A Stone for Danny Fisher

By Harold Robbins

Every so often I listen to others. When I was younger I had formed a perception of Harold Robbins. The perception that emanated in my mind was another Hugh Hefner. Playboy and not my type. Could he possibly write? I did not even bother to find out.

A friend of mine asked me recently if I have read Harold Robbins. Chill down my spine, did he think I was one of those who read that kind of book? I just said an abrupt ‘no’ and turned the other way. This friend of mine enjoys reading the regular way. If it’s a best seller, he has it in his hand already! Unlike me, who takes huge efforts at getting a novel unheard of, different and almost always from another epoch.

‘Well you must read one atleast’ , he said. And before I knew it ‘A stone for Danny Fisher’ was in my bag. I never leave a book unread, if they are at proximity – I feel it would be an insult to the person who wrote it. So I opened the book, and I won’t regret it ever.

Danny is so ordinary that he is almost extraordinary. Danny never gives up and more than anything else Danny is a great guy. But he is born at the wrong time. The novel is set at a time when the Great Depression had just been declared over and the after effects were beginning to show. The novel gives a picture of life as it were at that time. It doesn’t depress you though because its written marvelously.

Its about love, being victims of circumstances, being a child, being a parent and most important – the book is about life.

You will like Danny of course, and at the end of it probably you will want to get a stone for Danny Fisher.

Definitely read it.