Fakes, Frauds, and Flimflammery

Since 1991, Andreas Schroeder has been a regular on the very popular national CBC-Radio show “Basic Black” with Arthur Black. Each month, Schroeder recounts, with wry understatement, yet another outrageous scam or particularly notable rip-off, leaving his listeners speechless with disbelief, amusement, and even grudging admiration.Such was the popularity of his two previous story collections that he has done it again.Stories Include:Another Day, Another Picasso: The decades-long career of aristocratic forger Elmyr de Hory, some of whose Picassos, Matisses, Van Goghs, and Braques still lurk in art museums and reference books, masquerading as the real thing.Making Hay in Cathay: A damning exposé of that thirteenth-century con artist, Marco Polo, which is sure to have readers questioning everything they learned in school.Gangs That Couldn’t Loot Straight: Three tales to prove that incompetence can be elevated to an art form.Extortion by Remote Control: How a technologically inventive bomber (calling himself Dagobert Duck) managed to hold one of Germany’s largest department stores hostage and baffle the police for almost two years.Each story is told in Schroeder’s wicked, deadpan style, which covers a certain underlying glee at the shenanigans of truly ingenious characters – despite their questionable morals.