tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post182381618679908346..comments2024-03-16T18:38:15.627-07:00Comments on Flogging Babel: Talking About Darger & SurplusMichael Swanwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-10243394541485374262016-04-23T15:54:38.339-07:002016-04-23T15:54:38.339-07:00Thank you very much!Thank you very much!Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524368948187746248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-6893931020259456942016-04-23T09:10:13.906-07:002016-04-23T09:10:13.906-07:00Seriously, THE BIG CON is the only book you need. ...Seriously, THE BIG CON is the only book you need. It covers everything in depth and in an engaging manner. No other book comes close.<br /><br />But for simple entertainment value, I recommend THE CON GAME AND "YELLOW KID" WEIL, written by Weil and W. T. Brannon (which appears to have been reissued as "YELLOW KID" WEIL: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMERICA'S MASTER SWINDLER). Weil was perhaps the single greatest con man this nation of frauds ever produced. And he was a master raconteur as well. The book is easy to find in both book and e-book formats.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-12058647498695358902016-04-22T20:45:24.033-07:002016-04-22T20:45:24.033-07:00Maybe this is an appropriate place to ask: I was t...Maybe this is an appropriate place to ask: I was toying with the idea of inserting a con man into a work of fiction. But I know very little about them, aside from novels & movies. Maurer sounds like a good place to start, but are there any other books (largely thinking of non-fiction, but not closed to the idea that fiction might be useful) that you would recommend as research reading?Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524368948187746248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-72191472965923277572016-04-21T11:25:23.210-07:002016-04-21T11:25:23.210-07:00Maurer's was the single best book about con me...Maurer's was the single best book about con men -- and Mauer was a stand-up guy, too. When he was dying, he destroyed all his correspondence so the police couldn't use it to track down his sources of information.Michael Swanwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18389836784776252022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-60687940083800997322016-04-20T20:09:58.070-07:002016-04-20T20:09:58.070-07:00Could THE BIG CON by David Maurer -- who was an ac...Could THE BIG CON by David Maurer -- who was an academic linguist-- be the book you're thinking of?Mark Pontinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988614518618495319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484180326012950400.post-31806358826681695622016-04-20T13:11:40.568-07:002016-04-20T13:11:40.568-07:00I recall reading a book (can't remember the ti...I recall reading a book (can't remember the title) about famous con men, mostly of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Almost to a man, they died penniless, as the result of being bilked of their wealth by other con men.Cambiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14951876538160590024noreply@blogger.com