The Prince of Providence, Mike Stanton
The Prince of Providence, Mike Stanton
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The Prince of Providence
The True Story of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys, and the Feds

Author: Mike Stanton

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 19 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/18/2018

Synopsis

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.

About Mike Stanton

Mike Stanton heads the investigative reporting team at the Providence Journal. He has also written for the Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, and the Boston Globe. He shared the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, exposing widespread corruption at the Rhode Island Supreme Court. In 1997, he received the Master Reporter Award, for career achievement, from the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. He has also won prizes from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the Associated Press. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on September 17, 2019

Mike Stanton is a very good reporter and Buddy Cianci was describable by many lively adjectives, but The Prince of Providence is an unsatisfying read. Stanton largely failed by embracing the more-is-better philosophy when telling Cianci's story. Clever quips are repeated to an annoying degree; passa......more

Goodreads review by Candice on January 13, 2024

This was a hair raising book. Cianci who did transform Providence and ran as the "anti-corruption mayor," angrily denying Mob activity in the city, deemed as stereotypical to Italians, basically just created his own private mob. It's funny because my daughter once took me to an established Italian r......more

Goodreads review by Dave on December 17, 2023

Astounding, staggering, and stupefying America's dirtiest mayor, Buddy Cianci is like the Grand Canyon. You hear about it all your life and think "What's the big deal" until you see it for yourself. I've heard about Buddy for years and years, but I had no idea. The depth and scope of his corruption......more

Goodreads review by David on September 01, 2019

As the author of the book “Lost Restaurants of Providence”, I appreciated the number of restaurants and bars Mike Stanton discusses in his account of a less-than-Divine Providence. Here are just a few references: Doorley’s Bar, owned by a relative of Cianci’s predecessor in office Mayor Doorley, was......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on January 19, 2008

This was a fun mental return to Providence for me. I used to live on Federal Hill, one block off of Atwells Avenue - next to Mediterraneo and across from Andino's - so I saw Buddy very often around the neighborhood, and have always been fascinated by him. And it was kind of disturbing and thrilling......more

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