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The Outhouse Book Club for February: "Catch me if you can" by Frank Abagnale Jr.




Cover Blurb:

  Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history.  In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam--until the law caught up with him.  Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane--make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit.

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Written or Contributed by: The Outhouse Book Club


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[David Bird]

Catch Me If You Can

By Frank W. Abagnale, with Stan Redding

Frank Abagnale was a teenage fraud artist who used his wits to pass millions of dollars in bad cheques, and impersonate pilots, doctors, prosecutors, and professors. Eventually he got caught and did his time, and then started up a successful fraud prevention company. He was a frequent guest on Carson, and I remember him telling some of the anecdotes in this book.

I liked the book, but was never wowed by it. By necessity, it was a lot ‘this happened, then this happened, then this happened.’ There were a few times when the chronicling of events slowed down enough to take you into the story--his time as a ‘doctor,’ the events after his capture--but much of the book was taken up with the minutiae of defrauding Pan Am. Events in the story took place during a five year period, from 1964-1969, so I doubt much of the info he is giving out is going to be of any use today. Written more than a decade after events, and by the reformed Frank, it is clear that he had a very good time. The glee he felt in working a con is right there on the page. Still, I was glad he included the story of his confession to Rosalie, otherwise he might of come off as something of a sociopath.

This book was originally published in 1980, but was given a second lease on life when it was turned into a movie by Steven Spielberg. Agagnale is played by Leonardo Decaprio. I have never seen the movie, though the book has made me want to. Abagnale was able to pass himself off as much older. While I like DiCaprio and think he’s a talented actor, I have to admit I have some trouble believing he can do the same. No matter that he’s in his 30s, he’ll always have the look of a twelve year old delinquent about him.

The edition I have is from 2003 and includes an interview with Abagnale. He’s older and has grown more conservative. At one point the says, “Maybe the French have the best system.” I am sure that would have shocked the young Frank who actually did time there. I am also sure that if he’d been caught today, he would have done a lot more time than the less than five years, of a twelve year sentence, that he did in the 70s.

[xaraan]

I haven't seen the movie either, but now I want to as well.

I also had no idea this was based on real events and was more or less autobiographical. I went into it just thinking it was another book -- yes I didn't even pay attention to the author I just ordered it on my kindle and started reading for the book club.

As it wrapped up and pointed this out to anyone like me that was obliviously to being smacked in the face with such details it actually left the story sitting in a more interesting place for me.

I quite enjoyed it myself. Even though the scams he ran would not work quite like that today it did remind me quite a bit of how easy some of the scams work even today that people run with credit cards and similar that I came across working at sears. I was actually involved in cracking a huge credit card fraud case that slipped past store and regional security and it ended up going to the FBI because of the involvement of multiple states and cities. But what was interesting about it was how easy and simplistic the scam was to implement for the people running it and even after stores were alerted to it they still continued to get away with several times.

I was a bit surprised when the story turned to his downfall later in the book. The prison in france was a pretty bad experience and things like that hit harder finding out the true nature of the story.

All in all, I liked it. It was an easy read. The story kept moving. The voice of the story was extremely likable and talked with the audience well. (And I'll probably be watching the movie soon to see how it compares)

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I have seen the movie before, and I think that Leonardo DiCaprio did justice to the character. However, reading it is a more visceral experience, as the plain and blunt writing style along with the immersion in the slang of the criminal profession of check scamming give this book a hard-boiled feel that I wasn't really expecting. It goes without saying that a lot of what makes this book so interesting and enjoyable is how fully the reader is inclined to support and root for the protagonist. Frank is a charming, lovable rogue, no matter how many people he swindles and how much money he steals. What's impressive is that not only does the reader root for Frank, but antagonists like Pan Am, innocent victims in this situation, are easily viewed as villains.

A huge part of the appeal of this story, of course, is the fact that these are true events. That a fictional character could pull off these feats is not unusual, but that it could occur in real life is extraordinary, and impressive. It's remarkable that Frank's life followed such a perfect literary path, including his suffering in prison and release as a climax, and even redemption in the epilogue as he put his criminal mind to work for the feds.

Overall, this book was fun, well written, and an accessible and enjoyable read for anyone.

[xaraan]

A huge part of the appeal of this story, of course, is the fact that these are true events. That a fictional character could pull off these feats is not unusual, but that it could occur in real life is extraordinary, and impressive.

See, that actually didn't throw me that much. Reading the story not knowing it was real - I never thought his cons were unbelievable. I've seen too many people get away with the modern day equivalent of much of what he pulled.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

See, that actually didn't throw me that much. Reading the story not knowing it was real - I never thought his cons were unbelievable. I've seen too many people get away with the modern day equivalent of much of what he pulled.

How many of them also managed to work as the head of a department at a hospital, or a lawyer? How many escaped from the cops through an airplane toilet? Sneaking into the Pan Am headquarters... That's the stuff that made it unbelievable, not the check writing alone.

[xaraan]

How many of them also managed to work as the head of a department at a hospital, or a lawyer? How many escaped from the cops through an airplane toilet? Sneaking into the Pan Am headquarters... That's the stuff that made it unbelievable, not the check writing alone.

I don't know what else they did to be honest, but some of the scams were multiple- level and did go on even after several police dept's and others were on the look out for them.

So I guess I was just thinking that if some of these morons I met did that much I can imagine what an actual smart and charming con man could do.

[xaraan]

But yea... adding the lawyer and doctor parts into the equation - it did raise my eyebrows a bit.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

But yea... adding the lawyer and doctor parts into the equation - it did raise my eyebrows a bit.

I mean, that's brass balls above and beyond the brassiest balls I've ever seen. Pretending to be a doctor? For a YEAR? While surrounded by other doctors?

[xaraan]

Yea, both those job cons were pretty hard core.

[~Alima~]

I liked the book. It was resfreshing to read something that has a storyteller feel to it. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not fictional. But the Oscar's are on so I'll write more later

[David Bird]

But yea... adding the lawyer and doctor parts into the equation - it did raise my eyebrows a bit.

Actually, he isn't the frist con man to pull that sort of thing off. There was a guy named Ferdinand Waldo Demara:

During Demara's "careers," he was, among other things, a ship's doctor, a civil engineer, a sheriff's deputy, an assistant prison warden, a doctor of applied psychology, a hospital orderly, a lawyer, a child-care expert, a Benedictine monk, a Trappist monk, an editor, a cancer researcher, and a teacher. One teaching job led to six months in prison. He never seemed to get (or seek) much monetary gain in what he was doing - just temporary respectability.

They made a movie about him called The Great Imposter. It starred Tony Curtis. When I first heard of the DiCaprio movie, I thought it was a remake of the Curtis film, which I remembered seeing on TV when I was a kid.

[misac]

I have seen the movie before, and I think that Leonardo DiCaprio did justice to the character. However, reading it is a more visceral experience, as the plain and blunt writing style along with the immersion in the slang of the criminal profession of check scamming give this book a hard-boiled feel that I wasn't really expecting. It goes without saying that a lot of what makes this book so interesting and enjoyable is how fully the reader is inclined to support and root for the protagonist. Frank is a charming, lovable rogue, no matter how many people he swindles and how much money he steals. What's impressive is that not only does the reader root for Frank, but antagonists like Pan Am, innocent victims in this situation, are easily viewed as villains.

A huge part of the appeal of this story, of course, is the fact that these are true events. That a fictional character could pull off these feats is not unusual, but that it could occur in real life is extraordinary, and impressive. It's remarkable that Frank's life followed such a perfect literary path, including his suffering in prison and release as a climax, and even redemption in the epilogue as he put his criminal mind to work for the feds.

Overall, this book was fun, well written, and an accessible and enjoyable read for anyone.

I didn’t really see Pan Am as villains, huge dummies sure, but not villains.

[misac]

I found myself rooting for Frank throughout, he’s charismatic as hell and it’s almost unbelievable all the stuff he pulled off. And I liked that he didn’t steal from people who couldn’t afford it.

As funny as it was, his only villainous actions where when he conned that poor prostitute and making all those women he slept with pedos.

It did seem like he was very lucky. Like when he escapes from jail, those guys believing he was an inspector they did half the work for him or when they found the doctor to replace him after his big scare and other instances where things just seem to fall into his lap.

I really liked the book and dug up the movies to rewatch but I didn’t have time over the weekend. I liked the movie as well but I don’t recall the things they changed and I’m curious to see how they compare.

There’s a show on USA, White Collar, that’s essentially Abagnale working for the FBI. It’s really good and you should give it a try if you want to see the further adventures of his.

[misac]

Also, I read that a Broadway show based on the book comes out in a couple of months.