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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
In August I went to visit a close friend in Washinton D.C. to spend some time with her and away from the small town I currently live in. The four days we visited were stuffed FULL of sightseeing and adventuring and eating, lots of eating. We saw all the normal touristy things, all the memorials, and museums, including riding on the metro for the first time. It was awesome. On our last day of sightseeing we had originally planned to go visit the National Arlington Cemetery, but it began to rain, and suddenly a dark , wet cemetery didn’t seem quite as appealing. We got on the Metro heading toward the bigger part of the city where all the action is and studied the map our friend had set up for us with circles and arrows and underlines to help us on the days she was unable to accompany us. On the last page of the map we found a small advertisement for the National Crime and Punishment Museum and I immediately decided we had to go. I’ve always been fascinated by all things Crime and Psychology, so this find sounded like a gem. The museum was fascinating and naturally sparked a need in me to read ALL THE CRIME AND PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS I COULD POSSIBLY GET MY HANDS ON AS SOON I GOT HOME! And, naturally, as soon as I got home I bought one book on amazon, lost interest and forgot all about it.
Then, just this last week I was in need of a new book and after searching my bookshelves, rediscovered my last “have to have this right now or I’m going to die” prize, Catch Me If You Can. It is definitely a book I would have finished in one sitting had I actually had the time in my life to finish a book in one sitting. It was fascinating, and even better it was true.
Frank Abagnale Jr. was a mere 17 years old when he hoodwinked, deceived, and put one over on basically, the world. This kid was successful in pretending to be a pilot for Pan Am, a lawyer, a teacher, a doctor and swindled thousands upon thousands of dollars in counterfeit checks. The brains this guys has is insane. His book describes all of his adventures and his thought process throughout, making me, at times, honestly feel jealous of how much he was getting to experience in life. However, with good comes bad, whatever goes up must come down, yada yada yada, he gets caught. And he gets punished, and its bad. The sentence he served in the french prisons is one I would wish upon no one. He only spends a short amount of time there, and even though he’s a criminal and he deserves some kind of punishment, you’d be hard pressed to find many people who really believe he deserved that. He’s a likeable guy who stuck it to the man in a big way. Save for one time where he stole from a hooker, Frank Abagnale Jr. only duped big companies and never victimized any one individual. I won’t ruin the end, for those of you who have never seen the movie and don’t know how the rest of his life played out. But its a great story with a pretty satisfying ending.
Catch Me If You Can was an awesome read, and is another one I will be keeping on my bookshelves. I definitely recommend it and have given it a 5 out of 5 stars. If you get a chance, pick up a copy.
[I have yet to see the movie, but I've head thats a good one also. As soon as I see it, I will let you know if it hold any water compared to the book.]
Then, just this last week I was in need of a new book and after searching my bookshelves, rediscovered my last “have to have this right now or I’m going to die” prize, Catch Me If You Can. It is definitely a book I would have finished in one sitting had I actually had the time in my life to finish a book in one sitting. It was fascinating, and even better it was true.
Frank Abagnale Jr. was a mere 17 years old when he hoodwinked, deceived, and put one over on basically, the world. This kid was successful in pretending to be a pilot for Pan Am, a lawyer, a teacher, a doctor and swindled thousands upon thousands of dollars in counterfeit checks. The brains this guys has is insane. His book describes all of his adventures and his thought process throughout, making me, at times, honestly feel jealous of how much he was getting to experience in life. However, with good comes bad, whatever goes up must come down, yada yada yada, he gets caught. And he gets punished, and its bad. The sentence he served in the french prisons is one I would wish upon no one. He only spends a short amount of time there, and even though he’s a criminal and he deserves some kind of punishment, you’d be hard pressed to find many people who really believe he deserved that. He’s a likeable guy who stuck it to the man in a big way. Save for one time where he stole from a hooker, Frank Abagnale Jr. only duped big companies and never victimized any one individual. I won’t ruin the end, for those of you who have never seen the movie and don’t know how the rest of his life played out. But its a great story with a pretty satisfying ending.
Catch Me If You Can was an awesome read, and is another one I will be keeping on my bookshelves. I definitely recommend it and have given it a 5 out of 5 stars. If you get a chance, pick up a copy.
[I have yet to see the movie, but I've head thats a good one also. As soon as I see it, I will let you know if it hold any water compared to the book.]
adventurous
fast-paced
knowing it’s all a lie is disappointing, but it’s a fascinating fiction.
3.5 very fun story loved everything about the check forgery’s and other cons however I thought there would be more (or any) parts of the story from the fbis/lead investigators prospective. Without that there was no real chase happening because you could only see one side. Fun book tho.
An interesting story, entertainingly written. Unfortunately, the truth gets in the way.
- Although credited as "Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding", my understanding is that the book was actually primarily written by Redding.
- My understanding is that Redding significantly embellished Abagnale's exploits. In a 2002 interview, Abagnale said, "I was interviewed by the co-writer only about four times. I believe he did a great job of telling the story, but he also over-dramatized and exaggerated some of the story. That was his style and what the editor wanted. He always reminded me that he was just telling a story and not writing my biography."
- This recording is based on the re-release of the book in 2002, to tie in to the release of the movie. This version of the book ends with Abagnale escaping prison and eluding the FBI, omitting the epilogue in which he is finally captured, serves time in jail, and eventually consulting with the FBI and starting a financial fraud-prevention firm.
Altogether, it was an enjoyable book, and particularly worth reading for anyone working in the financial services industry, but it came up a little short of my initial hopes.
- Although credited as "Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding", my understanding is that the book was actually primarily written by Redding.
- My understanding is that Redding significantly embellished Abagnale's exploits. In a 2002 interview, Abagnale said, "I was interviewed by the co-writer only about four times. I believe he did a great job of telling the story, but he also over-dramatized and exaggerated some of the story. That was his style and what the editor wanted. He always reminded me that he was just telling a story and not writing my biography."
- This recording is based on the re-release of the book in 2002, to tie in to the release of the movie. This version of the book ends with Abagnale escaping prison and eluding the FBI, omitting the epilogue in which he is finally captured, serves time in jail, and eventually consulting with the FBI and starting a financial fraud-prevention firm.
Altogether, it was an enjoyable book, and particularly worth reading for anyone working in the financial services industry, but it came up a little short of my initial hopes.
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
It was an absolute good read, easy writings too. As much as I enjoyed the adaptation movie, I loved the real story more from the book.
Frank W. Abagnale is an American teenager of 16 years old who often got away with minor mischeifs and became a con-man by using a lot of his dad's credit on car fuel. He was a cheque's swindler, a pilot, a doctor, a tutor, and an assistant in an attorney general. He was a millionaire during those times.
When he got caught after years of doing his artistic fraud, he was in a terrible state while sentenced to Perpignan Prison in France for 6 months, until he was transferred to a prison in Malmo, Sweden.
He was lucky to be deported to his own country, BUT man, he managed to escape twice! He later, then, was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in US federal prison and another 3 years in Great Meadow Correctional Facility.
He is now one of the world's respected authorities on counterfeiting and secure documents. The founder of a secure-documents corporation based in Washington, D.C. He lectures regularly worldwide.
Frank W. Abagnale is an American teenager of 16 years old who often got away with minor mischeifs and became a con-man by using a lot of his dad's credit on car fuel. He was a cheque's swindler, a pilot, a doctor, a tutor, and an assistant in an attorney general. He was a millionaire during those times.
When he got caught after years of doing his artistic fraud, he was in a terrible state while sentenced to Perpignan Prison in France for 6 months, until he was transferred to a prison in Malmo, Sweden.
He was lucky to be deported to his own country, BUT man, he managed to escape twice! He later, then, was arrested and sentenced to 3 years in US federal prison and another 3 years in Great Meadow Correctional Facility.
He is now one of the world's respected authorities on counterfeiting and secure documents. The founder of a secure-documents corporation based in Washington, D.C. He lectures regularly worldwide.
Content Warnings
Spoiler
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
adventurous
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
All in all, it felt like the way the movie makes me feel: it's a clever and mind-boggling endeavor that was fun to follow. Is it entirely truthful? Probably not. But it's a fascinating read.
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced