Harold Robbins Books

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Harold Robbins is one of the best-selling writers of all time. An American novelist, Harold’s books have sold hundreds of millions of copies. The author, who was born in 1916 in New York City, was the child of Russian and Polish Immigrants of Jewish descent. Though, for a long time, he claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had to struggle for survival in a catholic Boy’s Home.

After dropping out of high school in the 1920s and performing a number of odd jobs, no one expected Harold to climb the ladder to an executive position in Universal Pictures. But that is exactly what he did.

The author’s first novel hit the shelves in 1948. Harold garnered quick popularity because he often injected his own life into his fictional tales of sex, action and melodrama to create highly thrilling and fast moving stories.

The author’s novels are wide ranging. They delve into the lives of exceptional people that have to deal with the struggles of life as their fortunes wax and wane. Harold’s heroes are not always the best human beings. And they are often saturated with flaws, many times crafting the blueprints for their own failures. But readers cannot help but love them.

Since Harold Robbins’ demise in 1997, his widow has continued to oversee the publication of additional novels under his name produced by ghostwriters. These novels have been more or less accepted by Harold Robbins’ fans because they are created using the author’s own unfinished stories and notes.

Harold was such a loud and flamboyant playboy in his day, always drawing attention to his person that many critics were certain that he injected aspects of himself into many of his more popular protagonists.

Harold Robbins Books into Movies/TV

Harold Robbins had the pleasure of seeing many of his novels receive big and small screen adaptations, with the most prominent including:

Never Love a Stranger, this 1948 novel was translated into a movie of the same name in 1958. The movie which starred Steve McQueen, John Drew Barrymore and Robert Bray, followed a boy who befriends a Jewish law student and falls in love with his sister.

The Dream Machines, published in 1948, this novel became a miniseries in 1980 that followed the exploits of a poor young man that goes on to create a film studio in Hollywood.

King Creole, Published in 1952 as A Stone for Danny Fisher, the novel became a 1958 film that looked at the struggles of a middle class Jewish family trying to survive the Great Depression.

The Carpetbaggers, published in 1961, this novel follows a wealthy heir who decides to use his industrial fortune to make movies even while pursuing aviation on the side. The Carpetbaggers was first adapted into a film of the same name in 1964, before receiving another adaptation under the name Nevada Smith in 1966.

Additional Harold Robbins books turned into movies include Where Love Has Gone, The Adventurers, The Betsy, The Pirate, and The Lonely Lady.

Best Harold Robbins Books

Though not all his books hit the right nerve amongst readers, Harold Robbins was, none the less, a revolutionary when he first started writing, with some of his best books including:

The Carpetbaggers: Jonas wanted nothing more than to take everything his father possessed; not only his money and popularity but his beautiful wife. And he got exactly what he wanted once his father passed away.

Rina Marlow was the fantasy of every man in Hollywood. She would eventually find a place by Jonas’ side as they tore through Hollywood, fighting and lusting along the way as their ambitions and desires grew darker and fiery.

The story in this book encompasses a twenty-year period, stretching through both world wars as it chronicles the life of a character very reminiscent of Howard Hughes.

A Stone for Danny Fisher: Danny Fisher was a ruthless and talented boxer set to take the amateur sporting world by storm. And by his teenage years, there was nothing Danny wanted that he didn’t have, until his family fell on hard times, dragging him into a world of poverty filled with violent encounters and anti-Semitic attitudes.

Danny is forced to fight for survival, building his legend inside and outside the ring and becoming a target for anyone with a passing interest in his success.

This book picks up at Danny’s funeral. Harold Robbins then proceeds to tell readers how his protagonist came to such an untimely end.

When Does The Next Harold Robbins book come out?

Harold Robbins doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Descent from Xanadu and was released on June, 25th 2010.

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