Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank Abagnale, Jr., 1980.

Frank William Abagnale, Frank Williams, or any of the other aliases he gave people, cruised through life alternately as an airplane pilot, pediatrician, civil lawyer, academic professor, and finally as a researcher/writer in what he thought was the safe haven of Montpellier, France. He bought a nice cottage there, and he brought a suitcase full of cash with him.

Touring Europe with an entourage of 12 or so gorgeous flight attendants who are oh so happy to be doing an advertising campaign for Pan Am is fun. Too bad that they do not realize yet that it was all a sham, and they definitely do not work for Pan Am. It was more convenient for Abagnale to have a crew though, as traveling without a crew ("deadheading" as it was called) aroused more suspicion on the part of the hotel staff. The ladies helped, and Abagnale certainly liked women; that is for sure.

What about masquerading as a supervising resident in a pediatric ward? How to get by? Abagnale studied pediatric journals in the hospital that hired him because he resided in the same building as a real doctor who worked there. The gregarious chap introduced him to the doctors, and he invited him to lunch at the hospital since Abagnale presented himself as a doctor. How to get by? Look up unfamiliar medical terms in a supply closet on an upper floor when no one was looking. The interns were very happy to have a supervisor that let them actually practice.

No one suspected anything was amiss except for a maintenance man who mentioned to him when the temporary job was up that he spent an awful lot of time in the supply closet. What might he have been doing in there?!?! Abagnale was glad when the gig was up because an emergency occurred regarding a baby with cyanosis that, luckily, an intern was able to resolve. However, the incident did raise his blood pressure.

Wouldn't it be fun to be a lawyer? If you can study for the bar exam for 14 weeks and pass on your third try without attending law school, maybe. Luckily, it turned out that Abagnale was mostly a gopher for the assistant district attorney when he was hired. Occasionally, though, his supervisor would allow him to present an opening argument or such in court, which he quite enjoyed, superb actor that he was.

Master check forger that Abagnale was ("paper hangers" as they call them), he cashed many false checks supposedly from Pan Am. He studied checks and learned more about them than tellers knew. In fact, Abagnale is now an expert in fraud prevention, and he has written an awesome book about identity theft: Stealing Your Life: the Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan. He forged transcripts and created diplomas by cutting academic logos from admissions brochures.

In the middle of all this, FBI agent Sean O'Riley was taken off all other assignments and his sole professional goal became to apprehend Frank Abagnale, Jr. This is most likely the real-life counterpart that the film version's FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (played by Tom Hanks) was based on.

One of Abagnale's opening statements in the book is, "I wasn't a Pan Am pilot or any other kind of pilot. I was an imposter, one of the most wanted criminals on four continents, and I was doing my thing, putting a super hype of some nice people."

Success of a Con Artist: When he was young, he discovered that people like class, and he was adept at relating to the people that he conned, and in most cases, he managed somehow to avoid offending them. For example, he gave the bondsman who sprung him from prison just hours before Sean O'Riley showed up to extradite him for his crimes a bum check. Later, though, he sent him a much larger sum, presumably to keep him happy and less likely to cooperate fully with the police if they came asking a lot of questions about whatever alias Abagnale used with him. He also kept a notebook filled with personal information about the pilots, such as info about their families and phone numbers, in order to avert suspicion with other pilots, if they started questioning him.

Abagnale determined that there are three factors in the success of a check swindler: personality (charm), observation (visual research), and research (background research).

Flying the Pan Am Skies: Abagnale was also flying the skies at a time when airport security was low. Occasionally, too, the pilot would offer Abagnale the controls when he was deadheading, simply as a courtesy. At times like these, Abagnale simply put the plane on automatic pilot and hoped and prayed, especially since his own life, as well as that of the entire crew and passengers, was in his hands. Abagnale had never taken flying lessons.

Abagnale obtained a flight crew to avert the suspicion that was cast upon a pilot flying alone. He also kept a notebook with pilot's names, family information and phone numbers to avoid questioning by other pilots. If he talked about other Pan Am pilots that he knew, the flying pilots tended to relax and stop being suspicious of his authenticity.

The Movie Was Awesome!: I tend to agree with most movie/book consumers that I have spoken with: usually the book is better than the movie. In this case, the book is definitely more accurate than the book, since it is written by Abagnale. However, the movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, and it features Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio as co-stars. Great acting, superb directing, and awesome cinematography. Spielberg stated that he made the movie not for Abagnale's cons but for what he has accomplished in the 30 years since. The real Abagnale actually played a minor role in the film as one of the French police officers who arrested Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio).

One of the best scenes in the movie is of Abagnale walking through an airport in full view of law enforcement, flanked by his "crew" of airline stewardesses. Another touching scene is of Abagnale seeing his stepsister through the window of his mother's new house during Christmas time. Then he put his hands up and was arrested. Abagnale also escaped through the bottom of a toilet during the landing of the plane that brought him back to the United States from France by unscrewing the flooring. That escape happened in real life as well, amazingly enough.

The 2002 movie was also made into a Broadway musical called Catch Me If You Can.

Career Cruising: I am enthralled with Abagnale's story because he is so smart and his story of assuming so many admirable careers through his con artistry is fascinating. I love the fact that Abagnale gallivants about in different careers, since I am so interested in people's career development. He spent time combing people for information casually who were in the industries that he purported to be a part of.

• National Crime Information Center (NCIC) 
• Frank Abagnale's books
• Books about the Federal Bureau of Investigation