Greece Hotels Travel - The Prince of Providence: The Rise and Fall of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor
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List Price: $15.95
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Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 974.52043092
EAN: 9780375759673
ISBN: 0375759670
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 496
Publication Date: 2004-07-13
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: 2004-07-13
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Editorial Reviews:
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COP: “Buddy, I think this is a whorehouse.”
BUDDY CIANCI: “Now I know why they made you a detective.”
Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island, where corruption is entertainment and Mayor Buddy Cianci presided over the longest-running lounge act in American politics. In The Prince of Providence, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mike Stanton tells a classic story of wiseguys, feds, and politicians on a carousel of crime and redemption.
Buddy Cianci was part urban visionary, part Tony Soprano—a flawed political genius in the mold of Huey Long and James Michael Curley. His lust for power cost him his marriage, his family, and close friendships. Yet he also revitalized the city of Providence, where ethnic factions jostle with old-moneyed New Englanders and black-clad artists from the Rhode Island School of Design rub shoulders with scam artists from City Hall.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Cianci dominated this uneasy melting pot. During his first administration, twenty-two political insiders were convicted of corruption. In 1984, Cianci resigned after pleading guilty to felony assault, for torturing a man he suspected of sleeping with his estranged wife. In 1990, in a remarkable comeback, Cianci was elected mayor once again; he went on to win national acclaim for transforming a dying industrial city into a trendy arts and tourism mecca.
But in 2001, a federal corruption probe dubbed Operation Plunder Dome threatened to bring the curtain down on Cianci once and for all.
Mike Stanton takes readers on a remarkable journey through the underside of city life, into the bizarre world of the mayor and his supporting cast, including:
• “Buckles” Melise, the city official in charge of vermin control, who bought Providence twice as much rat poison as the city of Cleveland, which was at the time four times as large, and wound up increasing Providence’s rat population. During a garbage strike, Buckles sledgehammered one city employee and stuck his thumb in another’s eye. Cianci would later describe this as “great public policy.”
• Anthony “the Saint” St. Laurent, a major Rhode Island bookmaker and loan shark, who tried to avoid prison by citing his medical need for forty bowel irrigations a day, thus earning himself the nickname “Public Enema Number One.”
• Dennis Aiken, a celebrated FBI agent and public corruption expert, who asked to be sent to “the Louisiana of the North,” where he enlisted an undercover businessman to expose the corrupt secrets of Cianci’s City Hall.
The Prince of Providence is a colorful and engrossing account of one of the most tragicomic figures in modern American life—and the city he transformed.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Rhode Island
Comment: RI is such a secular little world where everyone DOES know everyone else. Buddy played those connections to the hilt, rebuilding a city and lining his own pockets at the same time. This is a great study of a guy who, had he not been so affable, would have been regarded as the nastiest of crooks. But instead while he wallows in the Federal Pen, his legions of fans and supporters remain steadfast. Stanton does a superb job of capturing the uniqueness of Rhode Island; the Italianness, the corruption, the general air of "fuhgheddaboudit, they're all crooks". Don't rule out Buddy Part III, this is but the first installment of a very interesting man.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Jekyll and Hyde Mayor
Comment: I know very little about New England or Rhode Island. I'm not terribly interested in politics. I came to this book in a roundabout way. I had never been aware of Buddy Cianci until I happened to see a musical at the New York International Fringe Theatre Festival in 2003 titled BUDDY CIANCI. While the musical wasn't very good, I thought the story was fascinating and that in Buddy Cianci the authors certainly had a character who was big enough to sing. Here was a guy who was a scary crook that everyone loved. Here was a mayor whose popularity was never higher than just after he was indicted a second time. He had been indicted previously, pleaded guilty to assault (he bound and tortured a man he claimed was his ex-wife's lover) and had to step down as mayor, only to run again and be re-elected! So of course I pounced when I saw this book in the bookstore. I was not disappointed. Mike Stanton's THE PRINCE OF PROVIDENCE is jaw-dropping reading as it traces Cianci's rise to power and his outrageous machinations to keep his power. Stanton's book is very detailed and objective. This is not a hatchet job. He gives equal time to all sides. In one chapter I would be rooting for Buddy and in the following chapter rooting for his enemies. This is that kind of book. Buddy Cianci is that kind of guy. The book has been sold to the movies and should make a terrific film. (But what actor could possibly do justice to the title character?) There are times when the book seems on the verge of becoming a Yankee MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (which I consider a compliment). THE PRINCE OF PROVIDENCE is consistently entertaining and has a lot to say about America and the times we live in. Four stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Comment: A fascinating view of a Mayor who engaged in boosterism to sell his city, and himself. Very helpful to those interested in studying styles of government and a great read.
Jim Fiorentini Mayor, Haverhill, MA
Customer Rating:
Summary: A renaissance man
Comment:
This book is a fascinating look at politics, corruption and the enigma of Buddy Cianci. Thoughtful and balanced, it shows both sides of a bright, funny, and charismatic mayor whose impact reaches beyond his city. It's all about good and evil in the same person. Charm, power, and political realities. A great read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We miss Buddy!
Comment: Well, perhaps not everyone does. But as this book outlines in great detail, Buddy was quite a character. He was the huge push (or battering ram?) behind the proverbial renaissance of Providence. PVD has a long way to go, but some would argue that it is definitely better off after Buddy's term in office. Besides, how many cities have had a convicted felon with his own marinara sauce in City Hall? Stanton has written a meticulously researched and engaging book about one of the most interesting mayors to come along in quite a while. Whether you're from Providence or just passing through (ahem college kids), pick this one up and learn about the man behind the myth.
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