Does anyone have any recommendations for books about scam artists and conmen? I've read "The Man with the $100,000 Breasts" and "Catch Me If You Can," and I'm looking at getting the Titanic Thompson one off of Whit's site, but if anyone can recommend some other books I'd appreciate it.

The Con Game and "Yellow Kid" Weil by J. R. Weil

Amarillo slim in a world full of fat people

Slim is a convicted pedophile, and a endlessly compulsive liar.
His is not a book I'd bother reading.

"The Big Con" by David Maurer is the bible of the long and short con. The movie "The Sting" was based on this book (it was ripped off from the book actually, and the movies producers later lost in court).

There are other good books, but if you want a taste of the best, and want to understand this stuff better, start with this one.

I'd love to read a pedophile and liar's book! Sounds fascinating.


The Big Con is THE book on con artists. Almost any con artist film you care to name comes back to The Big Con. All of those outdated words (putting on the fix, ropers, outside man) that only exist in fiction all come from The Big Con.

I'd also recommend Players by Geno Zanetti and Stephen Hyde. It's an anthology of works from great writers. It's also a good place to get further suggestions of books as it includes excepts from several other important works.

40 years... by George Devol and Right Way To Do Wrong by Houdini are also fun reads. Both are FREE online.

The big con is a dry read. The yellow kid is great!


Charles ponzi book is a great read. Its a lot of fun and you get a great story to read.

Right Way To Do Wrong by Houdini this is a very fun read.

Fiction
- Con Man
- Spanish Fly / Hustle
- Paper Moon
- The Confidence Man
- The Tony Valentine novels
- Jar of Fools
- Felix Krull

Non Fiction
- The Art of The Steal
- Son of a Grifter
- The Man Who Wasn't There
- The Modern Con Man
- The Complete Idiots Guide to Fraud Scams and Cons (much better book that you'd expect)
- Rich Uncle From Figi

Sting Shift by Bruce Walstad and Lindsey Smith
How to Become a Professional Con Artist by Dennis Marlock

Both authors were vice cops, and both books still get used as "text books" when trying to ramp local cops up on scams and cons.

Sting Shift is the better book if you're only getting one, but if you're interested in the subject matter, you should really have them both.

Dammit Nick,


I was trying to keep jar of fools on the down low.


Don't get it folks, you won't like it.


Not worth your time.

James - I don't think it's many people's cups of tea.

You might also like The Imposter's Daughter. It's a graphic novel about a woman who finds out her father is an imposter.

Billion Dollar Bunko by Simon Lovell is a good read. The carnival scams were particularily interesting to me. L & L Publishing first edition 2003 hard bound 419 pages.

Billion Dollar Bunko was released as an top dollar hard back. Lovell the produced How To Cheat At Anything as a paperback a little while after, annoying a few of the people who paid for the expensive edition.

How To Cheat costs $20 on Amazon.

However, the gambling and carnival sections are very similar to the Scarne on Gambling sections. Lovell has certainly not copied or plagiarized Scarne but he has used Scarne as his primary source.

The short con and internet sections of the book are quite poor. There are plenty of far better books on the subject.

In terms of bios of actual con artists and cheats I recommend the Titanic book, The Man Who Sold The Eiffel Tower, The Great Imposter and The Magician and The Cardsharp.

The Big Book of Hoaxes is a really fun read as well. It's a series of two-three page comics drawn by different artists and is full of hoaxes and scams.

http://www.houseofdeception.com/Con_Artists.html

That is great Nick,


Perfect for anyone trying to make a library of cons.


Cheers!

I am currently putting my library in a database.

Here is a list of what I've done so far...

http://scams.wikispaces.com/Bibliography