The Prince of Providence
The True Story of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys, and the Feds
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Narrated by:
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Tom Perkins
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By:
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Mike Stanton
About this listen
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, 22 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.
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What listeners say about The Prince of Providence
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- victor
- 10-20-20
long book, but great insight.
I wish more stories where able to be shared about how he was able to have such success as a mayor. how was he able to turn the city around?
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- D Sçôtt
- 02-23-24
Horrible reader can not pronounce names correctly at all Good story Maybe he should have asked somebody
How do you read a factual book and mispronounce 90 percent to the Italian American names. Pathetic I’m from RI and know the story and the characters and was appalled at simple names being butchered. Some so bad I had to guess who they actually were. Does anybody listen to this, edit, produce before putting it out
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- emely lopez
- 04-03-22
Terrible narrator
The overall story was fascinating, but the person doing the narration of the book was awful. The pronunciations were completely off and incorrect, it did a complete disservice to the story. I would suggest to get a different narrator with better understanding of the local culture.
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