KNOCK ON ANY DOOR [Paperback]

WILLARD MOTLEY (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1989

Willard Motley's 1947 best seller shocked the nation with its harsh depiction of the dark underbelly of the American dream. Knock on Any Door dramatizes young immigrant Nick Romano's struggle to survive when his father's business folds, leaving his family with no choice but to move to a poor neighborhood across town. A series of petty crimes land the former Catholic altar boy in reform school, where forceful "rehabilitation" only creates a hardened and resistant spirit among the inmates. Once released, Nick returns to Chicago, where family conflicts and a brief, tragic marriage spiral him further downward, culminating in his arrest for the murder of a police officer. The whole city watches the thrilling legal battle unfold as Nick takes the stand to fight for his life.

Motley researched his novel on the streets of his native Chicago, talking to immigrants about their experiences and visiting juveniles in Illinois's youth detention centers. In Knock on Any Door, Motley creates a painfully vivid picture of poverty, the struggle for ethnic identity, and the flaws of the penal system in urban America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Motley wrote of [Chicago] and its people with brutal honesty and with exquisite sympathy. There are sections of Knock on Any Door that might move you to tears and other parts that will move you to anger."—Bill Granger, Chicago Tribune Magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 525 pages
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press (March 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875805434
• ISBN-13: 978-0875805436
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most loved novel of adolescence, April 26, 2000

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (Paperback)

"What's life?" " A magazine." " How much it cost?" "Twenty cents." "I only gotta dime." "That's life." After 45 years I still remember parts of Knock on Any Door. I related more to that book than to any other I read as an adolescent in the 50's. Why is that? I'm not Catholic. I'm not American. I didn't speak the language of Nick. Willard Motley is an underappreciated writer who deserves the highest accolades in touching a chord in young people . The film with Humphrey Bogart directed by Nick Ray didn't do justice to the book. From the first word to the last I lived every word with Nick Romano and his life still echoes with me. Sound sentimental? No. Sounds like great writing. The music, the pool halls, the tenements, the "windy city", the guilt. It was a life to me. Thank you Mr Motley wherever you are or wherever you may be resting.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever you do, read this one., December 15, 2000

By 

Adam Selzer "Adam Selzer" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (Paperback)

I was afraid to pick this book up. It was several hundred pages in a battered paperback (which would break before I even finished the book), and the print was small. But I decided to give it shot. A few hundred pages later, I drove several miles back to a junior high school gym, thinking that I'd left it there. It was in my front seat the whole time, but I couldn't bring myself to think that the trip was wasted. Once you start this book, you'll be glad to drive an awfully long way to be able to pick it up. This book drew me in in a way that few books have (I wouldn't think that a book about a person like Nick Romano could be compared to Harry Potter, but, well, here we are.) This is a novel that may just change the way you look at the world. It will change the way you look at juvenile crime and punishment, it will change the way you think of the death penalty. It's not just Nick who's stayed in my mind. It's all of the small characters. There are people who show up for about a page, and I've never been able to forget them. It's a terrible shame that Willard Motley isn't often mentioned when people discuss the greatest writers of the century; I've read my share of Fitzgerald and Hemingway and Bellow, and this book puts Motley in the same class as all of them. Not only did I put an awful lot of effort into getting my hands on the sequel, but I found myself seeking out copies of every book listed on the "other books you'll enjoy" page at the front of the book. It's that kind of novel. This book is important. Now more than ever, when, as one reviewer points out, people like Nick are being executed weekly in Texas. Get it, read it, and encourage others to do the same. Don't let this classic fall into obscurity.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly written, thouroughly researched, a good read., August 27, 1999

By 

Jesse Baldwin [e-mail] (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (Paperback)

Many years have passed since i was 17 in 1955 and first read Knock on Any Door. Now i am 62 and read it for the 2nd time. Mr. Motley wrote a masterpiece, a classic that will live a long time. Like Nick I came from a poor background and was a rebellious teen. I identified with Nick when I was 17. I understood his feelings toward society in general and authority in particular. For years I wondered if I would feel the same. When I had finished reading it, I realized how much my attitude had changed over the years. I kept seeing opportunities where he could take his life on a different path, but always he took the easy way out. Still, Mr. Motley's skill made it impossible not to empathise with Nick.