Knock on Any Door

by Willard Motley

Book Overview

This is the story of Nick Romano, a young immigrant, and his struggle to survive on the streets of Chicago. A series of events including a period in reform school, family conflicts, and a brief tragic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0006AR4UI
• Release Date: January 1947
• Publisher: D. Appleton-Century
• Length: 504 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

first book

I read this book 41 years ago , i was not very well educated my school only taught religion and self preservation, i left at 15 . One day i found this book on a bus and took it home it was on the shelf for a month or two then one night i started reading my first novel i could not put it down i found a new pleasure in life instead of going out every night hanging round with the gang and breaking the law for kicks i changed and i put it down to this book knock on any door, i found the author understood my feelings and it was so easy to understand thank you Willard Mottley

This is the best book I have ever read

I have read many books from romance novels to classics and this is the best book I have ever read. I could not put this down and I found myself so involved in it I cried at the end. I would also recommend the sequel, Let No Man Write My Epitaph. If you only read one book, read this one.

Most loved novel of adolescence

"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.

Brilliantly written, thouroughly researched, a good read.

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.