Comments on: Con artists

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:32:09 +0000

Josh: Nope, that was my first Block. I shall now track down Grifter’s Game.

I don’t remember that McCoy. Hmmm, maybe it’s time for a re-read of the McCoy oeuvre. And, yeah, Philip Marlowe’s homophobia is (scary) fascinating.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:20:56 +0000

wow, as soon as i read the first lines of your post, i thot of the block novel, one of the few he set near his native buffalo (and have you read his first, grifter’s game? it’s evil). then chester himes. which is the himes novel in which the conmen bake money?

Horace Mccoy’s groovy too: I should have stayed home has the most fascinating homophobia (okay, philip marlowe’s is not uninteresting either): on the very first page or two, the narrator muses first on how disgustingly gay the Nazis are and second on how disgustingly anti-gay the Nazis are. Not a rare aporia for liberals in that era.

By: Sara Williams

Sara Williams — Fri, 19 May 2006 16:32:09 +0000

My novel, The Don Juan Con, is under option by Robert Evans/Paramount. I first became aware of sweetheart swindler con jobs as a news reporter and helped a victim jail one of these con artists.
I wrote the novel years later after becoming aware that victims got no cred and realizing how prevalent these schemes are.
I’m trying to start a database to help victims. If we pass the word about the scams we might help the next victim.

By: maureen johnson

maureen johnson — Thu, 18 May 2006 01:52:39 +0000

I was reading this the other day and shaking my head in dismay–I went to writers beware as well. I had no idea how widespread this was.

And then, just tonight, I got a call from my family. Our neighbor’s daughter got suckered into one of these things, and they called me for advice (I guess wondering if it was legit). Fortunately, they hadn’t sent any money yet. But even as I was telling them not to order the leather bound whatever it was–they were still asking, should we do it just for the prestige of having a book with our work in it?

I felt like a heel to have to say, “There is no prestige in this. It’s a scam. Please don’t waste your money on these people.”

By: Justine

Justine — Wed, 17 May 2006 06:07:18 +0000

Thanks for the link. Wow. That woman sounds like a piece of work. But good on you for making sure she doesn’t get away with any of that stuff again.

By: katari

katari — Wed, 17 May 2006 05:53:25 +0000

I think you’ll enjoy this:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=585601&postcount=66

Jenna Glatzer of Absolutewrite.com slam dunks the fugitive felon con-artist who ripped me off 3 years ago. I *heart* Absolutewrite!

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 15 May 2006 11:54:07 +0000

I’m running round like a headless chook (we leave in less than a week! aargh!) at the mo (which is why I’m behind with emails as well—sorry!) so I will be brief. Yes, I’ve read the orig Grifters. In fact I’ve read all of Jim Thompson’s books as well as all of James M. Cain’s. Not to mention Chandler and Hammett and even Horace McCoy. I’m a bit of a hardboiled tragic.

Thanks for the other recs and the fascinating responses. You’ve all brought some coherence to my incoherent ramblings . . .

By: Chris S.

Chris S. — Sun, 14 May 2006 18:29:58 +0000

bring it on. Yep, great movie.

By: shelly rae

shelly rae — Sun, 14 May 2006 16:54:39 +0000

Dear (Anti-capitalist) Justine,
You that story of America being all Mom (Happy Mother’s day to all you Mom’s out there) and Apple Pie? Well it’s just part of the big con-game that is this country. Pretty much everything can be boiled down to tempting other folks into having enough confidence in you to accept your deal–that’s the core of everything from religion to “business transactions.” How did those guys manage to buy Manhattan Island for a few beads anyway? (I hope I don’t sound too cynical–you know I’m a blue-eyed optimist). I love stories & April Fool’s Day (every year I manage to get Paul on some little trick–even if he’s waiting for it), and other tales of “Confidences.” Sometimes I think I’m the only person who’s ever read Melville’s The Confidence Man which surely must be one of his finest works. And well heck, isn’t confidence one fine word? I’m confident you’ll agree….
(Not so) confidentially yours,
Shelly

P.S. If I ever own a boat I’ll name it Fidelis cause all boats should sail with confidence!

By: veejane

veejane — Sun, 14 May 2006 11:49:41 +0000

Cons are cons because they work. Long cons are risky and tend to prey on the fabulously and idiotically rich; it is short cons that tend to hurt the little guy, and with little risk to the con man.

Have you read the original novel of the grifters? Between that and Double Indemnity, I figured out the appeal of the con. There’s a single paragraph on it in the latter, when the insurance agent is talking himself into the conspiracy:

“all right, I’m their agent. I’m a croupier in that game. I know all their tricks, I lie awake nights thinking up tricks, so I’ll be ready for them when they come at me. And the one night I think up a trick, and get to thinking I could crook the wheel myself if I could only put a plant out there to put down my bet. THat’s all.”

Huff (Neff in the movie) pays for this little bit of competitive play; so does the son in The Grifters.

The tragedy of the book version of the grifters is that Roy has a day job, and halfway through he sort of falls in love with his day job, and realizes he’s good at it and could do it well every day. And when he pays attention to it, it is as intellectually satisfying as the grift ever was. But he’s been in it is whole life, and it’s a default, and he can’t drag himself out despite the temptation of an honest job.

By: innle

innle — Sun, 14 May 2006 07:27:32 +0000

Like you, I am notoriously gullible about personal things (something that wasn’t of great use when I was travelling by myself in SE Asia). I am like Mulder; I want to believe! That said, I’m also very on my guard professionally – or I’d like to think that, anyway – and I’ll be more so after reading Writer Beware etc. Thank you for the links!

I ran across some unsolicited MSS yesterday that mentioned agencies on the 20 Worst list, although thankfully none from them directly. Hmm.

By: orangedragonfly

orangedragonfly — Sun, 14 May 2006 05:25:51 +0000

i know what you mean about hollywood making the grifter all glamourous…as i was reading all i could think of was how traumatized i was by matchstick men, where i knew nicolas cage’s character was taking people’s money and wasn’t the best of men but i just didn’t want anything bad to happen to him! and, of course, i’m completely taken by sawyer on lost…

but i worry all the time that i’ll be conned by someone. i’m trusting by nature. scary.

and now to be *totally* off topic…

i read magic or madness today, and i love love loved it!! i wish i could have lunch with reason, tom, and jay-tee..i can’t wait to get my hands on magic lessons, so i can get to know them better!

by the way, *fantastic* that tom so knowledgeably told the story of great expectations…by “shakespeare.” love it!

i will say, however, that there was quite the uneasy twinge in my stomach when i read the last two pages. creepy. but way to leave me wainting more!!!

By: Gwenda

Gwenda — Sun, 14 May 2006 02:35:32 +0000

I highly recommend David W. Maurer’s The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man from the ’40s. It started out as a linguistics study, but is a fascinating taxonomy of cons, long and short. One of the points that Maurer makes is that often being smart makes someone an easier mark for a con.