About this item
The Monopolists reveals the unknown story of how Monopoly came into existence, the reinvention of its history by Parker Brothers and multiple media outlets, the lost female originator of the game, and one man's lifelong obsession to tell the true story about the game's questionable origins. Most think it was invented by an unemployed Pennsylvanian who sold his game to Parker Brothers during the Great Depression in 1935 and lived happily--and richly--ever after. That story, however, is not exactly true. Ralph Anspach, a professor fighting to sell his Anti-Monopoly board game decades later, unearthed the real story, which traces back to Abraham Lincoln, the Quakers, and a forgotten feminist named Lizzie Magie who invented her nearly identical Landlord's Game more than thirty years before Parker Brothers sold their version of Monopoly.
About the Author
Mary Pilon is the author of the "The Kevin Show' (Bloomsbury March 2018) and "The Monopolists," a bestselling book that chronicles the secret history of the famous board game (Bloomsbury Feb 2015) . A regular contributor to The New Yorker, Esquire, Fast Company, MSNBC, Vice, Politico, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek, among other news outlets, Pilon has worked as a staff reporter at the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and as an Emmy-nominated producer for NBC Sports at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She made the Forbes magazine's first-ever 30 Under 30 list for media. A native Oregonian and fledgling marathoner, she currently lives in New York City. Visit her web site at marypilon.com and find her on Twitter @marypilon.
