The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game - Tapa dura

Highly entertaining . . . Like Monopoly itself, the book unfolds in interesting directions, probing into lost Quaker communities, the early history of Atlantic City, and how a game originally invented to critique capitalism became its most diverting simulacrum. (The Boston Globe)

[A] fascinating history . . . The Monopolists lucidly weaves together a multifaceted story . . . [It] builds to an intense pitch--while highlighting several fundamental issues of capitalism. (Los Angeles Times)

A legal, corporate and intellectual whodunit . . .The tale, like the game, becomes a parable for American capitalism, with powerful players stamping out competitors and fortunes being made or destroyed at the roll of the dice . . . anyone who grew up playing Monopoly will have a hard time resisting The Monopolists. (Washington Post)

The tale is as infuriating as it is fascinating. (Carlos Lozada Washington Post, "The whiniest, funniest, creepiest and most memorable books of 2015")

With more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie mystery, reporter Pilon reveals the tumultuous history of Monopoly . . . More entertaining than the game itself. (starred review Publishers Weekly)

Pilon takes us on a jaunt through turn-of-the-century America, where we learn about such far-flung things as the origins of the price tag, the founding of Atlantic City, and the fact that one of the most coveted addresses in the game was home to some of the earliest gay bars in America. This is a must read for anyone who loves the game, and really, who doesn't? (Erik Larson)

Briskly enlightening . . . [Pilon] has woven a plush, often humorous tapestry of board-game and social history. Even passages devoted to sick children during the Depression fail to deflate the book's buoyancy. (New York Times Book Review)

What enormous fun this book is! Clever, engaging, finely crafted, and endlessly surprising--and revealing in passing much about the ghastliness of American corporate greed. Much like the game itself, indeed. (Simon Winchester, author of THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN)

Mary Pilon has discovered an enthralling story behind Monopoly, as much a history of our country as of its favorite game. She writes with the assurance and energy of a historian who knows she has struck gold. (Gay Talese)

Mary Pilon's page-turning narrative unravels the innocent beginnings, the corporate shenanigans, and the big lie at the center of this iconic boxed board game. (Stefan Fatsis, author of WORD FREAK)