Colin writes:
<< The other book I reccomended as background HB
reading "The
Big Con" he also used, and in his note on sources says
"someone should
reissue (his) extraordinary The Big Con" - and low and
behold they have,
with Sante providing the introduction, I now have a
copy and concur with his
high opinion of it, it's fascinating. >>
I wrote a review of The Big Con when it was reissued in 1999.
A really fine book. The review (a short) isn't up anywhere
now, so I'll post it below
(hope that this is not too indulgent--thought a somewhat more
detailed description of the book might be useful). Doug
Originally published in 1940, "The Big Con" is a real gem.
With great relish, professional linguist--and apparent con
man groupie--David W. Maurer chronicles the most elaborate
confidence games of the early twentieth century. Big cons all
involve "big stores," which are in effect stage sets--fake
gambling clubs, sham poolrooms with off-track betting, bogus
brokerage houses. Everyone in the big store--the roper, the
insideman, the manager, the shills--are all actors, except
the mark, who pays dearly for his lack of stage sense. Part
of the endearing charm of "The Big Con" is Maurer's complete
lack of sympathy for the dupes who fall victim to the con
man. To be a mark--also known as a winchell, a savage, or Mr.
Bates--a man
(or in some cases, a woman) must have "larceny in his veins,"
for the con game depends on the victim's own greed for its
success. In one incident, a mark even suggests murder to
maximize his expected profits. But, according to Maurer, con
men have a strong code of ethics. So, in this instance, the
con men's "moral indignation was aroused to such an extent
that they trimmed their mark unmercifully." Occasionally,
Maurer's enthusiasm gets the best of him in the form of
minutiae and repetition, but generally the book moves along
at a highly entertaining clip. An introduction by writer Luc
Sante, himself a chronicler of New York's underworld, gives
historical and literary context to the story of the con man,
as well as providing a few details about the remarkable Mr.
Maurer.
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