The Art of Con

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Why do I have con artists on my mind? Well, Donald Trump recently wrapped up the 2024 Republican nomination for president, and I just read a novel featuring a character who seemingly has scamming on her mind.

There are a number of fictional people in literature who can be described as grifters, swindlers, carnival barkers, etc. Some are blatant scoundrels, while others are somewhat more nuanced amid their skullduggery. Once in a while, they might not be con artists at all, even if we think they are for much of the book.

If they ARE tricksters, we as readers ask: How clever are they? Will they succeed? When might they get their comeuppance? Just how gullible are their victims? Are we reminded of our own gullibility we may have displayed sometime in the past? Do we think of real-life flimflammers? Such as the aforementioned Trump.

The novel I just read — Joy Fielding’s Whispers and Lies — features twenty-something Alison Simms as the con artist (or not?) and 40-year-old Terry Painter as her “mark” (or not?). The lonely Painter, a nurse at a Florida facility for senior citizens and people with disabilities, rents the cottage behind her home to Alison. Terry finds her tenant charming, even as she’s also wary of her. Some very dramatic stuff ensues, and we get a twist ending few readers would see coming.

Other examples of con artists in literature?

There’s of course the iconic title character in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which inspired an obscure movie you probably never heard of. 🙂 He is pictured above in that film, as played by Frank Morgan.

Nouveau riche millionaire Jay Gatsby, who made his fortune illicitly, is also a snake-oil salesman of sorts — reinventing himself as someone he’s really not in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

While he has some admirable qualities, Tom Sawyer of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn novels has con-artist tendencies as well — whether it involves getting others to paint a fence in the first book or cruelly messing around with runaway slave Jim’s psyche in the second work. (Huckleberry Finn also features some shady characters in secondary roles.)

Lydia Gwilt possesses a measure of decency amid the unscrupulousness in Wilkie Collins’ novel Armadale. Like some con artists, she might have behaved differently if she hadn’t had such a challenging upbringing.

There is also Savannah, who insinuates herself into the lives of the Delaney family in a way that feels very suspicious in Liane Moriarty’s Apples Never Fall.

I’ve only read one of Patricia Highsmith’s five novels featuring Tom Ripley, but that character is clearly a con artist who mixes criminality, likability, and more.

The last book I’ll mention is The Confidence-Man, but that’s one of the few Herman Melville works I haven’t read so I can’t say anything about it.

In the theatrical realm, we have Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man and its dishonest traveling salesman Harold Hill.

Fictional con artists you’ve known and loathed? Or maybe liked a little bit?

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about whether a local governing body should take a stand on global issues such as the current Mideast carnage — is here.

134 thoughts on “The Art of Con”

  1. After reading the comments from “cordelidudes” dated April 5,2024. I found it quite funny and ironic that Trump biggest con of all time has been perpetuated not only
    on “cordelidudes” but all of his supporters. Who have been hoodwinked and cond by the thousands of Trump lies he has used to con his supporters. Trump is the poster boy of con artists. President Biden is no Abe Lincoln, or FDR but compared to Trump he looks like God.

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  2. Tom Ripley sure wheedles his way into our sympathies.But I wouldn’t root for him or befriend the like of him or touch him with a nine foot barge pole😊.

    Patricia HighSmith has created a profile which sure will have a bad influence on society!

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  3. Why do I have con artists on my mind? Well, Donald Trump recently wrapped up the 2024 Republican nomination for president,

    i no u have to try to be witty, and u need to play to the crowd,
    yikes- but con artist? Trump?

    You can judge the qualities of a man by how well his children
    turn out. Are they happy, well adjusted, successful.
    Do they have good family relationships?

    The con artists are the NATO countries Trump tells to pay your
    fair share or we are out of here.
    The con artists.” Mexico way” let ??? a whole lot of people just walk right
    in- drugs too- Imagine that.

    These people who nominate these other people to become judges?—- who are spectacularly unqualified- thanx john Kennedy– they, them, u-all- we all no who u are u are the con artists and on and on – why do we import oil when we have more than anyone else? It should be 1.89 not 3.89 – thanx joe smoe

    Most of the members of congress are con artists- though
    mostly on the democrat side.

    Trump is 1 of the few who is not a con artist– what you see is what you get, he is a realist with a bit of an attitude-
    and lot of sensitive, smart? people just cant handle a heavy dose of reality with a little extra punch.

    so snowflakes
    Will my comments be added to the comments? probably not.
    Surprise me!

    This is pretty good- think I’ll rework it a little and post it on
    X or truth social- maybe become a writer- happy face
    i will post a link so people can find you- they may want to join.

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      • That’s outstanding!! The old funny bone is really working

        good today Dave- as of April 5th- how is it today ?

        That picture of the wizard looks a lot like Biden at last news conference except the wizard is obviously more intelligent than Joe Shmoo.

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            • Sorry, no coming over to Trump for me; my politics are to the left of Biden’s. I think Biden has done a decent job in siding more with labor than the typical president, in trying to forgive student loans, etc. He’s been horrible in supporting Israel’s disproportionate Gaza onslaught, among other things.

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                  • YIKES!! I thought only pea brained disillusioned college students like barry-i mean bernie. In another post i would like to quiz u

                    about Henry Wallace.

                    Read bio of him 20 yrs ago- agriculture man? maybe

                    compare Barry and hank-

                    Which 1 is the bigger crackpot?

                    My scratching’s are not about politics- it’s poems, stories, song lyrics — we conservatives have “feelings” too u no.

                    can send sample of my brilliance ?

                    no one else can see this right?

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                  • Dave, i hope we are not done– i wanted to reply to your last post, but the reply button ain’t there so… in that post u referred to yourself as ” pea brained”; and i would like to say that I’m sorry u feel that way about yourself.

                    Bird Brained might be a more accurate description.

                    Where are the happy faces?

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                    • Dave, give me another chance please- i just bought your book and was looking forward to finding out all kinds of neat stuff—- no more rude remarks by me unless i cant help myself– i will try to be politically correct even though it upsets my stomach.

                      Show some compassion

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                    • I appreciate you buying the book. Still, I wanted to say that you can support conservative politicians and criticize progressive politicians all you want, but calling a blogger “bird-brained” who was replying to your comments is not as funny as you seem to think it is. It’s a waste of my time to keep replying.

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  4. They make very interesting people and they can add flair to stories. Their charm can make them very attractive too, especially if they want something from you. I’ve met a few irl so I tend not to read books about them, but if a story premise sounds interesting enough I’ll definitely read it!

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  6. No con like an old con, and a favorite from my boyhood is the Baron Munchausen, who I first encountered in a neat selection of his many tales, memorably illustrated by Gustav Dore.  The baron was once an actual person, more or less, who had served as a military officer for decades in Russian service, campaigning mostly in Turkey. Upon retirement to his estate, he began to host dinner parties at which he told tales,more than a little tall, which ran from the merely extraordinary to the purely fanciful. 

    Munchausen might have lived out his life, if not in obscurity, than in a neighborhood notoriety, had it not been for the desperate doings of one of his dinner guests, a man named Rudolph Eric Raspe.  He himself was a literary scholar and geologist, but also a thief of valuable geological specimens, fleeing Germany and landing in England, where his reputation followed. As a result, he was soon expelled from the Royal Society.  He became the assay master of an English tin mine in rural Cornwall,but needed money enough that he began going through his old journals for stories he might sell.  

    And thus, his fictional Baron Munchausen was born– the original being, as it were, merely the point of departure for more ridiculously fanciful embroideries than Munchausen himself could have dared to dream up.  Raspe’s 1786 “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of His Marvelous Travels and Campaigns in Russia” was an immediate success in England, running to three editions within months of its first appearance. 

    In it, among other tales, readers were treated to an account of

    —a half-horse, its back half shot away, drinking copiously from a stream as the water poured out behind it,

    —a deer appearing years after its first encounter with the baron, now sporting a small cherry tree on its forehead, the result of the baron having substituted a cherry pit for a rifle ball when he ran out of conventional ammunition,

    —and two fortuitous cannon balls, one which took fictional Munchausen into an otherwise impregnable fortress, till he was able to leap onto another going the other way, and return to safety.

    Raspe’s success brought about a translation into German, and that translation– with additional improbable and impossible stories added anonymously by Gottfried August Burger, another impecunious emigre– reached the actual Baron Munchausen.  The dinner parties ceased, and Munchausen lived out his last years as a recluse.

    Most of what I wrote above is based on Joanne Turnbull’s introduction to “The Return of Munchausen”, a truly delightful and elaborate joke in novel form on Soviet Russia, written by the incomparable Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky in 1927– but that’s another story.

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    • Thank you, jhNY! Great mention, and I loved your descriptions of various fantastical things such as the half-horse and the “tree-sonous” deer. The Baron Munchausen creation saga seems like one of literature’s weirdest series of stories and events.

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  8. HI Dave, I went away to think about this as nothing came to mind off hand. I can add Fagin from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I thought Alec Stoke-d’Urberville from Tess of the d’Urberville’s might fit although I’m not sure if seduction counts. Then there is Griffin, the main character in HG Wells The Invisible Man. I don’t think these suggestions are as clear cut as yours, but these people are all con artists in their own way.

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  10. Joy Fielding’s Whispers and Lies — is a terrific book.

    Of course I’m a huge Fielding fan.

    Of the other books you have mentioned, I’ve read a few and would like to add “Elmer Gantry” by Sinclair Lewis to the list.

    Although a play, “The Producers” yields 2 hysterical con men, Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom.

    In real life (an auto biography and movie “Catch Me If You Can” have been made) Frank Abagnale Jr. comes to mind.

    However, my absolute fave con man ever, is the fictitious Sgt. Bilko as played by Phil Silvers.

    Whether in books, plays, movies or real life, there is no beginning and seemingly no end to con men. They are an infinite universe unto themselves, and wrack the havoc of a nova.

    My real father was a con man. He got caught, was jailed, and became a lawyer. He was the first person in Alberta to have a criminal record and be allowed to the bar. Then he became the first person in Alberta to have a criminal record and be allowed to the bar and then have his license suspended, but not disbarred.

    At 92, attempting to cheat death now, he will never pay back the hundreds of thousands he owes to get his license back.

    We are estranged.

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  11. I love how serendipity comes calling. Just this morning, I received an e-mail recommending “The Little Liar”by Mitch Albom. This is the blurb: This “captivating” 2023 release (Kirkus Reviews starred review) and New York Times bestseller showcases “Albom at his enthralling best” (Booklist). Eleven-year-old Nico is known throughout Salonika, Greece, for his honesty — but when a Nazi officer tricks him into spreading a lie that lands his family, his neighbors, and him on a train to Auschwitz, he vows to never tell the truth again.

    I couldn’t resist (Sigh….)

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  15. I would like to add Norah Vincent’s Self Made Man. It is a fascinating read. Although her decision to live life as a man for over a year was a “con”, it definitely wasn’t a grift. Rather she did so for what she described as a human learning project. As was, in some ways, that of the Wizard of Oz. So, in my mind re the above, there arises a distinct difference. For instance, your mention of Tom Ripley is an excellent example of the dark side of the con and/or the con with a grift. Just a brief mention, there is a new series entitled Ripley which is set to air April 2024. The trailer looks interesting . Unfortunately Norah Vincent passed away in 2022. Tragically, committed suicide. Geezaloo, we are currently living on the dark side with Trump and Trump family cons, as well as Republicans in congress. No wonder all the players/followers are dressed in costumes. Although, I must say, I’d love to see Putin in some gold high top sneakers.

    https://www.bookpage.com/interviews/8334-norah-vincent-biography-memoir/

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    • Thank you, Susi! There are certainly some cons that are positive and done for non-greedy reasons. You reminded me that there are also fictional women “passing” as men in “The Lord of the Rings,” Isabel Allende’s “Daughter of Fortune,” Michael Crichton’s “Timeline,” etc.

      Funny line about Putin and, yes, the loathsome Trump is surrounded by a family of loathsome con artists.

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  17. In Liz Gauffreau’s novel Telling Sonny, the young protagonist Faby is certainly conned by the slick vaudeville “hoofer” Slim White. Her life takes a drastic turn as a consequence, but the reader gets to tag along for a trip through America in the 1920s.

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  18. Great topic, Dave. I have a bit of a con going in my books. I like the idea of taking advantage of people’s expectations.

    A book that comes to mind is Six Days of the Condor by James Grady. It was the basis for the movie Three Days of the Condor. I read the book over 40 years ago. I saw the movie for the first time last year. There is a bit of a running con being worked on the main character (Condor). It isn’t the central element, but it is present.

    I think a lot of stories play with that element, one character feeding a line or a story to another, even when it isn’t central to the plot.

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  19. Oh, this topic always generates an emotional response. To me “con” equals betrayal, the ultimate way to end any friendship or connection, but “con artists” makes for great stories.

    One of the books (although I have seen the movie) on my ever tottering book pile is “Catch Me If You Can” an autobiography by Frank W. Abagnale and Stan Redding, chronicling Abagnale’s life as a masterful con artist who successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, among other professions, all before his 19th birthday. (I was just trying to pass my college exams at 19) Abagnale’s ability to forge cheques and manipulate his way into high society while evading capture by the authorities is both astonishing and intriguing.

    I have often considered that James Bond and the spy networks had to have some form of “con” in them. I read an excellent novel by Lara Prescott. “The Secrets We Kept” is a gripping novel based on the CIA’s mission during the Cold War to use Boris Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago” as a tool to influence Soviet Russia. The story follows Irina, a Russian-American secretary, who becomes entangled in a world of espionage, love, and sacrifice. Inspired by true events, the book explores the complexities of duty and passion in a time of political turmoil and secrecy.

    Perhaps we all have a little “con” in us!

    “We unveil ourselves in the pieces we want others to know, even those closest to us. We all have our secrets.” Lara Prescott, The Secrets We Kept

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  20. Does Nabakov’s Lolita and the unreliable narrator fit the con theme. Here in UK we came across a sign ‘The Con Club’ seems it is the name the local Conservative /Tory party calls itself.

    Hope all goes well with elections and the political cons are spotted.

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  21. I recently watched,”There Will Be Blood “,film from 2007,Day Lewis won Oscar,was brilliant, I understand he is a method actor who stays in character on/off set,must have been maddening. Reading film based on Upton Sinclair’s novel called “Oil.” Day Lewis character is a vile con man,deranged, like DJT.

    He,like the mentally unstable DJT spirals downward, Lewis as Daniel Plainview, with aide of alcohol,DJT is a tee totaler,yet we can see his mental state is severely declining, look at what he said yesterday about immigrants, the auto industry,a blood bath if he was to not be re-elected. There Will be blood and it has nothing to do with the economy as some sycophants are saying,it has to do with death, carnage,a second insurrection.

    Michele

    E&P way back.

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    • Thank you, Michele! I’ve definitely heard about that movie and novel, but have not seen or read either. I’ve also heard about Daniel Day-Lewis’ intense acting style. Must have indeed been hard to be around him during the filming of his various movies. (As you probably know, he’s married to novelist/filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Arthur Miller’s daughter.)

      Trump is indeed off the rails, not that he was ever on them. 🙂 😦

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  25. Since I’ve read so many mysteries, I must have the names of countless con artists in my head, but the one that comes to mind a this moment is Cassie Black, the protagonist of Michael Connelly’s excellent novel VOID MOON. And what about Duchess in THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY (Amor Towles)? Seems to me he’s a kind of conman. Plus one more: CONFESSIONS OF FELIX KRULL, CONFIDENCE MAN, by Thomas Mann. I never managed to get through Mann’s “Buddenbrooks” (which is much longer), but I thought FELIX KRULL was fun to read.

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  27. Another excellent subject, Dave. For starters I’m thinking Gilbert Osmond and Madame Merle in ‘The Portrait of a Lady’, and then there’s Wickham of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, who I mentioned in my own blog last week. Somebody I forgot to mention in that blog is Isaac Boxtel of ‘The Black Tulip’. He’s more nuanced, beginning the novel as a passionate and honest–it would seem–tulip grower. He manages to get over the fact that Cornelius Van Baerle, his neighbour, builds an extention to his own property which takes away some of the sunshine necessary for Boxtel’s tulip garden. When he discovers that Van Baerle is going into the tulip-growing business too–and with no expense spared, he being far richer than Boxtel–it rouses the latter’s anger. When it becomes further apparent that Van Baerle is to be a rival to his neighbour in the competition to grow the so-far impossible pure black tulip, it turns his mind. Boxtel becomes persecutor and pursuer of Van Baerle, framing his neighbour for treason and stealing the tulip once the younger man has grown it, but ultimately losing. A sad story really, because if Van Baerle had been a considerate rather than an insensitive neighbour Boxtel might have lived his life out happily growing tulips. 🙂

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