An entertaining and well researched read

Here I thought I knew a fair amount about Chicago history, but I knew nothing about Leo Koretz, who by rights should be the official schemer instead of Charles Ponzi. You wonder if Madoff took his inspiration here. The focus on the law school classmate who prosecuted Koretz puts the scheme in the context of 1920s Chicago. Great story, well told.

Grabbed the ARC from this at ALA Midwinter. An intriguing story ably presented.

Ponzi before Ponzi! Leo Koretz, a consummate conman, full of charisma and panache, ran a breathtakingly daring series of schemes for nearly two decades. His swindles are so huge that they beggar the imagination, as he persuaded wealthy Chicagoans to beg him to take their money (often by refusing them until they became desperate). He lived life LARGE and even had a second life on the lam in Nova Scotia, with lovers and parties and glitz galore. And suicide by chocolate? Every chapter of his life is nearly beyond belief.

Aptly chronicled here, with a good amount of context. Koretz's breathtaking swindles are also balanced out by the tragedy of his family, who lost so much when their husband/father/brother turned out to be a conman. And while Koretz generally only swindled wealthy dummies who could afford to lose money, he also did swindle a few people who gave him their life savings. I really felt for those victims.

Interesting storytelling and an eye opening look on a part of hidden history