Customer Reviews

The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book when it was first published in the '40s and I have thought of it often since then because it impressed me so much. Of course, I was a kid then and it was fascinating because of the people descriptions. It was so rich in characterization it caught my imagination. It was also a lesson for a young man; "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is." I've always remembered that lesson. It is an excellent description of the con games that were popular up to that time. Most of the current ones are not much different in their basics, only in their methods. Although the characters were fascinating, the message was even more so: Beware your wallet if someone wants to give you a large amount of money. I will buy this newly released edition just because of my memories of it some 50 years ago.

"The Big Con" is an excellent read from several perspectives. It is extremely well written. The pages fly by, which is saying something considering that it is non-fiction. As a 40's period piece, it is a must read for any fan of the crime/detective genre. Lastly, for anyone interested in the "confidence game" or related artforms, it is an esstential primer that considers the con at its most developed level. If the text has any weakness, it is that it leaves one with a craving for more details on the "short con." This may be forgiven because the point of the book is to examine the "big con," but as the author often notes, the masters of the big con nearly always get their start with the short con.

Interesting study of con games, starting from early (and primitive) set-ups around the turn of the century (1900 that is) to more elaborate operations later. Focus on the lingo of con games, but with many entertaining examples and anecdotes.

Particularly interesting are the idiotic repeat victims who, after being conned again and again, keep coming back for more.

Lest you think that the book is of historic interest only, many of the (small-scale) cons described therein are still be practiced today. My local Chicago neighborhood newspaper carries periodic reports of victims of the "pigeon drop" con.

I have been looking for this book for about forty years. I read it originally in the 1950's. When the movie "The Sting" came out I said "that's a dead steal from 'The Big Con'". It was a great read then and I'm looking forward to re-reading it.

This classic 1940 study of confidence men and their methods sounds pretty cool--and is in a retro-sheik way--but objectively is rather dated and repetitive. While it is strong on the lingo of the time, with its 26 page glossary, it is much less effective in bringing any of the con men in its pages to life. Instead, in illuminating the workings of the main big con gambits, the reader is given a sense of the general traits of con men. Typical of Mauer's writing style is to make the general comment that most con men can't hold onto the cast sums they earn, and then proceed to name all these ones who had. That, and the repetition of certain points and material over and over throughout various chapters is rather annoying. That said, the actual detailing of the big cons is really interesting, especially if you're into authors like Jim Thomson (The Getaway, A Swell-Looking Babe), David Mamet, and Elmore Leonard. It should be mentioned that Maurer is a bit of an apologist for his subjects.

The only thing more astounding than the degree of thought, care, judgment and energy these con men dedicated to their dishonest trade is the fall-on-the-floor-laughing GULLIBILITY of some of the victims (marks) they ripped off. Given the plain old greed that propelled most of the victims into the traps they pretty much set for themselves, they absolutely deserved to be skinned as thoroughly as they were.

The stories in this book are eminently enjoyable, and they really make you wonder what sort of big con games are flourishing across the USA even as we speak.

For anyone who watched "The Sting" or BBC's "Hustle" and found themselves fascinated, this is absolutely the book for you. Maurer's "The Big Con" is at once a history and an apt analysis of con artists and their trade, but is never dry or boring. It is clear from the work that Maurer spent a great deal of time with his subjects and the work is not lacking for detail. However, more fascinating even than Maurer's explanations and elucidations of the various elements of the con artist's trade are his examinations of their psyches - not dashing, devil-may-care rogues, Maurer shows his subjects to be flesh-and-blood individuals with their own virtues and vices, personal triumphs and personal demons. The book also includes a glossary of slang which is very interesting as well. If you ever watched "The Sting" and wondered "Is this for real?" or are just a fan of a good old-fashioned yarn, "The Big Con" is a worthy buy. Enjoy.

I was a bit worried that the book would be too dated - mostly in the language. I was expecting something like Dashiell Hammett. Enjoyable, but you're constantly reminded that those days are gone. That's not the case here. The book could have been written yesterday from a language perspective, and any linguistic idiosyncrasies are specific to the language of the con man.

As some people have noted, it can be repetitive, but that's because most "big" cons (those where the con men work in large teams and have established locations) are very similar in essence; only the execution and specifics are different.

I found it to be very interesting, both from a technical perspective on how things were done, as well as a sociological perspective.

Ran across this book the other day -- it's available now in an inexpensive reprint edition -- and I heartily recommend it. Of course, this book from 1940 is famous as the inspiration for "The Sting," but there's plenty more to it than that. It's really a non-fiction book in which the most popular "long cons" of the first forty years of the 20th Century are outlined. I love the fact that Maurer appears to offer no judgment on the morality of his subjects -- a rather modern outlook.

One interesting sidelight is that I've done considerable reading in the Seattle/ Pacific Northwest newspapers of 1905-1909, and I can attest to the truth of what Maurer describes. Newspapers of the time were fascinated with con games. Most stories describe what we now would call "short-con" games, but I've run across an article in a Seattle newspaper from 1909 that essentially outlines the entire plot of the movie "The Sting," matching it even more closely in detail than the hypothetical cons described in this book. Until I read "The Big Con" I guess I'd wondered about that -- I mean, I was astonished that the con seemed to be so well known so long ago.

Well, maybe it was just well known in Seattle. The book indicates that particular game was invented in Seattle in 1906. The author says that in its early form the game wasn't nearly as sophisticated and effective as it became a few years later, and from Seattle it fanned out across the country. He says the "big con," in its classic form, fluorished nationally from 1914-1925. I guess that 1909 newspaper article demonstrates that it was perfected rather quickly. The local Seattle newspaper reporter who wrote the piece apparently didn't realize it was an idea born and raised to perfection in the Queen City.

Wow! Another thing this part of the country can be proud of!

Erik Smith
Olympia, Wash.

This is a great look at the cons and the con games they ran. He spent years in the 1920's and 30's gaining the confidence and interviewing these rogues.

Written by Professor David Maurer (a professor of linguistics at the University of Louisville from 1937-1972) "The Big Con" was his magnum opus which served as the source of that great Oscar-winning con movie "The Sting".

The language is wonderful and informative, the basis for much of today's crime and con lingo. This book is a great read.

Professor Maurer also wrote "Kentucky Moonshine", "Whiz Mob" (pickpockets), and "Language of the Underworld", all based on his extensive interviews with such real-life personages as the Sanctimonious Kid, Ocean-Liner Al, and Limehouse Chappie. He was also an extensive contributor, co-author or consultant on many definitive books on gambling by Scarne.

I highly recommend all of his books. They give a wonderful portrait of the world of the big (and little) con in the 1920's thru 40's.

A footnote:
At the age of 75, after a horrible auto accident (he came over the top of a hill in his own lane when an idiot passing illegally hit him head-on) that left him terribly disabled and in uncontrolled pain, unable to work, David Maurer took his own life. A sad ending for a great writer.