Tricky Vic

January 19, 2015
Pizzoli (Number One Sam) writes a complex, wordy biography of a con artist named Robert Miller—until Miller chooses the alias “Count Victor Lustig,” which sounds better when he’s trying to fleece passengers on cruise liners. The story opens slowly as Pizzoli reviews Lustig’s early career and first con jobs, but picks up when the man conceived of a wild plan to sell the Eiffel Tower to a scrap dealer. In those days, Pizzoli explains, the Eiffel Tower was not the beloved icon it is now, and tearing it down was not an outlandish idea. Posing as a municipal employee, Lustig sells bids on the tower’s scrap value. The victim who “wins” is too embarrassed to report his loss to the police, and Lustig gets away with it—the first time. Pizzoli’s stylish illustrations combine flat, graphic elements with archival photography; he imagines the enigmatic Miller as a faceless figure with a thumbprint for a head. While Pizzoli’s recounting entertains, the sense is of a shorter story struggling to free itself from a thicket of detail. Ages 7–9. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from December 15, 2014
Geisel winner Pizzoli turns from early readers to biography with this story of a consummate 20th-century con man. In the early 1900s, Robert Miller moved from Eastern Europe to Paris to pursue a university education, ending his studies when he discovered his calling as a professional gambler. Trouble forced Miller to reinvent himself as "Count Victor Lustig" and take to the high seas, where he conned passengers on ocean liners. When World War I ended trans-Atlantic travel, "Lustig" operated in several major European cities. After numerous arrests, Miller went to the United States, where he earned the trust of crime boss Al Capone and pulled off many successful scams. When the police caught on to his schemes, Miller returned to Paris, where he orchestrated his ultimate con, selling the Eiffel Tower to scrap metal dealers. Pizzoli tells this remarkable story with straightforward economy, informational sidebars offering insight into Miller's times and crimes. The truth behind Miller's exploits is often difficult to discern, and Pizzoli notes the research challenges in an afterword. His mixed-media graphic artwork perfectly complements the quirky, humorous tone of the story. A particularly nice touch is the use of a fingerprint to stand in for Miller's face, most appropriate for a man who would be known by 45 different aliases. An appealingly colorful, deadpan account of a remarkably audacious and creative criminal. (glossary, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 7-9)

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December 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-This picture book takes a look at Robert Miller, a successful con man who managed to dupe many and by posing as a government official was even able to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to scrap metal dealers, before being caught and imprisoned. Miller used more than 45 aliases during his life but was known to many as Tricky Vic. This is a fascinating story, with quirky, retro-style, mixed-media art that will appeal to readers. Beyond a line or two at the beginning about Vic turning to a life of crime, Pizzoli doesn't moralize about his subject's actions. Tricky Vic is a little-known subject, and some may wonder if there's an audience for this title. However, this is an intriguing account, and through sidebars, the book offers some effective avenues for discussing related historical events, people, and places, such as Al Capone, Prohibition, counterfeiting, and Alcatraz. An attractive, though esoteric, offering.-Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Grades 2-4 Tricky Vic started out as an intelligent kid in what is now the Czech Republic, but he went on to become a notorious swindler. Adopting the name Count Victor Lustig, he used his sophisticated demeanor to earn the trust of wealthy passengers on transatlantic cruises and rob them blind. He made counterfeit money and tricked hapless dupes into buying a money-making machine (merely a fancy box with some dials on the outside). He even conned Al Capone! Selling the Eiffel Tower (to scrap dealers) is by far the most enticing of his crimes, and he did it more than once. Pizzoli puts the larger-than-life stories in a tidy format, placing short, engaging paragraphs on colorful pages with informative sidebars to explain historical context. His blocky mixed-media illustrations include photos and clever cartoonish figuresthe unfortunate fellow who bought the Eiffel Tower, Mr. Poisson, has a fish for a head, and Tricky Vic's face is obscured by a fingerprint. Elementary-school kids impressed by brazen acts of skulduggery will be snowed by this well-told true story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Con artist ("but an artist all the same") "Count Victor Lustig" (born Robert Miller) fleeced his way as a card shark back and forth across the Atlantic; went into a counterfeiting scam in Chicago; then, in his greatest trick, convinced a Parisian businessman to buy the "salvage" of the Eiffel Tower. A genially sinister design incorporates cartoons and photographs; sidebars provide historical context. Websites. Bib., glos.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2015
Amidst the current plethora of picture-book biography role models, it's nice to see a book about a con artist. Ah, yes. But an artist all the same. Count Victor Lustig (born Robert Miller) fleeced his way as a card shark back and forth across the Atlantic until WWI put an end to that; after obtaining the blessing of Al Capone, Lustig went into a money box counterfeit-counterfeiting scam in Chicago before returning to Europe and his greatest trick of all -- convincing a Parisian businessman that the Eiffel Tower was about to be dismantled and taking his cash bid for the salvage. Lustig's exploits did not end there, but they did end eventually, with the apparently nine-lived (and forty-five-pseudonymed) con man finishing his days on Alcatraz Island. With a sophisticated, genially sinister design incorporating cartoons and photographs into a low-toned red and mustard palette, the book signals the right kind of reader: one for whom venality is no obstacle to a good time. There's no moral here, except perhaps for the one that closes the excellent author's note: Stay sharp. Sidebars throughout provide historical context, and a glossary and thorough source list will give young crooks cover for school reports. roger sutton

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)