Con artist stories have always held an outsized position in pop culture, but in 2022, they’re really having a moment. No matter which streaming service or network you’re watching, there’s a grifter story ready for binging. Hulu has The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and Netflix has Inventing Anna with Julia Garner as faux heiress Anna Delvey. Then there’s The Thing About Pam on NBC, featuring Renée Zellweger as a woman who murdered at least one person to collect on a life insurance policy. And if you’re looking for the “true” version of events, queue up The Tinder Swindler, Bad Vegan, The Vow, LuLaRich, or any number of other documentaries and miniseries.
Critics and sociologists have long tried to explain the public’s fascination with grifters, who are usually nonviolent but still very much criminals. Is it because con artists are so often charming and charismatic? Or are people responding to the Robin Hood element in many of these stories—stealing from the rich and giving to the … less rich? No one has come up with a definitive answer, but in the meantime, crack open one of these con artist books and try to determine the appeal for yourself.
Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale
Even before Steven Spielberg adapted…
