Catch Me If You Can

The True Story of a Real Fake

By: Frank W. Abagnale, Stan Redding - contributor

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world's most sought-after con man, immortalized by Leonardo DiCaprio in DreamWorks' feature film of the same name, from the author of Scam Me If You Can.

Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one.

Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam—until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes—including one from an airplane—make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit.

©1980 Frank W. Abagnale (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A book that captivates from first page to last."—West Coast Review of Books

"Whatever the reader may think of his crimes, the reader will wind up chortling with and cheering along the criminal."—Charlottesville Progress

"Zingingly told... richly detailed and winning as the devil."—Kirkus Reviews

Moxie at its finest

Not a boring moment and while Frank is no saint what he said about the French prisons is true.
They were some of the most discusting and inhumane of prisons imaginable.
Overcrowding is still a problem but they used to keep people in complete isolation for years in dark tiny cells, with no facilities, nothing but a cold concrete floor. And I am shocked that this was the case just 2 short decades ago.
Great book.

I really enjoyed the story.

The story and was put together was good. It took me down a journey of Frank's life The book kept my attention and I was really taken and surprised by everything he had done

Says unabridged...

Confused. The audio book ends abruptly without resolution. Meanwhile I look up a synopsis of the book and "Frank finally resolves to become a law-abiding citizen. Jobs aren't hard for him to get and managers tend to want to promote him. Consequently though, the employers run background checks and see little choice but to fire him in light of his criminal record.

He finally changes his life by offering his services (for free, at first) as a security consultant on a specialized lecture tour. He speaks to bank personnel, fully disclosing his forgery methods and ways to detect them. He goes on to found a firm that has been famous ever since." .... yet the audio book ends before you hear him go straight which is a big point to the whole story.

This book is not true

I looked up Frank Abignail and many articles on him said this book is an exaggeration or completely false!!