The confidence-man : his masquerade

Bibliographic Information

The confidence-man : his masquerade

Herman Melville ; edited with an introduction and notes by Stephen Matterson

(Penguin classics)

Penguin, 1990

Available at  / 12 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. [xxxviii]-xliv

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Onboard the Fidele, a steamboat floating down the Mississippi to New Orleans, a confidence man sets out to defraud his fellow passengers. In quick succession he assumes numerous guises - from a legless beggar and a worldly businessman to a collector for charitable causes and a 'cosmopolitan' gentleman, who simply swindles a barber out of the price of a shave. Making very little from his hoaxes, the pleasure of trickery seems an end in itself for this slippery conman. Is he the Devil? Is his chicanery merely intended to expose the mercenary concerns of those around him? Set on April Fool's Day, The Confidence-Man (1857) is an engaging comedy of masquerades, digressions and shifting identity, and a devastating satire on the American dream.

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Details

  • NCID
    BA12529695
  • ISBN
    • 0140445471
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    London
  • Pages/Volumes
    xliv, 351 p.
  • Size
    20 cm
  • Classification
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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