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Catch Me If You Can

The True Story of a Real Fake

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About this listen

 The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man, immortalized by Leonardo DiCaprio in DreamWorks' feature film of the same name, from the author of Scam Me If You Can.

Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one.

Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam—until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane-make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit. Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions True Crime White Collar & Corporate Crime Aviation Funny Witty Law

Critic reviews

"A book that captivates from first page to last."
—West Coast Review of Books

"Whatever the reader may think of his crimes, the reader will wind up chortling with and cheering along the criminal."
—Charlottesville Progress

"Zingingly told... richly detailed and winning as the devil."
—Kirkus Reviews
All stars
Most relevant
Having listened to an episode of “Ramblin: An Amblin Podcast” which covered the movie, and rewatched the movie, I decided to listen to the audiobook in the hope that it would fill in some gaps and I would learn more about what elements of the movie were fictional. It was a very enjoyable listen - although there were some bad pronunciations and French person sounds more Italian. However, this is not the full story - it's not really been updated since 1980 when the book was first published. What surprised me was that some parts of Abagnale's life that were more dramatic than than the movie. So much so that I was half expecting the book to end by saying it's all fake. It didn't. Truly remarkable story.

Remarkable story - but needs an update

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I absolutely loved this book. I have no idea whether the stories are true, because the guy is a professional liar. However, I really don’t care, because they are genius regardless.

In terms of the film, which I also like, the book adds a lot of context to the vague elements.

It really is superb.

Entertaining

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As an ex soldier it great to listen to those who were able to push mind and body further than most who have served.
This is a great book to read as no heroics rubbish.
The book is delivered with honesty without the bragging.

Some men are born to be soldiers

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I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this book. It differs from the movie obviously and includes parts that didn't make the big screen.

However, the book became almost laughable when the narrator tried to do French and Swedish accents which sounded more like Arabian accents to me. This nearly took me out of the book and spoiled an otherwise nice read from the narrator.

I would also say I was very disappointed by the end, it just finished so quickly that I wondered if there were a couple of chapters missing. Honestly, I don't think I've listened to a book with such a disappointing ended. I wouldn't have minded if there was a book 2 but as far as I can tell, there isn't.

Still enjoyed it immensely but as I say, the last third was disappointing.

The dodgy accents

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narrative wasn't that good.. didn't seem to flow very well so seemed boring.. but it's not.. Overall 6 out of 10

not much

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