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.