinski

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. 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.

©2001 Helene Stapinski (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

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

“Hugely entertaining.” (The Sunday Times - London)

A Heartwarming & Foulmouthed Memory of Jersey City

With tales of crime, corruption and Aunt Millie's famous meatballs, the author recounts in her own echt Jerseyite voice the rough-and-tumble milieu of Hudson County that she grew up in—one she spent years trying to escape before acknowledging a certain affection for its snaggletoothed charm. Listeners on the other hand will soon admire this memorable memoir and the fascinating history it holds.