the big con: the story of the confidence man by david maurer was a book that mark fraunfelder recommended over at mad professor. the book inspired the sting (which i have either never seen, or have not seen for a very long time), and is a fun non-fiction account of how the big con games operate (along with a few of the short con games).

i wonder if any of the big con games are still operated, or if the cons have simply come up with better ways of getting the same effect through legitimate corporations, churches, and government.