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

In Catch Me if You Can, Frank Abagnale examines his criminal activities as a kind of social “script” wherein he is “an independent actor, writing, producing and directing” (128). In the book’s opening scene, he playfully remarks that, if caught, he knows he won’t “win any Oscars” (5), priming the reader to view Abagnale as an actor playing the roles of co-pilot, doctor, lawyer, and professor. He explains that in order to successfully perform these roles, he researches professional texts and makes note of industry-specific language whenever he hears it used. He even maintains a notebook (which he carries on him at all times) that serves as a kind of written script, filled with terms and significant names that help make his disguises more convincing.

Abagnale suggests that a large degree of his success as a performer comes from the appreciation of all the performances around him. He acknowledges that all of the bank clerks, hotel managers, airline employees, and other professionals he interacts with are similarly playing the roles they are expected to play within their industry. Through a combination of “personality…observation…[and] research” (129), Abagnale ensures that his social transactions with these fellow “actors” always flow as smoothly as possible, knowing that if everyone’s role is played to satisfaction, people are unlikely to look beneath the surface of a situation.