The Big Con

Name: The Big Con
Price: 39.99 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9780099409991

David Maurer

$39.99

Paperback

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English

Arrow Books Ltd
14 July 2000

Dialect, slang & jargon; History of the Americas; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Crime & criminology

'Of all the gifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat, ' wrote David Maurer, a proposition he definitively proved in The Big Con. A professor of linguistics who specialised in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers. They let him in on not simply their language, but their folkwrys and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty were 'taken off' - i. e. , cheated - of thousands upon thousands of dollars. The products of amazing ingenuity, crack timing and attention to every last detail, these 'big cons', as thoroughly scripted and rehearsed as any Hollywood production, richly deserve Maurer's description as 'the most effective swindling device which man has ever invented. ' The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the pay-off, ropers, shills, the cold poke and the convincer) and indeliable characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom-Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie and Larry the Lug). First published in 1940, The Big Con makes compelling reading whilst being the most authentic and utterly authoritative study on the con artist and his game.

By: David Maurer
Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 214g
ISBN: 9780099409991
ISBN 10: 0099409992
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 14 July 2000
Recommended Age: From 0 years
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Big Con

First published in 1940 and out of print for 50 years, this gets into the minds of confidence men and behind the scenes of confidence tricks, from their beginnings in the dust bowls of 19th-century America into the big cities as the games got more complex, the protagonists more daring and the 'marks' (victims) more gullible. (Kirkus UK)

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The Big Con

David Maurer

$39.99

Paperback

Reviews for The Big Con

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