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"Yellow Kid" Weil: The Autobiography of America's Master Swindler
by
J.R. Weil
,
Bruno Ruhland
,
W.T. Brannon
Bilked bankers, grifted gamblers, and swindled spinsters:welcome to the world of confidence men.
You'll marvel at the elaborate schemes developed by The Yellow Kid and cry for the marks who lost it all to his ingenuity—$8,000,000 by some estimations. Fixed horse races, bad real-estate deals, even a money-making machine—all were tools of the trade for the Kid and his associa ...more
You'll marvel at the elaborate schemes developed by The Yellow Kid and cry for the marks who lost it all to his ingenuity—$8,000,000 by some estimations. Fixed horse races, bad real-estate deals, even a money-making machine—all were tools of the trade for the Kid and his associa ...more
Paperback
,
352 pages
Published
February 22nd 2011
by Nabat Books
(first published July 13th 2004)
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Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
284)
"It takes a great deal of boldness, mixed with a vast amount of caution, to acquire a fortune. But it takes ten times as much wit to keep it."
Found this book from 48 Laws of Power, which used several of Yellow Kid Weil's stories to illustrate aspects of Power. The 48 Laws distilled the major points but the full autobiography is still worthwhile. The Spanish Prisoner changed to Mexico ... the stock schemes ... the switches ... the depth, cleverness, and subtlety of the schemes is just astounding. ...more
Found this book from 48 Laws of Power, which used several of Yellow Kid Weil's stories to illustrate aspects of Power. The 48 Laws distilled the major points but the full autobiography is still worthwhile. The Spanish Prisoner changed to Mexico ... the stock schemes ... the switches ... the depth, cleverness, and subtlety of the schemes is just astounding. ...more
If AK Press reprinted the phone book, I would most likely give it 5 stars, but this one is definitely one of their best. Such complex con artistry. Emphasis on the artistry. The cons are so complex, involving so much preparation, that it makes me rethink some conspiracy theories I've heard. Parallels to the financial world abound.
The greatest con of all time? I believe it. Weil's scams are so elaborate and creative you just have to shake your head in wonder. I always thought the big scam at the end of The Sting was pure Hollywood, but it doesn't come close to what Weil pulled. The book isn't so much an autobiography as a chronological accounting of Weil's greatest scams, along with some brief stints in jail and his few attempts to run legit businesses. Each chapter detailing a different scam, the book does get a bit repe
...more
Although not quite a bedside shot at redemption, these recollections of Joe 'The Sting' Weil should still be considered 'too much of a good thing'. There are cinematic levels of adventure here that beggar belief: from conmen fleecing conmen in a parade of party dress and silky subterfuge, to failed escapes ending in slides down oiled lift wires (towards giant enraged victims), and 'seat-of-your pants' improvisations that spin gold out of a mess.
It is possible these tales are on the money, as the ...more
It is possible these tales are on the money, as the ...more
Titillating tidbits. A highly self-educated man. A lovely old-time style of writing. Too bad Walter Scott had already written his masterpieces, or Weil might have given us Ivanhoe and The Talisman. When he describes the Texas oilfield scam (Man with the Beard), you literally feel like you've been taken back a 100 years to the south, to one of those stately mansions.
If you read this and your self-awareness hasn't improved, watch out!
If you read this and your self-awareness hasn't improved, watch out!
Jan 14, 2012
Elaine
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biographies-autobiographies-and-mem
,
non-fiction
It's hard to read scheme after scheme where someone was tricked out of hard-earned cash. And while many of the victims the author mentions are pretty unsavory characters who have no concerns about breaking the law, there were some dupes that are not so easily pegged as dishonest as the author claims. For instance, there's the early scams where people just wanted to bet on horses at the race track. Weil spends so much time convincing them to go along with the scheme that you really feel sorry for
...more
Clearly the inspiration for the con men of The Sting, with the big con. Very colorful, and entertaining.
Partially lurid and partially a portrait of another era.
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Joseph R. "Yellow Kid" Weil was a in con man Chicago during the early 20th century.
More about J.R. Weil...
