David Maurer
Big Con Paperback Book
“Refund was approved and back in my account the same day.” - Deliver+ customer
The classic 1940 study of con men and con games that Luc Sante in Salon called a bonanza of wild but credible stories, told concisely with deadpan humor, as sly and rich in atmosphere as anything this side of Mark Twain. Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat, wrote David Maurer, a proposition he definitely proved in The Big Con, one of the most colorful, wellresearched, and entertaining works of criminology ever written. A professor of linguistics who specialized in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers, who let him in on not simply their language but their folkways and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty, were taken off i.e. cheatedof thousands upon thousands of dollars. The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send) and indelible characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie, Larry the Lug). It served as the source for the Oscarwinning film The Sting.
Binding: Paperback;336 pages; Publisher: Random House USA Inc; Classification: FA; Weight: 402 g; Dimensions: 132 x 203 x 21
Extended returns Orders placed after 29th October 2026 can be returned until 5th January 2027
Something not quite right? You have 21 days from the day you receive it, to send something back. When you purchase Debenhams Deliver+, you will have an extra 14 days on top of our standard 21-day window to initate a return.
Please note, we cannot offer refunds on fashion face masks, cosmetics, pierced jewellery, adult toys, and swimwear or lingerie if the hygiene seal is not in place or has been broken.
Items of footwear and/or clothing must be unworn and unwashed with the original labels attached. Also, footwear must be tried on indoors. Items of homeware including bedlinen, mattresses, and toppers, and pillows must be unused and in their original unopened packaging. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Click here to view our full Returns Policy.
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The classic 1940 study of con men and con games that Luc Sante in Salon called a bonanza of wild but credible stories, told concisely with deadpan humor, as sly and rich in atmosphere as anything this side of Mark Twain. Of all the grifters, the confidence man is the aristocrat, wrote David Maurer, a proposition he definitely proved in The Big Con, one of the most colorful, wellresearched, and entertaining works of criminology ever written. A professor of linguistics who specialized in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers, who let him in on not simply their language but their folkways and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty, were taken off i.e. cheatedof thousands upon thousands of dollars. The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send) and indelible characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie, Larry the Lug). It served as the source for the Oscarwinning film The Sting.
Binding: Paperback;336 pages; Publisher: Random House USA Inc; Classification: FA; Weight: 402 g; Dimensions: 132 x 203 x 21
Extended returns Orders placed after 29th October 2026 can be returned until 5th January 2027
Something not quite right? You have 21 days from the day you receive it, to send something back. When you purchase Debenhams Deliver+, you will have an extra 14 days on top of our standard 21-day window to initate a return.
Please note, we cannot offer refunds on fashion face masks, cosmetics, pierced jewellery, adult toys, and swimwear or lingerie if the hygiene seal is not in place or has been broken.
Items of footwear and/or clothing must be unworn and unwashed with the original labels attached. Also, footwear must be tried on indoors. Items of homeware including bedlinen, mattresses, and toppers, and pillows must be unused and in their original unopened packaging. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Click here to view our full Returns Policy.
David Maurer
Big Con Paperback Book
“Refund was approved and back in my account the same day.” - Deliver+ customer
We Think You'll Like
Sponsored Products
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