You've heard of the scheme. Now comes the man behind it. In
Mitchell Zuckoff's exhilarating book, the first nonfiction account
of Charles Ponzi, we meet the charismatic rogue who launched the
most famous and extraordinary scam in the annals of American
finance.
It was a time when anything seemed possible-instant wealth,
glittering fame, fabulous luxury-and for a run of magical weeks in
the spring and summer of 1920, Charles Ponzi made it all come true.
Promising to double investors' money in three months, the dapper,
charming Ponzi raised the "rob Peter to pay Paul" scam to an art
form and raked in millions at his office in downtown Boston.
Ponzi's Scheme is the amazing true story of the irresistible
scoundrel who launched the most successful scheme of financial
alchemy in modern history-and uttered the first roar of the Roaring
Twenties.
Ponzi may have been a charlatan, but he was also a wonderfully
likable man. His intentions were noble, his manners impeccable, his
sales pitch enchanting. Born to a genteel Italian family, he
immigrated to the United States with big dreams but no money. Only
after he became hopelessly enamored of a stenographer named Rose
Gnecco and persuaded her to marry him did Ponzi light on the means
to make his dreams come true. His true motive was not greed but
love.
With rich narrative skill, Mitchell Zuckoff conjures up the
feverish atmosphere of Boston during the weeks when Ponzi's bubble
grew bigger and bigger. At the peak of his success, Ponzi was
taking in more than $2 million a week. And then his house of cards
came crashing down-thanks in large part to the relentless
investigative reporting of Richard Grozier's Boston Post."
InZuckoff's hands, Ponzi is no mere swindler; instead he is
appealing and magnetic, a colorful and poignant figure, someone who
struggled his whole life to attain great wealth and who sincerely
believed-to the very end-that he could have made good on his
investment promises if only he'd had enough time. "Ponzi is a
classic American tale of immigrant life and the dream of success,
and the unexpectedly moving story of a man who-for a fleeting,
illusory moment-attained it all.
"From the Hardcover edition.
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