1. MLA
Abagnale, Frank. Redding, Stan. Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake. Broadway. 2000. 277.
11. Shortcomings
The only shortcomings were that, I wished that he would go into even farther detail on what happened, on how he was able to escape, on how he was able to create the checks, and how he was able to avoid police.
10. Praiseworthy
I think the whole book was praiseworthy, in my opinion. I just thought it was a really interesting story, I would definitely recommend it, the book over the movie also. The movie was great, but the book goes into way more detail about his adventures and has even more stories. This is just a very fascinating and interesting story, too read about how this man stole over $2 million dollars and was able to run freely for 6 years.
9. Theme
I think the theme would be broken homes and troubled child hood. This is because Abagnale came from a broken home, with his parents divorcing and struggles with money which led to a troubled child hood. He ran away form his home and started everything, forging checks, etc., because of his parents divorcing, if they would have stayed together maybe he wouldn't have made his $2 million dollars and wouldn't have been the greatest con man to ever live.
8. Compare/Contrast
I enjoyed Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale substantially more than Diamond Gems by Ernie Harwell, which was the book that I read first semester. Catch Me If You Can had a way more interesting story than Diamond Gems, which was just a bunch of random baseball stories from the times that Ernie Harwell was announcing major league baseball games.
7. Major Incidents
The first major incident was him forging his first check, this began it all. After the first one, he produced thousands more and perfected the art of check fraud. This got the ball rolling for everything else that he was able to swindle his way into, such as becoming a pilot. Which was his second major incident, becoming a fake pilot. He became a pilot because he could cash checks worth more money and without opening an account, this made it very easy for him to produce and cash fake checks. Becoming a pilot also allowed him to deadhead, basically fly for free, so he could move around and spread his fake checks with ease. The third major incident was him being arrested then escaping imprisonment, he was able to do this multiple times. He was arrested then was able to slip his way out by pretending he was a prison inspector, and by slipping out a toilet on an airplane. Abagnale wasn't just able to fool banks and airlines, but the law enforcement themselves.
6. Most improtant element, events.
I think that the most important element in the story was the events that took place. I believe this because the events were the main part, they were everything that made the story. All the forged checks, faked occupations, and escapes made up the events, which were the most important parts of the book. With out these events Abagnale wouldn't have this fantastic "I almost got away with it" story.
5. Mood
I think the mood was serious at parts and could also be humorous. It was serious at the parts where he was scamming millions and escaping the police, and humorous at the parts how he conned and fooled the police multiple times.
"This phony rips off several hundred banks, hustles half the hotels in the world for everything but the sheets, screws every airline in the skies, including most of their stewardesses, passes enough bad checks to paper the walls of the pentagon, runs his own goddamned colleges and universities, makes half the cops in twenty countries look like dumb-asses while he's stealing $2 million, and he has a low criminal threshold?" (p. 14) At this part the mood seems almost humorous as he describes how he made the cops look like fools, stole millions, and robbed countless businesses. The man was a pure genius, he was able to fool the best of the best.
"They came at me from all sides then, men in uniform, men in plainclothes and all pointing a pistol, shotgun, machine gun or rifle at me. Orders cracked around my ears like whip pops." (p. 216) At this point in the story the mood shifted to serious, for Frank at least, because at this point is when he gets arrested. At this point it was all over for him, the life of riches, everything was done, he had been caught. He was finally caught by authorities, they had arrested the man who had forged millions of dollars and made them look like fools on several occasions. But never underestimate Frank Abagnale, after be imprisoned he was still able to escape and get back in to the world of being a criminal.
""Frank Abagnale, I am Constable James Hastings, and you are under arrest," said the mountie with a friendly smile." (p. 259) Once again he was arrested, and was held in imprisonment, and once again he was able to escape. He was able to fool the guards into believing that he was a prison inspector and they bought it, and once again he was on the run. This part the mood switched to almost humorous on how he was able to fool the guards and gain his freedom once again. You laugh at how dumb the guards were and wondered how could you not notice, but Abagnale was just that good.
"This phony rips off several hundred banks, hustles half the hotels in the world for everything but the sheets, screws every airline in the skies, including most of their stewardesses, passes enough bad checks to paper the walls of the pentagon, runs his own goddamned colleges and universities, makes half the cops in twenty countries look like dumb-asses while he's stealing $2 million, and he has a low criminal threshold?" (p. 14) At this part the mood seems almost humorous as he describes how he made the cops look like fools, stole millions, and robbed countless businesses. The man was a pure genius, he was able to fool the best of the best.
"They came at me from all sides then, men in uniform, men in plainclothes and all pointing a pistol, shotgun, machine gun or rifle at me. Orders cracked around my ears like whip pops." (p. 216) At this point in the story the mood shifted to serious, for Frank at least, because at this point is when he gets arrested. At this point it was all over for him, the life of riches, everything was done, he had been caught. He was finally caught by authorities, they had arrested the man who had forged millions of dollars and made them look like fools on several occasions. But never underestimate Frank Abagnale, after be imprisoned he was still able to escape and get back in to the world of being a criminal.
""Frank Abagnale, I am Constable James Hastings, and you are under arrest," said the mountie with a friendly smile." (p. 259) Once again he was arrested, and was held in imprisonment, and once again he was able to escape. He was able to fool the guards into believing that he was a prison inspector and they bought it, and once again he was on the run. This part the mood switched to almost humorous on how he was able to fool the guards and gain his freedom once again. You laugh at how dumb the guards were and wondered how could you not notice, but Abagnale was just that good.
4. Kind of person...
Based on the content of the book I believe that Frank W. Abagnale was a brilliant man, minus the fact that he was a criminal. He was able to forge thousands of checks, become a fake pilot, become a fake doctor, become a fake lawyer, pass the BAR exam without and prior law schooling, avoid the police for years, and even when he was caught he escaped from prison all before he was 21. Abagnale was not a normal kid, at all, he was a brilliant con man, possibly the best in history.
"Oddly enough, I never felt like a criminal. I was one, of course, and I was aware of the fact. I've been described by authorities and news reporters as one of this century's cleverest bum-checks passers, flimflam artists and crooks, a con man of Academy Award caliber." (p. 4) Of course he was a criminal, but by the way he was described, as a criminal, he did it with absolute perfection. He was the best at what he did, which happened to be forging checks. All of his actions and moves were unpredictable, that's why I would consider him a brilliant man.
"Oddly enough, I never felt like a criminal. I was one, of course, and I was aware of the fact. I've been described by authorities and news reporters as one of this century's cleverest bum-checks passers, flimflam artists and crooks, a con man of Academy Award caliber." (p. 4) Of course he was a criminal, but by the way he was described, as a criminal, he did it with absolute perfection. He was the best at what he did, which happened to be forging checks. All of his actions and moves were unpredictable, that's why I would consider him a brilliant man.
3. The book was made to entertain.
Catch Me If You Can was wrote to entertain. It tells about the true story of a con man, forger, impostor, and escape artist. Known as Frank Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo as he forges checks and makes millions off of it.
"I made a lot of exits through side doors, down fire escapes or over rooftops. I abandoned more wardrobes in the course of five years than most men acquire in a lifetime. I was slipperier than a buttered escargot." (p. 4) In this quote he talks about his slyness, and his ability to change his identity at any moment when needed to. He was constantly watching over his shoulder and watching his back to make sure the police weren't on his trail, which is why he had to be sly and have multiple identities.
"I was a millionaire twice over and half again before I was twenty-one. I stole every nickle of it and blew the bulk of the bundle on fine threads, gourmet foods, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, fine wheels and other sensual goodies." (p. 4) This book is about how he "made" his millions, and what he did with them. He wrote the book about how it exactly happened, from him "becoming" a pilot from him escaping from jail.
"I made a lot of exits through side doors, down fire escapes or over rooftops. I abandoned more wardrobes in the course of five years than most men acquire in a lifetime. I was slipperier than a buttered escargot." (p. 4) In this quote he talks about his slyness, and his ability to change his identity at any moment when needed to. He was constantly watching over his shoulder and watching his back to make sure the police weren't on his trail, which is why he had to be sly and have multiple identities.
"I was a millionaire twice over and half again before I was twenty-one. I stole every nickle of it and blew the bulk of the bundle on fine threads, gourmet foods, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, fine wheels and other sensual goodies." (p. 4) This book is about how he "made" his millions, and what he did with them. He wrote the book about how it exactly happened, from him "becoming" a pilot from him escaping from jail.
2. Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale
I selected this book because of the movie. After seeing the movie, Catch Me If You Can, and really enjoying it, I was informed that it was an actual story and that the movie was based off of the book. I enjoyed the movie and I like true stories, so I decided to read it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)