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Stories from the Stoop
Stories from the Stoop features seven unforgettable true-life adventure stories mixed with humor, grit, and candor. These stories will fill you with hope and show you we are all in this together. Within these pages you will see life from a new perspective. A boy's life experienced straight from the stoop. This small piece of real estate, made of dreams, granite and memories, is his window into the world. Through his ponderings Steve asks It was Steve Bernstein's fortuitous and profound friendships which crossed boundaries of race, gender, and religion that enabled him to navigate these tumultuous questions and develop a unique perspective on life. Without his dog, Wolf, Steve would not have survived the wrath of a street gang. On the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, it was Anthony who recognized how dangerous it was for Steve (the only white kid on the basketball court that April evening) to be out playing hoops. An epic bike trip with Joe breathed life into Steve's dream to be free, a lifelong friendship that only 9/11 could extinguish. Stories from the Stoop is a triumphant and tender coming of age journey intended for adults and young adults alike. Steve's voice, spare and street smart, resonates across age and ethnicity, and offers the possibility that life circumstances need not predict destiny. All you have to do is find enough courage, compassion and chutzpah to win out. Come, join Steve on the stoop and find out what it means to be free. Grab this book now and get lost in the vivid stories of love, life, acceptance, and freedom.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 8, 2017
33 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 1, 2019
Formidable
Steve Bernstein brings us seven stories from his life in the Bronx in New York. A memoir that gives us a unique view of how it was to live and witness the changes in a mixed racial community during the tumultuous 1960s. His stories are well written and add storytelling depth beyond what I’ve experienced in most memoirs.
Some of the stories didn’t really connect with me and the book started slowly and indifferent but as the novel progressed the content became much more appealing and relevant to the historical setting, especially during the period of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
This is an intriguing story and always great to read about the lives of people from a totally different background to my own. I would recommend reading this book and I’d like to thank Steve Bernstein for providing me with a copy of his book in return for an honest review.
Steve Bernstein brings us seven stories from his life in the Bronx in New York. A memoir that gives us a unique view of how it was to live and witness the changes in a mixed racial community during the tumultuous 1960s. His stories are well written and add storytelling depth beyond what I’ve experienced in most memoirs.
“The stoop is where all life, both inside and out, plays out for me. It’s the place at night when the junkies are gone and the traffic is quiet, the sirens stop, and people are shut in and it’s dark and the dogs keep still, when I very, very occasionally have some moments of peace.”Steve lived in the Projects in South Bronx in his early days, with his younger brother, older sister, disconnected mother and alcoholic father. Life is harsh in terms of resources and even harsher in the communities where gangs are always vicious and intimidating. His one great friend from his early childhood was Anthony, a black boy three years older. Anthony taught Steve basketball and they learned to challenge other kids on the court. Steve was unique in his South Bronx neighbourhood because he was the only white kid. Each story brings out a milestone event in Steve’s life, which is descriptively poignant. These moments illustrate the social conditions and accepted boundaries which Steve obviously ignored having a black best friend, a Puerto Rican girlfriend and a connection to the black community.
“When I got to Allerton Avenue, the “white” neighborhood where my mother moved us after my dad got stabbed, I wasn’t sure what to expect. In the old neighborhood on Sheridan Avenue in the South Bronx, I was the only white kid, yet I dared to have a Puerto Rican girlfriend and I never ever backed down from a fight. Sure, I felt alienated at times, but I also felt at home. I felt at home with people of color. I felt at home with gangs. I felt at home hanging out on the stoop. I had soul and salsa, and basketball in my blood. In the white neighborhood, I had none of that. And no real stoops.”
Some of the stories didn’t really connect with me and the book started slowly and indifferent but as the novel progressed the content became much more appealing and relevant to the historical setting, especially during the period of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
This is an intriguing story and always great to read about the lives of people from a totally different background to my own. I would recommend reading this book and I’d like to thank Steve Bernstein for providing me with a copy of his book in return for an honest review.
June 19, 2019
I grew up in northern Vermont and at times I would say to my parents that I wished we lived in a big city where life was happening. Usually a trip to Brooklyn and Staten Island to visit cousins would cure me of that and I'd be very happy upon returning to the quiet of our house, the woods and the land. Reading Steve's book reminded me of how lucky I was to grow up where I did. It wasn't perfect but I didn't fear for my safety on a daily basis. Steve is a beautiful writer and recalls with vivid detail what it was like to grow up in the Bronx in the 1960's with a alcoholic father and a mother who had checked out some time ago. His love for his siblings and friends shines through. He could see there was something else out there. Something he deserved. You're rooting for him. Reading his stories you feel the grime of the neighborhoods, the joy of being with friends and being in love for the first time. Great stories, I highly recommend this book!
January 11, 2022
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I got an ARC of this book.
I loved this book. There were bits and pieces that weren’t quite perfect from a technical writing perspective, but the stories were just so real. I never once doubted that the stories were real. Bernstein doesn’t paint himself as this hero, he recreates his world and his place in it.
The stories jump around and are rambling at times, which made me live for this book. It was exactly the way you would tell these stories. It fits exactly the tone and the messages. It was the best way to tell these stories in particular. At times, I would forget what the start of the story was, because I was so intensely focused on where the story had taken me, but Bernstein took me back each time. He made sure I made it through the stories.
There was the love between a boy and his dog. There was the first love he faced. There was the love of his friends. This book is full of positive loves. It is also full of what can happen to those loves when the real world intervenes. There was many great sections about how alcohol can destroy love and drastically warp someone’s world. There was just so much deep and emotionally raw stories that he told that I was enraptured.
I read this book, but I felt like I was living it. There was a lot in the books I could understand and relate to, despite not growing up in the Bronx. There were so many points where the story seemed to finally give a happy ending, but Bernstein showed that there really were no endings. There were just a lot of beginnings and a lot of middles. I would love to read more by Bernstein.
I had to force myself to pace myself. I only at most let myself read one story a night. There are seven stories. That being said, the last story was just so much more than I could have imaged and went so emotionally deep that I had to read it more than once to really absorb all of it. I highly recommend.
I got an ARC of this book.
I loved this book. There were bits and pieces that weren’t quite perfect from a technical writing perspective, but the stories were just so real. I never once doubted that the stories were real. Bernstein doesn’t paint himself as this hero, he recreates his world and his place in it.
The stories jump around and are rambling at times, which made me live for this book. It was exactly the way you would tell these stories. It fits exactly the tone and the messages. It was the best way to tell these stories in particular. At times, I would forget what the start of the story was, because I was so intensely focused on where the story had taken me, but Bernstein took me back each time. He made sure I made it through the stories.
There was the love between a boy and his dog. There was the first love he faced. There was the love of his friends. This book is full of positive loves. It is also full of what can happen to those loves when the real world intervenes. There was many great sections about how alcohol can destroy love and drastically warp someone’s world. There was just so much deep and emotionally raw stories that he told that I was enraptured.
I read this book, but I felt like I was living it. There was a lot in the books I could understand and relate to, despite not growing up in the Bronx. There were so many points where the story seemed to finally give a happy ending, but Bernstein showed that there really were no endings. There were just a lot of beginnings and a lot of middles. I would love to read more by Bernstein.
I had to force myself to pace myself. I only at most let myself read one story a night. There are seven stories. That being said, the last story was just so much more than I could have imaged and went so emotionally deep that I had to read it more than once to really absorb all of it. I highly recommend.
August 7, 2019
This is an incredible book. That is what I feel.
When I started the book, I did not know what a stoop was. These are stories from Steve Bernstein's childhood and adolescent years, first in the Bronx and then in his new neighbourhood.
Now, I have never been to the Bronx, yet when I read these stories, I felt I was there in the Bronx, beside him, listening to him talk. It was a difficult childhood, yet the stories are told in a manner where he does not ask for your pity, or sympathy. They are told straight out, and this invites respect and understanding.
It's a very different life from the one I have grown up in, yet I found I could relate.
Each story has a poignancy of its own, and you feel the connection with Steve as he takes you through the loss of his beloved dog, to the loss of his childhood friend.
What he kept through this journey, is his humanity and his faith in himself. He also kept a strong sense of family, and this is incredible. There is no bitterness in his writing.
There are just the very human stories from the stoop.
When I started the book, I did not know what a stoop was. These are stories from Steve Bernstein's childhood and adolescent years, first in the Bronx and then in his new neighbourhood.
Now, I have never been to the Bronx, yet when I read these stories, I felt I was there in the Bronx, beside him, listening to him talk. It was a difficult childhood, yet the stories are told in a manner where he does not ask for your pity, or sympathy. They are told straight out, and this invites respect and understanding.
It's a very different life from the one I have grown up in, yet I found I could relate.
Each story has a poignancy of its own, and you feel the connection with Steve as he takes you through the loss of his beloved dog, to the loss of his childhood friend.
What he kept through this journey, is his humanity and his faith in himself. He also kept a strong sense of family, and this is incredible. There is no bitterness in his writing.
There are just the very human stories from the stoop.
January 30, 2020
"I did it?"
Reminiscent of what i read many years ago by Franc McCourt. (I forgot the titles)
An honest, call it by its name, life story of someone who grew a character from nowhere and nothing, in a forgotten era, like McCourt, from the less acceptable areas of New York city.
As an immigrant who experienced the North East, the North West, the deep South these life true stories gives me a better perspective of how (UN)United States the US is, and how fragmented the society really is religiously, socially, economically and politically. Yet every bugger makes it in the end, like Steve the author, hiding the scars behind all those memories of characters who shared his courage and care.
I gave "4" because I experienced McCourt every bit of the journey. Worth reading!
Reminiscent of what i read many years ago by Franc McCourt. (I forgot the titles)
An honest, call it by its name, life story of someone who grew a character from nowhere and nothing, in a forgotten era, like McCourt, from the less acceptable areas of New York city.
As an immigrant who experienced the North East, the North West, the deep South these life true stories gives me a better perspective of how (UN)United States the US is, and how fragmented the society really is religiously, socially, economically and politically. Yet every bugger makes it in the end, like Steve the author, hiding the scars behind all those memories of characters who shared his courage and care.
I gave "4" because I experienced McCourt every bit of the journey. Worth reading!
September 13, 2017
I have read two memoirs this year. Bruce Springsteen's and Steve's. They are both in the same class - honest, poignant, straightforward and beautifully written. With Bruce, I felt myself wandering around the jersey shore with him, meeting all the crazy characters who shaped him. With Steve, you feel the Bronx of the 1960's sharp and brilliant. You are there. Steve is a story teller and a pure writer. From a bent rim basketball hoop to the stink of the bars his father dragged him to, all of you're senses are triggered by his rich, descriptive writing. A classic.
April 10, 2024
A memoir filled with moments that create an amazing journey thus far!
A fascinating tale with such visual scenes that I felt I was right there with the author experiencing all the rage, pain, and comforts of growing up in the Bronx. Bernstein’s memoir is engaging and emotional. A fast paced story worth savoring every page! This book needs to be a movie and dedicated to the animals that bring us comfort.
A fascinating tale with such visual scenes that I felt I was right there with the author experiencing all the rage, pain, and comforts of growing up in the Bronx. Bernstein’s memoir is engaging and emotional. A fast paced story worth savoring every page! This book needs to be a movie and dedicated to the animals that bring us comfort.
August 17, 2019
**I received this book for my honest review**
Unfortunately this is one that didn't sit very well with me. Not because there was anything necessarily wrong with it, but I felt like there wasn't really any underlying story or message. It was just the story of Steve Bernstein's life.
I appreciated the fact it was written and shared, but I personally didn't get much from it.
Unfortunately this is one that didn't sit very well with me. Not because there was anything necessarily wrong with it, but I felt like there wasn't really any underlying story or message. It was just the story of Steve Bernstein's life.
I appreciated the fact it was written and shared, but I personally didn't get much from it.
June 23, 2025
I was thoroughly moved by Steve Bernstein's Stories from the Stoop. Through his vivid and poignant recollections, Bernstein weaves a tapestry of hope, courage, and the transformative power of human connection. This book is a must-read for anyone who appreciates a well-told story and a testament to the human spirit's ability to overcome adversity.
July 30, 2019
I listened to the audio book. The reader was excellent. The story was engaging. The writer really captured the era and his experience. It was brutally honest, yet hopeful. I highly recommend this book.
October 15, 2021
An amazing memoir told with such honesty - I felt like I was there along side the author as he overcame so much loss snd disappointment, yet still always finding the good and a way to not just survive, but thrive.
August 20, 2017
Very much enjoyed
I very much enjoyed reading about Steve's amazing life. I would recommend this to anyone who blames there past for behavior.
I very much enjoyed reading about Steve's amazing life. I would recommend this to anyone who blames there past for behavior.
March 17, 2020
Great book
This book kept my interest the entire time I read. The last chapter especially, I felt I knew where Steve was headed and unfortunately I was correct.
This book kept my interest the entire time I read. The last chapter especially, I felt I knew where Steve was headed and unfortunately I was correct.
March 12, 2024
Absolutely loved this book! This is one of those few books I will save to pass on to someone special.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews