The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con

For those of us who saw the iconic movie "The Sting" when it first came out, that movie provided the romance and intrigue of "The Big Con." However there really were no other amplifying books or movies on that fascinating topic, until now.Amy has done a great job using Frank Norfleet's oddysey pursuing the con men who fleeced him as a backdrop of the con games which existed in American cities during the early twentieth century. A huge research effort provides info where none ever existed, since by their intrinsic nature, no formal or written record ever existed of the thousands of cons which occured.Prior to Amy's book, there was a simple model of the con game. The con man took advantage of the "mark's gullibility and greed. Period, end of story. Amy shows how major social forces contributed to, and were incorporated into, the con man's schemes. Fake stock market brokerages and transactions were a staple of "The Big Con." This exploited the fact that the stock market was one of the very few avenues that offered the possibility of financial gain to the common man, however remote that possibility was. Newspapers provided exciting stories of the exploits of famous stock market plungers like Jesse Livermore and Arthur Cutten. The con game played to the mark's belief, acquired through newspaper stories, that the stock market was controlled by "insider's", by giving the mark a chance to become an insider and make a bid score.All in all a great and highly engaging period piece read.

I listened to an interview with Amy and immediately bought her book. I was fascinated with the clear and understandable presentation of all the factors that go into the extraction of funds from knowledgeable, responsible, hard-working pillars of society by the variety of social misfits we have wandering freely through society, generally unrecognized and unaccosted. Norfleet's tale is a fable from a simpler time, laid under under the microscope, with tremendous instructional value for today. I would hope this little book might encourage more advanced reading, such as Bill Black's 'The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One,' or John Perkins 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman,' for more modern tales in the same vein. For extra credit, pick up Warren Buffett's 'Snowball,' or Michael Lewis' 'The Big Short.' Barry Ritholtz writes a good description of where we are today in 'Bailout Nation.' Sadly, your lessons won't be complete until you read through Jack Abramoff's 'Capitol Punishment' to fully realize our country's predicament today. The Joe Furey Gang and the Lou Blonger Outfit were true amateurs compared to todays architects of TARP, HAMP, SSA, Healthcare Initiative, Internal Revenue Service...who wants to take Norfleet's spot this afternoon? And BTW, I suppose $13.99 is comparable to the $4.19 fuel I bought this morning - but it's really unconscionable!

The tale of a man who, fancying himself a sharp operator, suffers a humiliating and devastating fraud, but who gets revenge mostly by dint of sheer determination.

This was a interesting book to read. We read it for our book club of which I know some people couldn't finish. I hate to not finish a book so a few months later I finally finished it. I loved the idea of the story. For me personally the book had the tendency to get really interesting for a few pages then would go into boring filler stuff.

I loved this book. Of course, I guess I should admit to being a... sucker... for obscure bits of Americana and tales of great con jobs.According to her author bio, Ms. Reading has a Ph.D in American Studies and it shows. But, in a good way. This work was thoroughly researched -- and I mean thoroughly. And, as a result, fascinating historical tidbits abound.Nothing dry and academic about Ms. Reading's writing, either. The book just flies along.I'm very anxious to see, too, what she does next. In the meantime, though, kudos to her for this effort.

The story of a good man swindled dedicating himself to the capture and punnishment ofthe con men group is interesting and reveals both his strengths and weaknesses. Weaknessesthat are all too familiar. The hunt lasts many years and covers many states and thenarrative takes many approaches, sometimes telling the story, sometimes stepping asideto question and analyse, sometimes presenting confusing levels of detail that blursthe characters by including so many.For me, it would have worked better as a direct historical nararative.

An interesting true story that is a chore to read thru. Story jumps around and mainly is a I am great and did great things as taken from the subjects autobiography.

Interesting story with history of cons in America. Pretty much you can't make this stuff up as the revenge is extremely time consuming, but complete. Good read, but not quite as compelling as I had hoped.

There are 2 books at play here, the main one is about a 'character' called Norfleet who (twice) gets swindled and then exacts his own revenge on the gang by hinting them down and getting them sent to jail. This is far less interesting that the second book which details the history of the 'con' from small time confidence men up to the stock market of the 1920s. Very interesting, but it does suffer from the main story which is fantastical to the point of disbelief in places.