Retail Gangster: The Insane, Real-Life Story of Crazy Eddie

Investigative journalist Weiss (Ayn Rand Nation) has devoted a full career to revealing financial improprieties on Wall Street. His article broke the bond-trading scandal at Salomon Brothers in 1991, and from the eighties to the end of the aughts, he targeted swindling stockbrokers and organized crime in Business Week and as a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. Weiss’s fourth unsparing book tackles the rise and fall of one of “old” New York’s most infamous hucksters. Listeners who’ve never heard of Crazy Eddie Superstores or seen the notorious TV commercials declaring his prices “In-saane” will still be drawn in by Weiss’s focus on the cultural and familial underpinnings of Eddie Antar’s turn from petty retailing misdemeanors to white-collar crimes big enough to attract the FBI and shut him down. With one of his final performances, Richard Ferrone—who passed away in October 2022—demonstrates mastery of audio narration.