January 24, 2005
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 Boston Post
uncovered this "robbing Peter to pay Paul" system (as it was then known), and Ponzi's life unraveled. Zuckoff provides not only a definitive portrait of Ponzi's life but also insights into immigrant life and the social world of early 20th-century Boston.
November 1, 2004
The man behind the scheme is introduced by Zuckoff, a professor of journalism at Boston University.
Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from February 1, 2005
His scheme had been around for years and was fairly simple: offer to pay investors huge returns in a short time frame, paying the early investors with capital from later ones, and abscond with the money before the whole thing collapses. Previously, the game was known as "robbing Peter to pay Paul," but Charles Ponzi did it on a grand scale in 1920, and the scheme bears his name to this day. At the height of his operations in Boston, he had a large staff, salespeople, and numerous branches throughout the Northeast. His deposits peaked at $15 million, and his "customers" included much of Boston's police force. Zuckoff's biography of Ponzi is meticulously accurate, based on memoirs and newspaper accounts of the day, weaving the story of the rise of this small-time Italian immigrant with that of Richard Grozier, second-generation editor of the " Boston" " Post," living under the shadow of his father and out to make a name for himself. The reader, knowing it all must end badly, cannot help but root for the deluded Ponzi, with his devoted wife, Rose, blindly loyal to him all the way to the heartbreaking conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)
February 15, 2005
In 1920 Boston, men and women responded to newspaper ads placed by Charles Ponzi guaranteeing investors 50 percent interest on their investments in only 45 days. Ponzi devised a classic "robbing Peter to pay Paul" swindle, paying off early investors with the millions of dollars raised from later ones. Before the year ended, Richard Grozier, owner-editor of the Boston "Post" newspaper, had successfully exposed Ponzi's scheme, and the authorities jailed Ponzi and in 1934 deported him. The name Ponzi became the eponym of all such scams. Zuckoff (journalism, Boston Univ.; "Judgment Ridge") presents a delightful narrative of the charming Ponzi, an Italian immigrant who came to America in search of fortune and briefly found it. Zuckoff took all spoken and written comments by Ponzi and others from newspapers and other documents, making his portrayal of Ponzi an important correction to Donald H. Dunn's fictionalized biography, "Ponzi!: The Boston Swindler". Recommended for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "11/1/04.] -Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College
Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.