David W. Maurer (1906–1981)
Author of The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man
About the Author
David W. Maurer was professor of linguistics at the University of Louisville. He was the author of The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man, Narcotics and Narcotic Addiction, and Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern.
Works by David W. Maurer
Associated Works
The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States {abridged} (1963) — Editor — 148 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Maurer, David W.
- Birthdate
- 1906-04-12
- Date of death
- 1981-06-11
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Education
- Ohio State University
- Occupations
- professor
Members
Reviews
The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man by David Maurer
Ever wonder how people come up with all the snappy dialog and crazy names conmen use on tv? The writers read this. Nonfiction account of conmen and long cons in the early 20th century focusing on language. Very dated (especially racially) but fascinating still.
"Whiz Mob" by David Maurer
The title page tells us that Whiz Mob is "A correlation of the technical argot of pickpockets with their behavior pattern." My copy was published by the American Dialect Society in November 1955. At that time my husband and I worked at Williams & Wilkins, Waverly Press, a firm now defunct. He did the copy editing and I proofread parts of this book. Fast forward to 2013: it is quoted in a 1-7-13 New Yorker article.
It will be interesting to read the book and article side-by-side, I think.… (more)
The title page tells us that Whiz Mob is "A correlation of the technical argot of pickpockets with their behavior pattern." My copy was published by the American Dialect Society in November 1955. At that time my husband and I worked at Williams & Wilkins, Waverly Press, a firm now defunct. He did the copy editing and I proofread parts of this book. Fast forward to 2013: it is quoted in a 1-7-13 New Yorker article.
It will be interesting to read the book and article side-by-side, I think.… (more)
from the NY Review of Books http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1999/06/24/on-the-big-con/
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Statistics
- Works
- 13
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 553
- Popularity
- #45,138
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 4
- ISBNs
- 22