I had seen the film Catch Me If You Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio back in 2003 but had never read the book. Seeing it available at my library for audiobook download, I thought I would see how similar the two were. Also, it had been 17 years since seeing the film so I remembered the broad strokes but not all the detail. This is my review of the book Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale .

First, as the events of the book took place so long ago, I was struck more by the changes to security in that time than anything else. I mean, I get that 9/11 changed a lot in airport security, but for him to be able to get away with what he did so long is pretty amazing. Frank Abagnale, Frank Williams, Robert Conrad or whatever alias he was using at the time had some king-sized balls.

The book differs from the movie quite a bit in that it goes into a lot more detail about his life after getting captured. The cat and mouse chase between Leonardo DiCaprio’s Abagnale and Tom Hanks‘ FBI Agent Hanratty was definitely created in Hollywood. The real chase was much different. His time in the French prison system was quite enlightening in the book as well. Heck, the vast difference between European countries views on incarceration was worth the read alone.

If you liked the movie and haven’t read the book, you will enjoy all the new info as well the additional detail about things told in the film. Even if you haven’t seen the film, you will definitely enjoy the book.

by Chris Doelle