Customer Reviews

Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit

5 star:		(180)
4 star:		(89)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I really enjoyed the movie, but I did not believe any of it. How could a 16 year old pull off all these scams posing successfully as an airline pilot, lawyer, doctor, and FBI agent. Only in Hollywood! I had to read the book to uncover the truth. To my amazement, almost nothing in the movie was dramatized. Frank Abagnale did it all. And, this even includes the acrobatic escape from a commercial plane as it lands.

The book depicts a far richer story than the movie. At the start, the family situation is more complex. The scams are more intricate. The career path is more extraordinary. The movie skipped over interesting jobs, including a stint as a college sociology teacher.

Also amazing is that this teenager acquired far more knowledge about the meaning of every single digit on a personal check than any banker I know. And, I know, having been engaged in banking and finance for over two decades.

Frank's character development make the whole story more likely. Frank was not your regular 16 year old dude. At 16, he could easily pass for a fit 25 year old. He was 6 feet tall, 170 pounds. He also acquired quite a real world education by hanging out with his Dad. His Dad exposed him to political, business, and social circles that teenagers do not know. Thus, Frank Abagnale, being a keen observer, learned quickly how adults behave among themselves.

Frank was also strikingly handsome, and confident. So, the story includes many romantic interludes. This aspect of life is described most tastefully. There is nothing graphic here. And, it does not detract from the story. To the contrary, women were a key element in this scammer's education. They were often insiders to the professions he attempted to fake.

There are a lot of close calls, where you feel Abagnale's cover is going to peel off for good. But, invariably he recovers elegantly from what appears like desperate situations.

In the last part of the book things finally go south. But, it is still fascinating. You learn about the awful prison standards and jail terms in France and Italy. You also find out how Sweden treats their own incarcerated people so much better.

In the Afterword & Q & A section, you are relieved that everything turned out well for this likable Robin hood like figure. He now leads a very successful life as a corporate consultant on fraud, happily married with kids. Hard to believe but true.

One can't help but be impressed by Frank Abagnale's resourcefulness at such a tender age. At the age of sixteen he manages to forge a pilot's license and "deadhead" his way around the country bouncing checks. He also passes himself off as an pediatrician, a college professor, and an assistant district attorney. The last is probably his most impressive exploit, as he passes the bar exam (on his third try) with only two years of high school.
After years of exploiting the gullibility of bank tellers and airline clerks, Abagnale is finally captured in France, where he spends six hellacious months in a Devil's Island of a prison. He is then transferred to a Swedish prison, a one hundred and eighty degrees difference, more like a college dorm than a prison. He could've spent the rest of his life being handed from one European penal system to another, some of them vying for brutality with France, but he is saved by a Swedish judge who extradites him to the U.S. Back home, he escapes from apprehension at the airport and from prison later, embarrassing the F.B.I. and his nemesis agent O'Reilly. But, by then, just about every law enforcement official in America is on the lookout for him. He is ultimately captured and does four years jail time, only to emerge once more smelling like a rose. After a few years bouncing around doing such scut work as managing a grocery store and a pizza joint, he convinces a bank manager to let him give a lecture to his employees on how to spot a "paperhanger." From there, he's referred to another bank and another and so on. These days he teaches at the F.B.I Academy.
There is a brief question and answer section at the end of the book in which Abagnale decries the leniency of our American penal system; surprisingly, he prefers the French method, which reminded me a lot of the dungeons in THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO. Also, don't expect to see much of Agent O'Reilly. This is a first person account for the most part, with only an occasional reference to the F.B.I. agent's dogged determination.

Catch Me If You Can is Frank Abagnale's account of his life as a con man. His book is thrilling, incredible, and true. When he was 16, Frank's parents separated and he ran away to New York City. Frank, armed with supreme confidence, charm, and intelligence, successfully posed as an airline pilot, attorney (he even passed the bar!), a physician, and a college professor, while living the good life with millions of dollars he got from passing bad checks in over 20 countries; and all of this before he was twenty-one years of age.

Frank's wild exploits are told in a humerous, quick-paced style that is very readable. The joy he found in living the high life and romancing countless ladies around the world is matched by the the utter despair he faced in a brutal French prison where he was entombed in solitary confinement for months.

It's clear that Frank knew he was doing wrong, but was so addicted to the high he got from conning that he didn't want to stop. Frank is now a respected authority on counterfeiting and, in fact, teaches at the FBI Academy. This is a very exciting book!

Saw (and bought) the movie then had to find out what was true and what were Hollywood embellishments... so I quickly ordered the book.

I was absolutely amazed that the real story of Mr. Abagnale's "escapades" were even more cleaver and brazen than in the movie. To think that this kid was able to convince people that he was a pilot for a major airline, a pediatrician, a lawyer (who actually passed the BAR exam without ever taking even one course in law school!), and a college professor... not to mention the most prolific bum check artist that ever lived!!!

You can read many reviews here that condemn Mr. Abagnale's actions and feel that he glamorizes theft and deception. But even young Abagnale had a sense of morality, albeit a bit skewed. He would not allow himself to swindle the common man or take money from anyone who could not afford the hit.

Upon maturity (and after doing some hard time) he found that he could use his talents and knowledge to help educate and protect the very same companies and institutions from being defrauded by other would-be "Frank Abagnales". There is little doubt that his expertise in this area and his willingness to share his knowledge with them has saved these companies billions of dollars. So if you really think about it, the banks and corporations that he conned actually just paid into a scholarship fund for someone who, down the road, went to work for them! Alas, poor Pan Am paid the bulk of his tuition.

This is a brilliant, brilliant book...I simply could not put it down. It is very well written and extremely entertaining. It is simply incredible that this is not a work of fiction... everything can be verified. The best book I have read in years.

I used to have a copy of the original 1980 edition of Abagnale's book, and lost a good friend several years ago when he skipped town with it. I've been waiting for the re-release anxiously.

You might expect it to be hard to root for someone with multiple felony convictions to get away with it. In fact, Abagnale's story is so interesting and so funny that you can't help but like him. This is reinforced by the fact that he seems to have so much fun with it himself, often playing up a role more than he strictly needs to, with hilarious results.

This book is terrific. There are no slack moments, no dull episodes, and some of them are outstanding (the time when he poses as a pediatrician and has to feign medical knowledge is perhaps the funniest thing I've ever read, followed closely by his attempt to pass himself off as an assistant attorney general). The fact that Abagnale has come clean and now works on the right side of the law is just one more reason to buy and read this tremendous book.

I'm conflicted. I saw the movie before reading this book. Having seen the movie, I find objectivity impossible.

Frank Abagnale tells of his adventures living the life of James Bond without the killing, using his wits and charm to get what he wants. It is romanticized, but plausible.

Do I advise you to read the book first so as to avoid the skew of injecting Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio? You know the successful movie. It is hard not to hear DiCaprio's voice while reading Frank's dialogue. Because the movie has such skilled actors and good editing, it comes across tightly and exciting.

Do I instead advise you to watch the movie first because it will be easier to imagine the details of check fraud production? The book is not well-edited, and suffers from mediocre writing, and any help moving it along will help.

The book is less fun than the movie. There is much more to absorb, more details to consider, and more of Abagnale in the story. His ego plays heavily into the text, and this gets old. His story does not end with this book, but additional chapters haven't been included.

How true is it all? Who can say? Some of it is verifiable, but Abagnale was, in many cases, the only one there. He fabricated so much of his existence, knowing when it is the truth and when it is storytelling is impossible. To enjoy the book, the reader must take the author at his word.

The parental drive Frank wants from Carl feels less evident, missing the sensitive looks and words as played in the movie by Hanks and DiCaprio.

In reading other 'how I lived as a criminal' books by cons like Jack 'Murph the Surf' Murphy, I have had to remember writing skill isn't why they are authors. It is proficiency in thievery, conning, or some other great misdeed. The movie fooled me into believing this book would be different. However, just like Murphy, Abagnale is a man whose life is redeemed. The book doesn't cover this.

There is something oddly heroic about a guy who has managed to fool a lot of people just by pretending. While applauding Abagnale's crimes are wrong, his ingenuity is amazing. He was good enough for the government to cut a deal with him. That's Tom Sawyer with more pluck and style. We wish were that smart and suave. This creates morality layers, but a book worth reading and thinking about.

Read "Catch Me If You Can," then see the movie.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

What I find entertaining about stories of con-men are the cleverness or detail in their frauds. Abagnale's scams are all the same--passing bad checks. He occasionally does something a little clever--his printing of checks, his social engineering, his narrow escapes, and his escapade with the UofA coeds--but for the most part it's the same routine, over and over. I was hoping to see some more variety. Kevin Mitnick's book _The Art of Deception_ is more entertaining than this, as well as having much more practical value. I also recommend the David Mamet film _House of Games_, _The Spanish Prisoner_, and the books on con games by Victor Santoro, Chuck Whitlock, and M. Allen Henderson over this one.

Highly entertaining--I read this one in one gulp. What Frank Abagnale, aka Frank Williams, Frank Adams (etc.) managed to pull off in a short time was nothing short of amazing. Forgery, counterfeiting, impersonating a pilot, doctor AND lawyer, and even a bank heist, thrown in for good measure. I swear that while I was reading the book, I could have been easily convinced to quit my legal job and run a few scams. It isn't so much the lifestyle that draws you in--expensive clothes, money lying around--it's that you really want to be that clever. The money was always incidental to him; he would get his thrills by outsmarting people. You get vicarious thrills reading about it.

The book does have its sobering moments, such as his description of serving time in a French jail. Another negative: his incredible arrogance, especially in his dealings with, and depictions of, women--it was overkill to keep referring to his (over-)active libido and reminding us that he had women in every port that he used without thought to their feelings. My impression was that he was (or is) unrepentent about using them, as if he thought they were complicit in his deception by their ignorance.

Nonetheless, a hilarious, fast-paced, morally ambiguous tale that will leave you rooting for a not-so-bad guy and wondering: Could I really do that?

After watching and loving the movie, I absolutely had to read the book! I knew the book was written 20+ years ago, and is a true crime/memoir, so I had to know -- was everything in the movie true or were parts added to give it that Hollywood excitement? The tricks and scams pulled in the movie were so unbelieveable. So imagine my surprise...

Frank Abagnale, Jr. is most likely the smartest, most brilliant con man that ever lived. How he duped as many people as he did is beyond me. But he did it -- over and over and over again. It all begins when Frank's father gives him his first car at age 16 and all the female attention he receives as a result. Spending money on the ladies is his new hobby and forging checks and pulling scams is how he does it. And from that point on, the journey only gets more twisted and wild.

It is quite obvious throughout the pages of this book that Frank is rather pleased with himself and all he's gotten away with. Catch Me If You Can is truly a fun book to read, especially knowing that it is all true despite its high "unbelieveability" quotient. Frank Abagnale Jr. was one heck of a gutsy kid, and the ride on which readers are taken is full of surprises and mouth-gaping astonishment. A real whirlwind of a read.

I bought this book for the subway ride, but I've had to restrain myself from reading it on lunch breaks and at night. I've only got two chapters left, and as much as I'm dying to read the rest, I don't want it to end!

Very fluid, smoothly written, and by far the most enjoyable book I've read all year. The main character (and author) is extremely likeable despite his crimes, and his adventures are simply amazing. The biggest delight is knowing that this is actually a true story!