Keepinitreal is the Evanston Public Library's first book club dedicated solely to non-fiction; this month we are reading "Empire of Deception" by Dean Jobb. Discussions are free and open to all.
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.
Keepinitreal is the Evanston Public Library's first book club dedicated solely to non-fiction. Discussions are free and open to all, no registration required. Books will be held at the Main Library, 2nd Floor, Reader's Services Desk and the discussion will be in the Seminar Room on the 3rd Floor. Call 847-448-8620 or visit the blog at www.keepinitrealevanston.wordpress.com for more information.
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