Last day to pre-order!

Just one more day until The Modern Con Man becomes available. So pre-order right now, right here. Yeah, we suppose you could wait until it comes out tomorrow, but that wouldn't be pre-ordering. That's just ordering, and that's for everyone else. Aren't you too much of an insider for that though?

21 (months)

Last week in Vegas, NYC-pal Scott reminded us of his college friend who had Kenny Rogers' The Gambler stuck in his head for two years. Straight. Without a break. No joke. This guy couldn't shake the song – couldn't fold it, couldn't walk away, couldn't run. He tried everything, including hypnotherapy, and there were even plans made for electro-shock. Fortunately, before it came to that, the song miraculously reached its end...

"...So when he'd finished speakin',
he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep..."

Speaking of Vegas, we busted the Tropicana and were shown the door, walking away up $160. And speaking of busting the casinos, check out 21 in theaters and let us know what you think (reviews have been mixed). Beautiful coeds trained to scam millions certainly sounds appealing...

Hollywoodmade

You know those mythical "men-behind-the-men" who run the world by pulling strings from behind a veil of secrecy? In the The Modern Con Man's world, these mysterious puppet-masters actually don't mind a little attention. In fact they have a new website: Hollywoodmade.com

If he's getting our royalties...

Tower is making the same Tom Robbins slip, even listing him by name at the top as author, right next to the cover of the book. Conveniently, right underneath, they make it easy to order other books by him: Still Life With Woodpecker, Another Roadside Attraction, Skinny Legs and All...

Even Con Men Get the Blues

Our book is a week away from publication, and while poking around online we noticed something at a few bookseller websites. In the "about the author" section regarding co-writer Todd Robbins, now and then his bio seems a little, well, untrue. This sort of deception goes right in line with The Modern Con Man book and certainly with Todd Robbins...

"He was born in Blowing Rock, North Carolina on July 22, 1936. Robbins studied journalism at Washington and Lee for two years and later graduated from the Richmond Professional Institute in 1961. He attended the Graduate School of Far Eastern Studies at the University of Washington. From 1957 to 1960, Robbins served in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Korea as a meteorologist. During his years in the service he took courses in Japanese culture and aesthetics in Tokyo."

Was this some sort of marketing ploy that Bloomsbury devised? And if so, couldn't they have asked us to pen something a little more fun? No. Turns out it's something far dumber. These sites are just pasting in the bio of Tom (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues) Robbins!

What's hot now?

The April issue of InStyle magazine just hit the stands and look no further than page 341 to find the answer to the above question. Here's a peek if it's just killing you to know...

The Sweetwater Swindle

There’s some connin’ going on in Sevier County, TN, although after reading this story, we’re still not sure how it worked exactly (ok, we admit: we sorta just skimmed it)…

“He convinced local people that he would buy their property… but he needed them to open a checking account in their name so he could have the money transferred here. He would then offer them a large sum of money if they would do that for him. Then he ‘arranged’ for them to purchase for him new cars from Jacky Jones Ford in Sweetwater.”

Even though it’s a little hard to follow, who cares. Read the whole thing (or skim it like us) and you'll see why it's our favorite story of the week. It's just got some great local color:

“Jacky Jones Ford in Sweetwater.”
“Turpin had bragged about … purchasing William Poe's farm.”
"He told us he was one of eight special forces solders involved in the rescue of soldier Jessica Lynch in Iraq and that he and the others had been shot, but he survived.”

And the clincher:
"'John Doe' is on the lam with a new girlfriend, the ex-wife of a Sweetwater police officer.”

That's right, this grifter hit the road with Johnny Law’s ex! John Doe, let us know where you are and we’ll send you a signed copy of our book.

It's true. We've seen it.

Todd Robbins, "America's No. 1 Con Man" and co-author of our upcoming book (2 weeks away) The Modern Con Man, has many, many skills. And as his bio says, some of them are even legal. This week's issue of The New Yorker spotlights one of them in a feature article ("The Real Work") by Adam Gopnik:

"Todd Robbins is now perhaps the last remaining sideshow artist capable of doing the Human Blockhead act (a six-inch steel nail goes into and up the nose) while giving a scholarly account of its origins."

We said Todd had some legal skills. We just never said they were useful ones.

"The Big Question"

From the Head's first run ends with a question — the big question — and an unexpected cliffhanger! While we wait for the next batch, catch the first nine episodes all over again right here.

Doing the devil's work for him.

The Pigeon Drop strikes again! Caroline Stevens was so anxious to get a huge chunk of some "found money" (her take would’ve been a cool $15,000) that she handed over $2,700 – money she says her family would’ve used to pay bills. The Pigeon Drop is a fairly simple scam that we mentioned the other week and, even thought it’s a cliché, those who fall for it have only themselves to blame. Not that Caroline sees it that way. Even though she gave thousands to complete strangers who promised half of the $30,000 in exchange for her $2,700 “deposit,” she’s playing the victim here. She says she wasn’t thinking about the money. She just got confused. “They had me so cluttered,” she told a reporter, “I didn't know nothing about what I was doing.” This includes a drive to the bank to withdraw the cash.

Caroline claims she trusted the women because one said she went to the same church and had been “saved” too. But greed, and nothing else, is to blame. At the very least, shouldn’t she have tried to convince the ladies to give the found 30K to the church? Did she forget Luke 12:15, where Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed”? It’s a sin and it might be time for Carolin to hit the confessional.

And now she’s getting all preachy, saying "You better plead the blood of Jesus on the people because they're out there. They'll get ya." (Someone please translate.) Fine, but we’ll throw it right back at you, Caroline, straight from 1 Timothy 6:9-10 (via Google): "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction."

Idiot.

"Resilience"

Mr. Personality returns to From the Head. Next week's ninth episode is the last of Series One. Shoes, please don't keep us waiting long for the next batch.

Moving at the speed of lies

“A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.” - Mark Twain

Seemed like an appropriate Quote of the Week... if not the year.

Cover your tracks, people

Margaret B. Jones wrote a memoir about being raised by a foster mom and and surviving as a drug-dealing gang member. Love and Consequences is the name of the book, out last week, by Penguin. An editor worked with Jones for three years to get the book written. Turns out Jones went to a private Episcopal day school while being raised in the sunny San Fernando Valley by her real family, and that nothing in the book actually happened.

And the craziest thing is it all fell apart when her own sister read about the book in The New York Times. The lesson: find the weakest link in whatever scam you're running, and never forget that weak link's birthday. Ever.

Anyway, the best part about having a book called The Modern Con Man (available in just 28 days) is that no one expects it to be entirely truthful.

Full story here.

Impossible

Not long ago, wanting to "keep up with the Jonses" meant having to maintain a lush, green lawn or buying a BMW. But pressure to "keep up with the Jonses" is the reason Robert Irvine - celebrity chef host of the Food Networks' Dinner: Impossible – is giving as to why he lied on his résumé, fabrications that make you wonder who the hell the Jonses are anymore? Among those lies:

That he is friends with Prince Charles.
That he cooked for four U.S. Presidents.
That he was granted British knighthood.
That he owned a castle in Scotland.

From the network's website this morning (although probably not for long), an intro for Irvine says "If you could combine James Bond and MacGyver, you would get Robert Irvine, a real life chef extraordinaire." Hmmm.

(Food Network, this is a minor point since you're probably changing the site, but if you'd really wanted to make that point above, one of the two people in your "If you could combine" scenario probably should've been food-related. A Bond-MacGyver spawn would kick major ass but it doesn't make us think Black-Pepper-Crusted Wagyu New York Steak with Black Truffle Vinaigrette. And while we have you, if we find out that Rachael Ray isn't really Italian royalty and a direct descendant of the Medicis, we will never forgive you! We love her BBQ Spiced Chicken.)

The So-Called Pigeon Drop

This week, a man in Shreveport, LA, was duped into handing over $40,000 in cash to a sharp-dressed (see for yourself) con artist. The scam used was one of the classics - The Pigeon Drop. There are many variations but the key to them all is how the greed of the marks works against them. And if you're not sure what the Pigeon Drop is, do not ask Detective Bobby Herring, who is handling this case. As he explains:

"Someone offers you more money or some money, but they want a trust and they want to hold your money before you can get the money."

Got it? If not, try this. The Pigeon Drop has been used in everything from The Golden Girls (in the episode "Cheaters"), to Lost. The best use we've seen though is in Mamet's House of Games but just in case you haven't seen it we won't say why. But we will link to the brilliantly played set-up.