Hustlers And Con Men

Author : Jay Robert Nash
Publisher : M Evans & Company
ISBN 13 : 9780871311887
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hustlers and Con Men written by Jay Robert Nash and published by M Evans & Company. This book was released on 1976-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anecdotal accounts of the most successful, most outrageous, and most expert scammers, flim-flammers, swindlers, and sharpers of the past two hundred years provide grist for Barnum's mill

Author : Geno Zanetti
Publisher : Running Press Adult
ISBN 13 : 9781560253808
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Players written by Geno Zanetti and published by Running Press Adult. This book was released on 2002-12-31 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once I hear the clatter of chips I almost go into convulsions," said Dostoyevsky, while Anatole France wrote, "The gambler is driven by the fascination of danger at the bottom of all great passions." The characters the reader meets in Players—chess grand masters, poolroom hustlers, or street-hardened practitioners of the short con—are all alike propelled by the ecstasy of risk. "The stake is money," France wrote, "in other words, immediate, infinite possibilities." In fact, as the reader hooks up with David Mamet in the poker room and meets Damon Runyon's Bookie Bob, Saul Bellow's immortal Yellow Kid, and learns from Herbert Asbury about the antics of Izzy and Moe, and from David Maurer about the discreet charm of the confidence man, Walter Tevis on Fast Eddie Felson and Minnesota Fats on the seductions of nineteenth-century gambling dens, high lives and low will merge and the world of gambler and con-artist will blur. Selected writings by Jorge Luis Borges, Hunter S. Thompson, Nick Tosches, and many others are featured.

Author : Terry Williams
Publisher : Studies in Transgression
ISBN 13 : 9780231170833
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Con Men written by Terry Williams and published by Studies in Transgression. This book was released on 2017-08 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hard-edged guide to New York City swindles, street life, and culture, through direct interviews with con artists and hustlers.

Author : Terry Williams
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231540493
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Con Men written by Terry Williams and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ethnography of NYC’s scammers presents “a revealing portrait of a critical but little known element of city life…timely, incisive, and poignant” (Elijah Anderson, author of Code of the Street). This vivid account of hustling in New York City explores the sociological reasons why con artists play their game and the psychological tricks they use to win it. Sociologists Terry Williams and Trevor B. Milton spent years with New York con artists to uncover their secrets. The result is an unprecedented view into how con games operate, whether in back alleys and side streets or in police precincts and Wall Street boiler rooms. Whether it's selling bootleg goods, playing the numbers, squatting rent-free, scamming tourists with bogus stories, selling knockoffs on Canal Street, or crafting Ponzi schemes, con artists use verbal persuasion, physical misdirection, and sheer charm to convince others to do what they want. Williams and Milton examine this act of performance art and find meaning in its methods. Through their sophisticated exploration of the personal experiences and influences that create a successful hustler, they build a portrait of unusual emotional and psychological depth. This engaging ethnography demonstrates how the city's unique urban and social architecture lends itself to the perfect con.

Author : James W. VanStone
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351514059
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hustlers, Beats, and Others written by James W. VanStone and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging from pool hustling to pornography, this book analyzes deviant branches of American life, dispels misconceptions about them, and throws new light on sociological theory and method. Each chapter radically dissents from one or more mainstream opinions about deviance. The first chapter examines the alleged causes for the decline of American poolrooms and finds them wanting, traces the rise and fall of poolrooms to historical changes in America's social structure, and cogently dissects the recent poolroom revival. The second chapter, reports a field study of a deviant occupation, pool hustling, describing the hustler's work situation and career from recruitment to retirement. In revealing how pool hustlers, although dedicated wholly to a vocation that merely breaks unenforced gambling laws, frequently supplement their income by means of outright felonies, the author develops a new theory of "crime as moonlighting." The third chapter sharply criticizes our criminology textbooks for avoiding the study of uncaught adult criminals in their natural environments. It demonstrates such research to be both necessary and practical with career felons as well as moonlighters. The author describes field techniques he has used with career felons, offers new findings gleaned by means of these techniques, and answers moral objections to such research. The forth chapter presents the first genuinely empirical study of the beat delinquent sub-culture, in which the author corrects some journalistic views such as that most beats are exhibitionists and some sociological ones such as that "retreatist" drug-users can meet neither legitimate nor criminal success norms. The final chapter, on the sociology of pornography, holds that the courts are wrong to claim that naturalistic erotic art is non-pornographic, and wronger still to claim that hard-core pornography is, in Mr. Justice Brennan's words, "utterly without redeeming social importance." The author's unusual blend of

Author : Laurence J. Yadon
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1455615781
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Old West Swindlers written by Laurence J. Yadon and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2011-06-23 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: True stories of nineteenth-century crooks, con artists, and quacks—including the man who “sold” the Brooklyn Bridge. Gunslingers and outlaws weren’t the only ones who made the West wild. The nineteenth century was the golden era of riverboat gamblers, crooked railroad contractors, and filthy-rich medical quacks. These crooks made a living deceiving people who took a stranger at face value and left their doors unlocked. Throw in some get-rich-quick schemes and a generous mixture of whiskey and there was never a shortage of suckers. Conman George Parker was able to stay in business for forty years by “selling” public structures such as Madison Square Garden and the Statue of Liberty. He even “sold” the Brooklyn Bridge as often as twice a week. For most, the Salted Gold Mine or the Magic Wallet cons were enough to satisfy their greed. However, the more ambitious grifters tried the Big Store, an illegal underground betting parlor like the one seen in the movie The Sting. With an honest-looking face and a lack of morals, these scammers played a big role in giving the frontier its lawless reputation—and this book tells their stories.

Author : T.L. Henry
Publisher : LifeRich Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1489708928
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Vision written by T.L. Henry and published by LifeRich Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-09 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our everyday walk in life we have experiences that shape our hearts and mind which direct the path we take and the decisions we make. We must learn to use wisdom along with the skills and abilities we acquire to create avenues that help move us forward. The Vision, a work of urban fiction inspired by actual events, narrates a story of what happens when individuals are motivated and determined to make a positive difference in life. It shows how forces and events move in ways to help accomplish the things that motivated them to take action. It communicates how we all have a purpose in life, how discovering and fulfilling that purpose benefits the world and everyone in it.

Author : Gina Misiroglu
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317477294
Total Pages : 980 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History written by Gina Misiroglu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 980 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Counterculture, while commonly used to describe youth-oriented movements during the 1960s, refers to any attempt to challenge or change conventional values and practices or the dominant lifestyles of the day. This fascinating three-volume set explores these movements in America from colonial times to the present in colorful detail. "American Countercultures" is the first reference work to examine the impact of countercultural movements on American social history. It highlights the writings, recordings, and visual works produced by these movements to educate, inspire, and incite action in all eras of the nation's history. A-Z entries provide a wealth of information on personalities, places, events, concepts, beliefs, groups, and practices. The set includes numerous illustrations, a topic finder, primary source documents, a bibliography and a filmography, and an index.

Author : Maria Konnikova
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0143109871
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Confidence Game written by Maria Konnikova and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It’s a startling and disconcerting read that should make you think twice every time a friend of a friend offers you the opportunity of a lifetime.” —Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and bestselling author of Devil in the White City Think you can’t get conned? Think again. The New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes explains how to spot the con before they spot you. “[An] excellent study of Con Artists, stories & the human need to believe” –Neil Gaiman, via Twitter A compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists—and the people who fall for their cons over and over again. While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true conmen—the Bernie Madoffs, the Jim Bakkers, the Lance Armstrongs—are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again? These are the questions that journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova tackles in her mesmerizing new book. From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Insightful and gripping, the book brings readers into the world of the con, examining the relationship between artist and victim. The Confidence Game asks not only why we believe con artists, but also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.

Author : Ben Carlson
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119605164
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Don't Fall For It written by Ben Carlson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-01-02 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn financial and business lessons from some of the biggest frauds in history Why does financial fraud persist? History is full of sensational financial frauds and scams. Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy after allegations of massive accounting fraud, wiping out $78 billion in stock market value. Bernie Madoff, the largest individual fraudster in history, built a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that ultimately resulted in his being sentenced to 150 years in prison. People from all walks of life have been scammed out of their money: French and British nobility looking to get rich quickly, farmers looking for a miracle cure for their health ailments, several professional athletes, and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. No one is immune from getting deceived when money is involved. Don’t Fall For It is a fascinating look into some of the biggest financial frauds and scams ever. This compelling book explores specific instances of financial fraud as well as some of the most successful charlatans and hucksters of all-time. Sharing lessons that apply to business, money management, and investing, author Ben Carlson answers questions such as: Why do even the most intelligent among us get taken advantage of in financial scams? What make fraudsters successful? Why is it often harder to stay rich than to get rich? Each chapter in examines different frauds, perpetrators, or victims of scams. These real-life stories include anecdotes about how these frauds were carried out and discussions of what can be learned from these events. This engaging book: Explores the business and financial lessons drawn from some of history’s biggest frauds Describes the conditions under which fraud tends to work best Explains how people can avoid being scammed out of their money Suggests practical steps to reduce financial fraud in the future Don’t Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams is filled with engrossing real-life stories and valuable insights, written for finance professionals, investors, and general interest readers alike.