PONZI: The Man and His Legendary Scheme
Mitchell Zuckoff, . . Random, $25.95 (416pp) ISBN 978-1-4000-6039-9
Before Charles Ponzi (1882–1949) sailed from Italy to the shores of America in 1903, his father assured him that the streets were really paved with gold—and that Ponzi would be able to get a piece. As journalist Zuckoff observes in this engaging and fast-paced biography, Ponzi learned as soon as he disembarked that though the streets were often cobblestone, he could still make a fortune in a culture caught in the throes of the Gilded Age. Zuckoff deftly chronicles Ponzi's mercurial rise and fall as he conjured up one get-rich-quick scheme after another. Charming, gregarious and popular, Ponzi devised and carried out the scheme that carries his name in 1920 in the open (and with a brief period of approval from Boston's newspapers and financial sector). Many investors did indeed double their investments, as Ponzi would use money of new investors to pay old investors, and Ponzi himself became a millionaire. Eventually, Zuckoff shows, the
Reviewed on: 01/24/2005
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 416 pages - 978-0-8129-6836-1