Get Rich Quick

From the award-winning creators of The Mona Lisa Vanishes comes a fast-paced and fascinating illustrated nonfiction narrative about a con man who took in a trusting populace and pulled off the greatest get-rich-quick scheme of all time.

This is not a story about money, not really. It’s a story about confidence.

In the summer of 1920, thousands of people crowded the narrow streets of Boston, desperate to hand their money to the financial genius of the age. Charles Ponzi was charming and dapper, the hero of the common people, the enemy of the elite, the only man you could trust. 

But who was he, really? A wizard—a man who could make your cash multiply almost overnight? Or the perfect mirror for an America determined to believe its own get-rich-quick dreams—a land of fake gold and phony schemes?

Welcome to the confidence game, a game only one person can win.  

In this riveting, edge-of-your-seat illustrated narrative, the Sibert Medal–winning creators of The Mona Lisa Vanishes tell the true story of the spectacular rise and fall of a world-famous con artist—and show us the world that he made: a world of golden promises, in which a lie repeated long enough has a halo of truth.