The Hoods - Harry Grey (Pseud. Herschel Goldberg) 1952 - Crown Publishers, New York - First Edition A rare first edition in unfaded dust jacket. The first novel by Harry Grey (Herschel Goldberg) later to become Sergio Leone’s epic ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ (1984) starring Robert DeNiro loosely playing Harry's life as David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson.

A partly autobiographical account of Goldberg, a Ukrainian born Jewish gangster in New York's Lower East Side between 1910 and 1933, legend has it that this was written whilst incarcerated in the notorious Sing-Sing prison, using the pseudonym Harry Grey to protect his family.

Housed in a bespoke black clamshell case with red morocco spine label lettered in gilt.
  Herschel ‘Harry’ Goldberg (1901-80), born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1901 and emigrated to America in 1905. He dropped out of school at grade 7. In 1912 Harry's father, Israel, became seriously ill and had to be taken to hospital for an operation. During his stay there Celia began cooking meals for men in the neighborhood who were saving money to bring their families to America from Europe. When Israel came out of hospital he found that Celia had a flourishing business and Israel started a restaurant. All the children helped out.

Although it is rumoured that Harry wrote ‘
The Hoods’ whilst in Sing-Sing, another source says that after being hospitalised by an accident in his fifties, Harry decided to write about life in the twenties and thirties and the syndicates that controlled businesses in New York. To protect himself and his family he changed the family name to Grey. In addition to ‘The Hoods’ he authored several other best sellers, among them, ‘Call Me Duke’ and ‘Portrait of a Mobster’ depicting the life story of Dutch Schultz, which also became a successful motion picture.

References: IMDb.

Thick octavo (book size 21.9x25.3cm), pp. [8] 371 [3]. In publisher’s orange brick buckram, spine lettered in black, all edges trimmed. Dust jacket priced to upper corner of front flap ‘$3.00’ and with lightly ink stamped ‘$1’ beside it.
  Condition: Fine in very good plus dust jacket, yellow lettering to spine unfaded, light soiling to rear panel, front panel with small patch of abrasion and two short closed tears to upper edge. In fine clamshell case.   Ref: 111150   Price: HK$ 17,000