The amazing true story of the most extraordinary liar in the history of fun and profit!

'Irresistible! ... touches that current of larceny that lies within all of us.' (Houston Chronicle) Frank Abagnale wrote US$2.5 million in bad cheques, practised law without a licence, practised medicine with no medical training, co-piloted a Pan-Am jet with a fake licence, taught at a college though he was actually a high school drop-out, and managed to outwit and outrage the police of 26 foreign countries and every US state, before he turned 21.

Catch Me If You Can is the hilarious, now-classic story of Abagnale's stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and his ingenious escapes - including one from an airplane. This amazing true story of how one man fooled multi-national corporations, banks, universities, hospitals, and law enforcement organisations around the world is utterly riveting, and astounding even today, and contains all the ingredients of the most wildly imaginative fiction (except that all of Abagnale's exploits actually happened).

Stylish, charming and not one to skimp on luxury, Abagnale lived a luxurious life on the lam until his 'retirement' at 21. After conning his way around the world, Frank was jailed and released five years later, only after he agreed to work, unpaid, for the US government sharing his knowledge of fraud with them in order to help them prevent it. He is now one of the world's foremost experts in secure documents and fraud prevention and travels to Australia regularly in his role as consultant for Leigh-Mardon Australia, the company responsible for design and production of all Australia's secure documents including passports, banknotes, bank cheques, personal cheques, credit cards, drivers licences etc.

His bestselling memoir, Catch Me If You Can, was made into a major film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

**

Amazon.com Review

When this true-crime story first appeared in 1980, it made the New York Times bestseller list within weeks. Two decades later, it's being rereleased in conjunction with a film version produced by DreamWorks. In the space of five years, Frank Abagnale passed $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in every state and 26 foreign countries. He did it by pioneering implausible and brazen scams, such as impersonating a Pan Am pilot (puddle jumping around the world in the cockpit, even taking over the controls). He also played the role of a pediatrician and faked his way into the position of temporary resident supervisor at a hospital in Georgia. Posing as a lawyer, he conned his way into a position in a state attorney general's office, and he taught a semester of college-level sociology with a purloined degree from Columbia University.

The kicker is, he was actually a teenage high school dropout. Now an authority on counterfeiting and secure documents, Abagnale tells of his years of impersonations, swindles, and felonies with humor and the kind of confidence that enabled him to pull off his poseur performances. "Modesty is not one of my virtues. At the time, virtue was not one of my virtues," he writes. In fact, he did it all for his overactive libido--he needed money and status to woo the girls. He also loved a challenge and the ego boost that came with playing important men. What's not disclosed in this highly engaging tale is that Abagnale was released from prison after five years on the condition that he help the government write fraud-prevention programs. So, if you're planning to pick up some tips from this highly detailed manifesto on paperhanging, be warned: this master has already foiled you. --Lesley Reed

Review

"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*