Drake's Fortune: The Fabulous True Story of the World's Greatest Confidence Artist - Hardcover

Rayner, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385499493 ISBN 13: 9780385499491

Publisher: Doubleday, 2002

Synopsis

A startling true crime drama retraces the steps of Oscar Hartzell, the nation's most successful con artist, who swindled thousands of people during the 1920s and 1930s with an amazing series of get-rich-quick schemes and scams until his conviction in 1933. By the author of The Cloud Sketcher and The Blue Suit.

About this title

Review:

"Rayner brilliantly tracks Hartzell's evolution from small-time crookery to a humbug of superhuman proportions. . . . [This] fascinating history amply demonstrates that hope and gullibility spring eternal." --The Oregonian

"Rayner's private insights add another dimension to this biography that help it to transcend more run-of-the-mill true crime. . . . A fascinating and poignant read." --The News & Observer

"Rayner's beautifully balanced book . . . crams a fairly complete history of confidence scams into the story without slowing it down for a second, and breaks your heart by showing again and again how badly these good people wanted to believe in such a ridiculous scheme." --Chicago Tribune

"Witty, concise, and thoroughly researched." --Austin American Statesman

About the Author:

RICHARD RAYNER is the author of five previous books, including the novel The Cloud Sketcher and The Blue Suit, a memoir of his own life as a thief while a student at Cambridge University. His work appears in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He lives with his family in Los Angeles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0385499493
• ISBN 13: 9780385499491
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224