The Man In The Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise And Spectacular Fall Of A Serial Impostor (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
There is something simply unbelievable in the stories of serial imposters like Frank Abaganle and "Clark Rockefeller". How, you ask yourself, could so many people possibly believe such twaddle? And yet they do. Far above the class of metal-siding salesmen, these world-class liars create entire personas for themselves. Their tightly woven stories, embellished with the most garish and outrageous of stories, are costumed and acted day and night. The mask never slips. When someone gets too close, another mask is made in its place. While most imposters create their new selves to acquire wealth and power, in the case of German Christian Gerhartstreiter the mask was also there to make himself into the person he felt he "should" (and deserved to) be. With a sharp mind, accents learned from American movies and one over-the-top story after another, Gerhartstreiter made himself into an orphan child of a minor branch of the fabulously wealthy and famous Rockefeller family. From one coast to another, gullible "friends" bought into his story. Was it just in the hope of a bit of magic dust rubbing off? Or did they truly believe? "Rockefeller's" life twists from one lie to the next, sliding from one rich enclave to another - always evading the attempts of the CA police to question him about a murder and missing person case. One heck of an unbelievable story. Hollywood could never come up with something like this. I found this story to be brilliantly disturbing and yet equally brilliant. It is the story of a man who would not be deterred by social norms, expectations, rules or even the law to obtain what he wanted...truthfully, what he felt was "rightfully" his. Throughout the book I wondered how one person could possibly lie in such extravagance that everyone believed it, even himself. Only a brilliant person could reinvent themselves so many times and with so many different lives/careers/family stories. Disturbed, but brilliant. At times it reminded me a lot of the character Leonardo DiCaprio played in "Catch Me if You Can" and I saw that this story would also make an excellent movie. Deceit, mystery, lavish lifestyle and the never-ending question of "HOW did he do it?!?" (I thought Kevin Spacey would be great to play him since he sort of looks like him!)My one question that went unanswered, though, was did his family in Germany ever hear from him again? What did his family do when he "disappeared" and never contacted them again? Did they send out people to look for him? When he was arrested and his identity traced back to Germany, what was his family's initial reaction?Overall, fantastic read.
What do You think about The Man In The Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise And Spectacular Fall Of A Serial Impostor (2011)?
When they say "astonishing rise," they aren't kidding.
—Seav
A bit long and detailed, but fascinating true story.
—nimmei
