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

You have probably heard of the movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. I remember seeing the movie. I thought it was a fun flick, nothing more or less. The thing that intrigued me the most was that this movie was based on a true story. It seemed impossible. How could a young man con so many intelligent people for so many years? It seemed too unreal, like something made up by Hollywood.

My curiosity got the best of me and I bought the autobiographical book by Frank Abagnale, Jr.

The book Catch Me If You Can goes into much more detail on Mr. Abagnale’s adventures than the movie. It is amazing how far a nice smile and a bit of confidence can take someone. He explains how we first conned his own Father – a man he admires deeply – which started his scamming lifestyle. He posed as pilot, professor, doctor, lawyer and what not. Though Abagnale admits he never loved school and disliked the idea of honest job, he spends countless hours preparing for his next scam. It is amazing how somebody with so much innate talent will only use it in such a dishonest way.

If you loved the movie you will like this book. After a while, you get a little tired of him explaining each con in detail as they are all similar. At the beginning of the book I saw Abagnale as a messed up kid just trying to make his way, but by the end I found him a tad repulsive. He continually tries to justify his illegal actions by establishing disclaimers like never cheating individuals just the companies.

From start to finish I was constantly shocked and amazed at the authors balls of steel. Too bad all that talent couldn't have been recognized and directed at a very young age, let's say two years old.

a wonderful book that's even better than the movie, because it includes lots of things the movie didn't have room for. You won't be

be disappointed. frank abagnale is an amazing person, who is now using his skills to help banks and other such places.

Really enjoyed this book. You can feel Mr. Abagnales charm come right out of the pages. Yes he was a criminal..but so unlike today's criminals. No cruelty, pettiness or spitefulness..even when things were very bad for him he doesn't blame or speak negatively of those around him. He takes full accountability for his actions. With the stigma of a prison background Mr. Abagnales has the depth of character to look at his life and turn it around.

A very intriguing book, especially since it's a true story. Hard to put it down...very hard to believe that a teenager could pull off all that stuff and could fool so many people around the world. Recommend it for enjoyable reading...

If you enjoyed the movie, you should enjoy the book. It goes into more detail on how he accomplished the scams. Also more insight into his personality. The movie does not fully show how the story eventually played out.

Abagnale glibly tells a story of an ingenious criminal lifestyle. He expresses guilt a few times over something that he did, but it's always some off-the-wall little thing that pales in comparison to the jobs and lives of the people that his behavior likely wrecked.

It's a grabber. From the first page, I was engrossed. How much of it is Abagnale's own words and how much is Redding's work I have no clue. Whoever is responsible for the bulk of the writing did a top notch job.

It's not often I read a book that holds my attention like this one does. The sheer imagination and audacity it took to pull off Abagnale's capers is something to marvel at, however unacceptable his activities might have been.

He gets his. You'll know what I mean when you reach that point in the story.

Read it. It's well worth your time.

This fantastic story of how a young man learned to become one of the best con artists in recent history. His code of conduct, his schemes, and how it all wraps up are impressive. Definitely worth reading.

Unbelievable on how the main character get's away with everything and how he plans his escapades. I never saw the movie but thought I would read the book and then watch movie. It's a book I would recommend reading but wouldn't try doing what the main character did. It's a "WOW" book.

It's a fascinating story! Frank Abagnale was able to use his charm & cleverness to outwit many unknowing persons. I don't think anyone could accomplish what he did at that time & certainly not today. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have not seen the move as yet, but plan to check it out soon.

Truly, this story is incredible and beyond belief but it's also true. Frank Abignale conned his way through his late teens and stole a fortune while living as a playboy. His method was simple; he played upon the fact that most people want to believe. They want to believe that others somehow have grabbed life by the horns and made it to a level where mundane concerns no longer apply. Put on an airline uniform and people will want to believe you. Likewise for many other guises that set a person apart. A dashing young pediatrician, a Harvard law graduate or a furloughed airline pilot that had been a sociology professor. Amazingly, Frank Abignale was able to impersonate all of these professions and rarely was his veracity doubted, even by experts in these fields.

This biography tells as much about society as it does about Frank Abignale. After reading it, I am reminded that people, all people, can be manipulated with relative ease. It's sobering to contemplate the amount of trust we extend to others throughout each and every day. It's far more sobering to realize that there is no shortage of people willing to betray the trust of our society and turn our humanity, compassion and trust against us.

The subject of this biography turned his life around and has, undoubtedly, assisted banks to an extent that far surpasses the harm he did in his youth. Perhaps the most important lesson from this book is redemption.

If you divorce the book from the Spielberg movie, it's pretty lame. Book is very self-serving, which gets under your skin after a while. Further, the book ends a whole lot earlier than the movie, which is odd. That being said, it was a quick read, and probably the most memorable part was his description of his stay in a French prison. Hard to believe such punishment existed in a civilized country in the 60's. Maybe that's the point: hard to believe.

disclaimer: I'm far from a literary expert

I started the book with limited expectations (I didn't even like the movie) but for some reason the real-life account of this tall tale really appealed to me. You definitely get a lot of little details that bring the story to life in a legitimate sense, without all of the music and running around that you get in the movie. It takes some of the galmour out and adds a lot of the "craft of theft" and ingenuity into the story. I ended up reading the entire book in a couple of sittings and would recommend it to others.

I remember many years ago watching the movie and totally loving it ! Leo is an amazing actor and the movie was good but after reading the book I wished they would’ve added more to the movie.

The book was amazing and Frank fooled a lot of people along the way. I never knew French prisons were so bad ! And if Leo had played that part in the movie he would’ve won an Oscar years ago !

What’s sad about reading this book is that you’ll see the aftermath of Frank being released from Prison in the United States and see that no one wanted to hire him because of his criminal record and when he did he get hired he excelled at his job but was fired when his past was discovered.

America needs to give people a second chance who truly want it. This is a great book about a bold young man who was fearless in his pursuit of happiness and the consequences that comes with his decisions.

Like I said in my previous review of this memoir, I re-read this book every 6t 8 months. It is such a fun book to read. I just finished another reading of it. There are a lot of things in the book I had forgotten. Mr. Abagnale raised enough havoc with the banking and police systems in the late 60's and early 70's to make Bernie Madof look like a teenager. And at the time Frank was a teen-ager. No wonder Pan-Am went out of business. Frank probably was one of the main reasons.

If you are relying on the movie version of "Catch Me If You Can" for the story of Frank Abagnale, you are missing a great deal. There is a great deal of complexity in Mr. Abagnale's life that you are missing. It is the story of how a 16 year old kid who looks like he is a lot older can fool adults and the cops for years.

But it is more than that. It is alos the story of being caught and punished in some of the worst prisons in Europe, and some of the most humane. It is the story of how a boy becomes a man in spite of himself, and learns to value himself and others.

This is a book I keep active on my Kindle. I will probably re-read again in another 6 or 8 months. I like it that much.

After watching the movie, I was interested in more details of Frank's "con" projects. I was amazed at his creativity and fearlessness of performing his "projects", not to mention his youth! It was also interesting to see how much the movie differed from reality. The end of the book left me slightly disappointed only because I was anxious to read the details on the first encounter of Frank and the FBI inspector O'Reilly. The book never addressed their first meeting or any meeting. I still highly recommend this book! Enjoy!!1

Not for impressionable people that may find it exciting to live this sort of life style. Interesting read, and informative as to how we are all suckers to the con person. (I've come across some women as well)

A decent read but not long enough or detailed enough. It would have been nice to have had a pic of the guy during the period just so the reader could envision him and seek out the flaws. Frank is personable because he takes bold actions in performing his scams- (while the rest of us think about them but don't carry them out).
I am always in awe of con men because they pick up on things readily visible to them, but not so apparent to the average Frank. They take these very simple observations and build up some ingenious plan that works for them (for a while anyway), in order to get money, trips around the world, and lots of chicks without a clue. Just about anyone associated with a con man-in-action ends up looking in the mirror and discovering just how stupid and gullible they are or were.
Of course, to get the most out of this book, follow up with The Art of the Steal, just to glimpse simple things we all overlook. Cons and fraud, like the prophecies in the bible, they are hard to see in current or future actions, but are plain as day when looking back. So don't get too riled up when you get involved with one- just use it as experience

Ironically, I read this book while on an airplane flight. It was enthralling and amazing. If every story in here is true, this man has to be one of the most intelligent persons that has ever lived. His imagination and sharp wit are impressive. Recommend.

Absolutely engrossing reading! Hardly put it down. Hard to believe everything that he was able to get away with, and harder still to believe the torture he went through in prison in France...and that was during the 1970s, not the 1770s! Definitely recommended reading!

Not much different than the movie,but the book goes much more into detail. Many of his escapades wouldn't fit in the movie. I like how in the end he talks about the differences between the two and fills in the blanks.

As to the writing: it's reasonably well-written, though the constant use of cute alliterative phrases wears. But at the end I wondered, how much of this is true?

Wikipedia doesn't have a definitive answer:

"The authenticity of Abagnale's criminal exploits were questioned even before the publishing of Catch Me If You Can. In 1978, after Abagnale had been a featured speaker at an anti-crime seminar, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter looked into his assertions. Phone calls to banks, schools, hospitals and other institutions Abagnale mentioned turned up no evidence of his cons under the aliases he used. Abagnale's response was that 'Due to the embarrassment involved, I doubt if anyone would confirm the information.'

"In 2002, Abagnale himself addressed the issue of his story's truthfulness rather vaguely with a statement posted on his company's website. The statement said in part '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.'"

So I recommend the reader enjoy the story as historical fiction. Even if half his exploits in the book are true, it's still an astonishing tale of the expert con. More importantly to me, I can see how in everyday life--in the workplace, politicians, etc--the confidant talker always gets ahead of the shyer guy or gal who actually knows what the heck is going on. The USA at this time suffers from a crisis of leadership at all levels in all arenas, as we the people rush to follow the smooth talkers, ignoring the quiet facts.

This audio book is engrossing and makes commute hours seem like minutes. If you think you would like the story of a con man who posed as a Pan Am pilot, Doctor, and lawyer to swindle millions while entertaining women all over the world, then this book is for you. Michael Cerveris does a great job reading the book. On five audio CD's, it is sufficiently long.

Fascinating, insightful, and frightfully honest look into the mind of a con man. Particularly helpful if you have ever been the victim of one. And a living example of what one career criminal told me as he glanced around the prison visitation room: "This place is the world's greatest repository of wasted talent."