Reviews of Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale

Catch Me If You Can

by Frank W. Abagnale

Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale X
Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale
  • Critics' Opinion:

    Readers' Opinion:

  • Paperback:
    Aug 2000, 304 pages

    Genres

  • Rate this book


Buy This Book

About this Book

Book Summary

The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man - an irresistible tale of deceit.

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.

The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man.

"I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies.  I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches."

Chapter 1
THE FLEDGLING

A MAN'S ALTER EGO is nothing more than his favorite image of himself. The mirror in my room in the Windsor Hotel in Paris reflected my favorite image of me--a darkly handsome young airline pilot, smooth-skinned, bull-shouldered and immaculately groomed. Modesty is not one of my virtues. At the time, virtue was not one of my virtues.

Satisfied with my appearance, I picked up my bag, left the room and two minutes later was standing in front of the cashier's cage.

"Good morning, Captain," said the cashier in warm tones. The markings on my uniform identified me as a first officer, a co-pilot, but the French are like that. They tend to overestimate everything save their women, wine and art.

I signed the hotel bill she slid across the counter, started to turn away, then wheeled back, taking a payroll check from the inside pocket of my jacket. "Oh, can you cash this for me? Your Paris night life nearly wiped me out and it'll be ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

Houston Chronicle
Irresistable!...touches that current of larceny that lies within all of us.

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

Entertainment Weekly - Chris Nashawaty
Oddly enough, despite all of Abagnale's high-wire feats, the most thrilling accomplishment of Catch Me if You Can isn't the ease with which Abagnale peddled his snake oil or the millions he spent living the fat life...No, the book's ultimate rush is how complicit Abagnale makes you in his sin. You're rooting for a man who would no sooner look at you than see your face as a giant lollipop with the word sucker printed on it. And why not? After all, these days, a criminal this good is hard to find.

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

Kirkus Reviews
Zingingly told... richly detailed and winning as the devil.

Reader Reviews

colombiano

this book is awsome
this book is one of the best books that i have ever read, ity has action, mystery, adventure and it has one character that makes use of very different personalities, this book is very good, and i recommend that if ur looking for a good book you ...   Read More
Lynn

I loved this book!
Scott Dozier

Great book that you will enjoy. Has its own little twist to it also
Morgan

This book is amazing. Frank is so interesting and it was amazing to hear the inside story. The book is far better than the movie.

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Catch Me If You Can, try these:

  • The Art Forger jacket

    The Art Forger

    by B. A. Shapiro

    Published 2013

    About this book

    More by this author

    On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth today over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there's more to this crime than meets the eye.

  • Stealing Mona Lisa jacket

    Stealing Mona Lisa

    by Carson Morton

    Published 2012

    About this book

    What happens when you mix a Parisian street orphan, a hot-tempered Spanish forger, a beautiful American pickpocket, an unloved wife, and one priceless painting?

We have 5 read-alikes for Catch Me If You Can, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Frank Abagnale
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Join BookBrowse

For a year of great reading
about exceptional books!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Land of Milk and Honey
    Land of Milk and Honey
    by C Pam Zhang
    In Land of Milk and Honey, C Pam Zhang's second novel, Earth is covered by a vast gray smog. Many of...
  • Book Jacket: The Golden Gate
    The Golden Gate
    by Amy Chua
    The Golden Gate is a highly entertaining page-turner that falls neatly into, but in some ways ...
  • Book Jacket: The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel
    The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel
    by Douglas Brunt
    Rudolf Diesel ought to be a household name. Like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Nikola Tesla, Diesel ...
  • Book Jacket: Move Like Water
    Move Like Water
    by Hannah Stowe
    As a child growing up on the Pembrokeshire Coast in Wales, Hannah Stowe always loved the sea, ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Fair Rosaline
by Natasha Solomons
A subversive, powerful untelling of Romeo and Juliet by New York Times bestselling author Natasha Solomons.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    All You Have to Do Is Call
    by Kerri Maher

    An inspiring novel based on the true story of the Jane Collective and the brave women who fought for our right to choose.

  • Book Jacket

    Devil Makes Three
    by Ben Fountain

    A brilliant and propulsive novel set in Haiti from the award-winning, bestselling author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.

  • Book Jacket

    This Is Salvaged
    by Vauhini Vara

    Stories of uncanny originality from Vauhini Vara, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.

Who Said...

From the moment I picked your book up...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

G O T P, B The P, F T P

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.