Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Like many people I was drawn to this book after hearing about Frank Abagnale’s story for years and having seen the movie of the same name. About halfway through listening to the book, I began to be suspicious of Abagnale’s story, so I researched the man and his supposed career impersonating everything from a teacher to a surgeon to an airline pilot. Sure enough, the more I found on the real Frank Abagnale, the more obvious it was that not only had he lied to all of the people who supposedly bought his stories as all of these professionals, but he also lied to readers of this book and to Steven Spielberg who was naive enough to make the story into a movie. You see, virtually all of this was made up by Abagnale. And if you do decide show more to read the story knowing this, you’ll have the same reaction I did: there is no way this guy did this stuff. So, if you happen to see this book at the library sitting on the biography/memoir shelf, tactfully grab it, take it to the circulation desk and suggest to them that they reshelve it in the fiction section. Because that’s what it is, a novel. Not a memoir. show less

Before I start taking apart this book for this review, I do want share that in recent years there has been some speculation on the validity of this memoir. In fact, there are sources that state the whole affair never happened. I stand somewhere in the middle – I think it is human nature to either undermine or overestimate our importance and contributions depending on our personality make-up as an individual. Every word in Abagnale‘s book screams of self-importance, and it would not surprise me in the least if much of Catch Me if You Can has been dramatized. I proceed with this review as though the book itself is simply that, a book. I’m not here to provide commentary on the validity of Abagnale‘s story.

I first came across Catch show more Me if You Can through the DiCaprio/Hanks film. I remember it coming out when I was younger, and I was absolutely captivated by both the stellar actors and the con man’s story. The book has been on my TBR for over a decade. I expected the same high-stakes drama but charmingly deluded personality the film offered. A lot of the events in the book do match what made it to film, and I will write a whole review comparing the two at some point. What makes the biggest difference, and what ruined the book for me, was Abagnale‘s voice.

Abagnale‘s writing style is strong, and the book flows. That’s not the problem. Rather, I spent most of Catch Me If You Can cringing at the terminology and presumptions the author made. It took nearly 100 pages before a female-identifying person was described by some other noun than that of an animal. Birds, chicks, foxes – you name it, he used it. Language is important, and from this choice, it’s evident how little respect Abagnale has for women. Maybe it’s different with his wife, but as a reader with only this book for context, it felt gross. This behavior characterizes Abagnale both as a writer and a character. The language the first pages alone tells me the author is pretentious and sexist. That tone continued for the rest of the book.

In fact, sexism is rampant in this book. It’s clear Abagnale only views women as sexual objects. He constantly uses them as pawns. Professional woman are the main non-monetary victims of his crimes He perpetually uses them for his own pleasure, targets them as easy to manipulate, and illustrates most of them as unintelligent and naïve. More than once, he blames women his mistakes and trouble. Early in the book, he claims women (excuse me – “birds”) were the reason he got into crime in the first place.

So that’s the flaw in the content. As far as technical writing, the first half of Catch Me if You Can is too slow. It is wrapped up in setting Abagnale‘s childhood and his foray into flight. The second half of the book deals with all of the rest of his other cons as well as his international trip and finally his arrests. The balance is way off, and the pacing is messy.

If the early pacing and Abagnale’s voice don’t push you away, the underlying story is interesting. This book is a genre classic if you are fascinated by white collar crime or the art of the con. You have to be really patient for the ramblings of a self-important, older cis white man to enjoy this book. It’s incredibly, stereotypically the type of book you would expect from that caricature, and it’s something between offensive and exhausting when it isn’t being entertaining. And often even when it is. show less

I was actually upset that the story was told in only 300 pages. I was so engrossed in the detail, I would have read it in the breathless, eager fashion that I did, had it been six times the size. There's just so much joy and terror and discovery and cleverness in this trip-hammering (in regards to his heart and his airline scheming) adventure. You're right there with Abagnale, figuring things out on the fly, amazed at the success of his ventures, going boldly, and ultimately, getting really, really, really lucky despite his gargantuan crimes. The movie captured none of the fear of being caught, the reality of French prisons and a million other nuances that make this book one helluvan achievement and a wonderful read such that I haven't show more experienced in quite a long time. show less

I've always been fascinated by con men. I think it has something to do with the idea of disappearing completely into some other personality, a front that exudes confidence (something I've always lacked). So, when the movie for Catch Me if You Can was released, I was absolutely keen to see it.

The movie, of course, drew my interest to the book, especially since this was the story of a REAL LIFE CON MAN! It took me a while to get around to a) finding a copy, and b) finally reading it; but here we finally are.

Frank Abagnale had a five year criminal escapade across the globe, passing bad checks all over and living the good life, all before he even turned 21. He was a master forger, and amazingly intelligent, finding gaps in the system and show more using those to his advantage. Of course, once he was caught and served his time, he then worked with law enforcement to close those same gaps he used to well in his criminal days, assuring no other paperhanger would have his kind of luck.

He was a pilot, a doctor, a law professor, all without the benefit of schooling. He still managed to study, learning everything he could to make his cons believable, he just lacked the official accreditation to make what he was doing legal.

This is the story of a brilliant mind who could do literally anything he put his mind to, with just a little fudging of any official documentation he might need. On top of that, it's a fun read. Abagnale is very... frank in his portrayal of his exploits, sharing just how paranoid and lonely his life was, and making sure to tell any future lawbreakers reading his book that he was lucky, so very, very lucky; until, that is, he finally got caught and all that karma hit him like a ton of bricks during his French prison stay. What a horrid experience.

Definitely a worthwhile read if you are a fan of the movie, or just con men and crime stories in general. show less

This is the autobiography of Frank Abagnale, Jr. a con-man and counterfeiter who made millions passing fraudulent checks all around the world and, meanwhile, posed successfully as a Pan Am pilot, a pediatrician, and a lawyer. I enjoyed the movie based on this book so I hoped the book would be better. Although the book certainly provided more information about the scams and how he got away with it, Abagnale himself was much less charming in the book. He was too much of a womanizer and a…well…con-man. Emotions weren’t expressed (other than relief at escaping one or another of his women), making it difficult to empathize with him. Also, the adult Abagnale (who took part in writing the book) didn’t seem to feel much remorse about show more his activities. He rationalized: “I never conned a square John out of money,” but ignores the emotional strain that he must have put on many of his victims. Also, I am a little skeptical of the “true” part of this “true crime” story. I believe that the basic idea is true, but there were just too many convenient coincidences for his story to be entirely accurate. He must have taken bits and pieces of different escapades and pasted them together into a unified story, and over-emphasized his own cleverness. Clearly, he’s a genius, but I still would have liked a little more “oops, that was stupid” in his story. It would have humanized him. Not even a genius can be clever all the time! show less

The conman, the grifter, flimflam man, con artist or just straight up hustler all have a special place in my heart. I am talking about the guys and gals on the road. Not the 419ers or the tech support types, the actual honest to god con artist.

I have always had an interest in con artist and short cons. Being involved in sleight of hand magic it goes with the territory but Frank Abagnale is a magician of the highest level.

Living a rock star lifestyle during the 60s by basically handing over bad cheques. It's a story of a man who wasn't made to be an average Joe and wanted to see the world but didn't have a penny to his name.

So he made money out of nothing. Frank is one of the most sympathetic criminals one could meet in literature. It show more may seem far fetched and over blown but Frank teaches us that if you have enough confidence and add a little grey matter then the world is your oyster. show less

Basic Summary: Watch the movie, you'll get the gist.

This book claims to be an autobiography written by Frank Abagnale Jr, a first-hand account of his wild, sexy, preposterously daring days posing [most significantly] as a Pan Am pilot during the 70's. [But also as a sociology professor, a pediatrician and a lawyer]. While on a Wikipedia binge regarding the subject, I came across a quote from Abagnale who said he only spoke to the author a total of 4 times during the book's conception. And that the author (Stan Redding) frequently reminded him that he was not writing a memoir, but a story. The editor and himself wanted a more egregiously scintillating novel. Therefore, I must assume that this story is largely fictionalized.

That being show more said, it was still remarkably entertaining. The idea that someone swindled nearly everyone they met, sans shopkeepers and peasants because even con men have souls, and got away with it at the mere age of 16! Altering his age, forging birth certificates, Harvard transcripts, medical licenses..the work! He even managed to pass a bar exam and became eligible to practice law in Georgia -- all acquired with fraudulent documents and never having finished high school.

For 11 months [supposedly] he posed a supervising doctor on a pediatrics floor of a hospital. Until a baby almost died from oxygen deprivation under his care.

If taken with a grain of salt, the book is fun ditty to read. I understand that Abagnale was a real-time con man of an extremely high level, served jail time in 3 countries and nearly had to serve in 6-8 additional countries for check fraud.

As taken from an interview though, you can't believe everything he did:

Did Frank really escape a VC10 jetliner by removing the toilet and climbing down beneath it, eventually escaping through a hatch onto the tarmac?
The event is in Frank's 1981 memoir, but airline experts say it is impossible. "The entire system is sealed," says Skip Jones of the Aerospace Industries Association. "No matter what happens in there, you can't get into the rest of the airplane." Payload systems engineer Alan Anderson explains that the toilets are mounted on top of tanks that weigh over 100 pounds, and even if he manage to undo the toilet, he would have to crawl through a pipe four inches in diameter. "A person would have to be pretty small, and it would be messy," says Anderson.

Then again...

"Things that happen in real life are sometimes a hundred times more fascinating than anything a person could make up off the top of his head," - Leonardo DiCaprio show less