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The Man in the Rockefeller Suit
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor | Mark Seal
14 posts | 15 read | 30 to read
A real-life Talented Mr. Ripley, the unbelievable thirty-year run of a shape-shifting con man. The story of Clark Rockefeller is a stranger-than-fiction twist on the classic American success story of the self-made man-because Clark Rockefeller was totally made up. The career con man who convincingly passed himself off as Rockefeller was born in a small village in Germany. At seventeen, obsessed with getting to America, he flew into the country on dubious student visa documents and his journey of deception began. Over the next thirty years, boldly assuming a series of false identities, he moved up the social ladder through exclusive enclaves on both coasts-culminating in a stunning twelve-year marriage to a rising star businesswoman with a Harvard MBA who believed she'd wed a Rockefeller. The imposter charmed his way into exclusive clubs and financial institutions-working on Wall Street, showing off an extraordinary art collection-until his marriage ended and he was arrested for kidnapping his daughter, which exposed his past of astounding deceptions as well as a connection to the bizarre disappearance of a California couple in the mid-1980s. The story of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit is a probing and cinematic exploration of an audacious imposer-and a man determined to live the American dream by any means necessary.
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AvidReader25
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Mehso-so

Listened to this one while enjoying the gorgeous weather and changing leaves this weekend. It‘s nonfiction and the story is almost unbelievable. It was a bit long and could‘ve use some more editing, but still fascinating. A German man came to America when he was young and spent years building up fake personas around the country. Certainly makes you want to be cautious about blindly trusting people.

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BlueBowBooks

Nonfiction, but hardly reads that way! Peculiar story of the con man who called himself Clark Rockefeller. Well researched.

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thereadingowlvina
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Pickpick

🆃🆁🆄🅴 🅲🆁🅸🅼🅴 🆃🅷🆄🆁🆂🅳🅰🆈 ⁣

This is really one bizarre and fascinating story about Gerhartsreiter - master of deception! ⁣

Rating: 5⭐⁣

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3376474305?book_show_action=false&from_rev...

❓𝔹𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕤: 𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕟𝕦𝕥𝕤/𝕞𝕦𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕤/𝕔𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕤/𝕓𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕝𝕤❓⁣

🅰️: These days, I've been craving for doughnuts! ⁣

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FreeReadAndWrite
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Pickpick

This book is phenomenal and one of the most insane true stories I've read. Dude straight up conned people for a decade simply by using the name "Rockefeller." Ok, so I know he's a murderer and all, but sometimes I really wish I was cool enough to be a con man. Anyway, happy #SockSunday!

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Wife
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Pickpick

I can‘t even keep track of my TRUE daily life details. This guy is a Psychopath and a genius. He created multiple identities and told multiple lies and fooled so many! I‘m curious about how his daughter fared. She will be 18 in 2019. He is currently serving time for murder in San Quentin. I haven‘t seen the movie, but didn‘t want to post a pic of the creep. Scary thing is that we probably all encounter sociopaths/psychopaths daily. 4/5⭐️s @kaye

Wife @kaye I tagged you because I know you are a true crime fan. 6y
Kaye Thanks for the tag @wife ! I‘ve heard of this guy, possibly from one of the Dateline shows ? Certainly seemed like an odd person. It should make for a fascinating story to see how his brain was wired. 6y
GondorGirl This book was fascinating! 6y
57 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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tjwill
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#lmpbc #GroupN These are the books I‘m thinking of getting. Any thoughts? @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @daniwithtea

daniwithtea Those all sound great! Word by Word and What I Talk About are on my TBR list, and Rockefeller is now too :) 7y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage The bottom two are already on my TBR. The third looks intriguing! 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa I haven‘t read any of these either. But reading the descriptions, the bottom 2 grab me the most too! 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Yes, Word by Word works for me too. 7y
55 likes10 comments
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ElishaLovesBooks
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Pickpick

After carpool, 2 sinks of dishes, 2 loads of laundry, and 2 games of spot it; I‘m finally able to sit down(!!) and review this book.#momlife
This is a #borrownotbuy pick for me.Mainly due to the large amount of details that the author included.So many names and dates! I lost the thread of the story a few times. . . But it was overall extremely fascinating how someone could convince so many people that he was someone else for such a long time!

Cinfhen I read this one and found it fascinating, not sure I would have liked it as much in #audio format 7y
Cinfhen You pesach cleaning??? 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @Cinfhen That was just regular cleaning! 😂 But we have started Pesach cleaning too- I was just too tired last night! I need to find some clean audiobooks that the younger kids could overhear. . . They wouldn‘t leave me alone last night. . .they might have heard some curse words 😳🙉🤷🏻‍♀️ 7y
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claffy_reads Wow, I had totally forgotten about this guy. What a crazy story. 7y
Cinfhen Oh man!!! Kids seem to be magnets for those naughty words 😂😬spending pesach in Miami means no cleaning for me!!! I listened to Lab Girl last year on audio, it was very interesting and I remember it as very G rated, although it was sad at times. That should be a thing, a rating system for audio 👍🏻 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @callielafleur yes! Such a crazy story! 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @Cinfhen Enjoy no cleaning!!! 😘 I‘ve only ever been away for Pesach once- and it was last year! There‘s a large part of me that wishes we were going away this year too! But my kids are so happy to stay home! They missed our family sederim😊 Miami sounds amazing!! 🌞☀️🌴 It will probably be freezing here 🤷🏻‍♀️ And a rating system for audiobooks is a GREAT idea! 👏 7y
Cinfhen And my kids are soooooo excited to be with their grandparents and cousins this year!!! Although my youngest is NOT looking forward to the second Seder 😠 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @Cinfhen That‘s right! You only have to have one Seder! I can understand his feelings!😀 7y
76 likes9 comments
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ElishaLovesBooks
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1. My go-to drink. A latte.
2. Girls Incarcerated on Netflix about the juvenile detention system. Fascinating and heartbreaking.
3. The tagged book on audio and the book in the pic. Not sure yet about recommending-I just started them.
4. Cold! In the 20s
5. Just pierced ears

That-Bookish-Hiker I started Girls Incarcerated last night!! (edited) 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @That-Bookish-Hiker What do you think? 7y
That-Bookish-Hiker @ElishaLovesBooks I like it. I feel bad for a lot of the girls on there but I get frustrated when they don‘t listen lol. Also there is a girl in there who feels like she should e there because she was the driver of a car accident that killed her best friend and I really don‘t think she should be there. She needs counseling! I can‘t believe they let her check herself in. 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @That-Bookish-Hiker I like it too. I am fascinated by the decisions people make and the results of those decisions which lead to being locked up! And I know-There has to be more to the story about that girl! It seems so strange that she would be there. I just keep thinking “Just say no!” “Don‘t do drugs!” “Stop talking before you get yourself in more trouble!”🤭🤫 7y
49 likes4 comments
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GondorGirl
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Pickpick

A few weeks ago @Cinfhen recommended this book and I have to agree with her. This was a fascinating look at a man who lived with a fake identity for years without anyone knowing. And not just any identity- that of a ridiculously wealthy Rockefeller cousin! Now I have to scour the internet to find out how his daughter and wife are doing!

Cinfhen I‘m glad you enjoyed this one!!! Please let me know what you uncover about his wife & daughter💗 7y
Mdargusch I was fascinated by this book too! 7y
tjwill Sounds fascinating! 7y
GondorGirl @Cinfhen Apparently the wife works for a financial corporation in England. She took a huge pay cut, but feels safer (and still makes more then most of us will see in a lifetime). The daughter still goes by that ridiculous nickname, but is crazy smart, loves to travel, and has better social cues now that she's away from her father. I'm glad they both seem to be doing well after all that craziness. 7y
Cinfhen Thanks for the update👍🏻 I‘m glad they were both able to rebuild their lives...I still don‘t get how they missed all the clues 7y
62 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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Cinfhen
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#FierceFeb #IAmAPoseur For more than 30 years, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter managed to pull the longest con, posing as Clark Rockefeller a member of the iconic American family. A bizarro true life story of deception, manipulation, greed and murder!! I found this book fascinating. Incredible, how he was able to fool so many people!

ferskner He is sooo interesting! 7y
ElishaLovesBooks Wow! Sounds crazy! And fascinating! 7y
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batsy Oh, how interesting! I wasn't aware of this! Great choice 👍🏽 7y
GondorGirl This sounds great- I just added it to my Overdrive audio book list! 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @Cinfhen LOL!! I ❤️ that! I think I might have to read this! I love 🍌👖!!🤫🤭 7y
ElishaLovesBooks @GondorGirl Thanks fo the great idea! I just did the same! 💙 7y
Cinfhen Hope you guys enjoy @GondorGirl @ElishaLovesBooks just proves how much real life is stranger than fiction 🤪❣️🤯 7y
TrishB Fascinating story! 7y
RohitSawant This sounds interesting! 7y
RealBooks4ever I don't understand what could have made him do all the freaky things he did! 😬 7y
Cathythoughts My god ! 30 years! Crazy stuff. 7y
Cinfhen Book isn‘t perfect but the story is soooo cray-cray 🦇💩I know @RealBooks4ever and he pulled it off for sooooo long @Cathythoughts @rohit-sawant @TrishB 7y
Ms_T Wow, fascinating! 7y
Centique I‘m sold! Stacked! 7y
Mdargusch This is such a freaky story and perfect for this prompt! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 7y
LauraBeth I love “Catch Me If You Can”-like stories! 7y
L_auren I want to read this one so badly!! 7y
vivastory Sounds fascinating. Stacked! 7y
Cinfhen I think there‘s been more discovery and additional interesting developments in this case since I read the book @Mdargusch @Centique @Ms_T @LauraBeth @L_auren @vivastory I‘m pretty sure Vanity Fair or the New Yorker did a big write up as well💜It‘s such a cuckoo story🤯😲 7y
LeahBergen @Cinfhen Another book about this man (although I haven‘t read it) is 7y
Cinfhen Totally stacking your book @LeahBergen sounds great!!!! 7y
emilyhaldi Ooh thanks for posting- I have this book upstairs but kind of brushed it off as something I wouldn‘t be interested in for some reason. Sounds interesting! (edited) 7y
119 likes10 stack adds23 comments
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shahn77
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this. This is the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter. He immigrated from Germany and then created many different identities over the years. I am fascinated by these stranger than fiction stories. I can't believe how much stuff he got away with and I am astounded by the number of people that believed his crazy stories.

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Cinfhen
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Day 7 #90sinJuly Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter is a true life #wannabe 😎For more than 30 years he managed to pull off the longest con passing himself off as Clark Rockefeller, a member of the iconic American family. A bizarro true life story of deception, manipulation, greed and absurdity! I found this book fascinating although many questions were left unanswered.

Mdargusch Yes! So true. What a fascinating and creepy man. 7y
LeahBergen I read an article about this guy! 😮 7y
MatchlessMarie Vanity Fair Confidential did a special on this guy. So interesting! 7y
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Robothugs Wow. This sounds fascinating! 7y
Cinfhen It's such a crazzzy story! I think it's being made into a film @Robothugs @MatchlessMarie @LeahBergen @Mdargusch 7y
emilyhaldi I've been wanting to read this for a long time! Believe I spotted it at @Mdargusch 's house 🤔 might have to dig it back up.... 7y
Zelma I remember the Vanity Fair article about this. Really fascinating story! 7y
101 likes5 stack adds7 comments
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Cinfhen
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I LOVE non fiction because it's so freakin unbelievable, proving that life really is stranger than fiction❣#somethingforsept #nonfictionlove #septphotochallenge

Wife I know, some non-fiction is sooo bizarre that I think NO ONE could have made it up!😳 7y
Cinfhen Yup! I prefer NF & memoirs @Wife 💕💕 7y
27 likes1 stack add2 comments