The Great Impostor

The Amazing Career of Ferdinand Waldo Demara, who Posed as a Surgeon, a Prison Warden, a Doctor of Philosophy, A Trappist Monk and Many, Many Others

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book The Great Impostor by Robert Crichton, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert Crichton ISBN: 9780374715885
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: April 5, 2016
Imprint: Sarah Crichton Books Language: English
Author: Robert Crichton
ISBN: 9780374715885
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: April 5, 2016
Imprint: Sarah Crichton Books
Language: English

The fantastic lives and careers of Ferdinand Waldo Demara make a fantastic irony of the platitude that truth is stranger than fiction. For with Ferdinand Demara, truth is fiction.

Demara wanted to be a hero, to lead an epic life dedicated to the benefit of others, and to gain adulation for himself, and he did all those things by lying to others about who he was. During his storied career, Ferdinand Demara managed to “become” a Trappist monk; a doctor of psychology and Dean of the School of Philosophy at a small college in Pennsylvania; a law student, zoology graduate, cancer researcher and teacher at a junior college in Maine; a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy (as medical officer on the destroyed Cayuga, he successfully performed major surgery); a brilliant assistant warden of a Texas prison; and a teacher and beloved idol of the children on a Maine island village.

In this forthright account of a remarkable fraud, Robert Crichton presents the man, his reasons, and his methods. A New York Times bestseller when it was originally published in 1959, and serving as the inspiration for the Tony Curtis film of the same name, this is the fascinating and disturbing story of America’s Great Impostor.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The fantastic lives and careers of Ferdinand Waldo Demara make a fantastic irony of the platitude that truth is stranger than fiction. For with Ferdinand Demara, truth is fiction.

Demara wanted to be a hero, to lead an epic life dedicated to the benefit of others, and to gain adulation for himself, and he did all those things by lying to others about who he was. During his storied career, Ferdinand Demara managed to “become” a Trappist monk; a doctor of psychology and Dean of the School of Philosophy at a small college in Pennsylvania; a law student, zoology graduate, cancer researcher and teacher at a junior college in Maine; a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy (as medical officer on the destroyed Cayuga, he successfully performed major surgery); a brilliant assistant warden of a Texas prison; and a teacher and beloved idol of the children on a Maine island village.

In this forthright account of a remarkable fraud, Robert Crichton presents the man, his reasons, and his methods. A New York Times bestseller when it was originally published in 1959, and serving as the inspiration for the Tony Curtis film of the same name, this is the fascinating and disturbing story of America’s Great Impostor.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Unbroken by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Swiss Mist by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book The Quiet Girl by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Forty-one False Starts by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Pull Me Under by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Essential Self-Defense by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Notes on the Death of Culture by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Black Wings Beating by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book The Disordered Mind by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book The Field of Blood by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Under the Sign of Saturn by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Health, Healing, and Beyond by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Ways of Going Home by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book Neymar: A Soccer Dream Come True by Robert Crichton
Cover of the book His Toy, His Dream, His Rest by Robert Crichton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy