79 pages 2 hours read

Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1980

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Introduction

Catch Me If You Can

  • Genre: Nonfiction; Autobiography/Memoir
  • Originally Published: 1980
  • Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
  • Structure/Length: 10 chapters; approx. 277 pages; approx. 8 hours, 30 minutes on audio
  • Central Concern: Con artist and check-forger Frank Abagnale details the various crimes he committed from 1964 to 1969, between the ages of 16 and 21.

Frank Abagnale, Stan Redding, Authors

  • Frank Abagnale Bio: Born in 1948 in Bronxville, NY; runs a consultancy firm; worked as a professional con artist, disguising himself as a copilot, doctor, lawyer, FBI agent, and professor; his memoir inspired a 2002 film directed by Steven Spielberg and a Broadway musical
  • Other Works by Frank Abagnale: The Art of the Steal (2001); Stealing Your Life (2007); Scam Me if You Can (2019)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

  • Social Scripts and Performance
  • Gender Privilege and the Use of Women
  • Identity and Self-Construction

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

  • Gain an understanding of social contexts regarding privilege-associated professions that enabled Frank Abagnale to get away with his crimes.
  • Make connections between the text’s theme of Gender Privilege and Frank Abagnale’s exploitation of women and leveraging of male privilege in order to succeed in his schemes.
  • Discuss the potential effects of writing a memoir for a con man like Abagnale and how he has constructed himself as a larger than life figure through viewing paired texts and thinking about popular media portrayals of crime.