Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation

Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation

Jobb, Dean

Paperback

Biographies General20th Century United States HistoryTrue Crime

Publisher Price: $16.99

ISBN10: 1616205350
ISBN13: 9781616205355
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: Jan 5 2016
Pages: 352
Weight: 0.70
Height: 1.00 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.10
Language: English
It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people to invest as much as $30 million upward of $400 million today in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. This rip-roaring tale of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit, illicit sex, and a brilliant and wildly charming con man on the town, then on the lam, is not only a rich and detailed account of a man and an era; it s a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. As Model Ts rumbled down Michigan Avenue, gang-war shootings announced Al Capone s rise to underworld domination. As bedecked partygoers thronged to the Drake Hotel s opulent banquet rooms, corrupt politicians held court in thriving speakeasies and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Leo Koretz was the Bernie Madoff of his day, and Dean Jobb shows us that the American dream of easy wealth is a timeless commodity. ? A rollicking tale that is one part The Sting, one part The Great Gatsby, and one part The Devil in the White City. Karen Abbott, author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy Intoxicating and impressively researched, Jobb s immorality tale provides a sobering post-Madoff reminder that those who think everything is theirs for the taking are destined to be taken. The New York Times Book Review Captivating . . . A story that seems to be as American as it can get, and it s told well. The Christian Science Monitor A masterpiece of narrative set-up and vivid language . . . Jobb vividly . . . brings the Chicago of the 1880s and 90s to life. Chicago Tribune This cautionary tale of 1920s greed and excess reads like it could happen today. The Associated Press

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