Gene Lovell

Ponzi: a Novel About a Mystery Gene Lovell

Can a leopard change its spots? What cataclysmic force or horrific event could bring a God-fearing, straight-as-an-arrow man to embrace Charles Ponzi as a hero?

Zippy Cosmo was born at the height of the Great Depression to impoverished parents. He grew up on a cigarette and a piss for breakfast, but with a steely work ethic and a penchant for self-sacrifice and honesty. His picture is the dictionary definition of altruism. Widows and orphans championed him. He brought great happiness to the orgasmically deprived. No charitable cause was beneath his notice. The great, near-great, and the gutter-dweller were thrilled to be the subject of one of his magnificent, unsolicited oil portraits.

Yet at life's end, he ripped off thousands for millions. Who wrought this change? The mob? A dominatrix?

Witness the transformation of a soul that would give Freud dreams of revision...